Frequently Asked Questions

BidWut is an online auction marketplace where independent sellers list timed lots and registered bidders compete to win them. Bidding is binding, and the platform handles real-time bid mechanics, payment, and pickup scheduling between buyer and seller.

No. Creating a BidWut bidder account is free. You only pay if you win a lot — at which point the winning bid, a 15% buyer's premium, and 8.5% sales tax are charged to your card on file.

Click the avatar icon in the top-right corner of any page to open the account modal, then choose "Create account." You'll need a valid email address; we'll send a verification link to confirm it. Verifying your email is required before bidding.

Yes. Phone verification is a one-time security step required before placing your first bid. It's separate from SMS notification consent — verifying your phone does not opt you in to SMS messages. SMS is optional and controlled by a distinct checkbox in your notification preferences.

Open any active lot and use the bid panel. You can tap Quick Bid to bid the next increment, type an amount and tap Set Max! to set a private ceiling, tap Jump Bid to commit an exact public amount, or tap Nuke'Em to beat the leading bidder's hidden max in one move. See the How to Bid guide for a deeper walkthrough.

Quick Bid instantly bids the next increment above the current bid. Max Bid (the Set Max! button) is a private ceiling — the system bids on your behalf, only as much as needed to stay on top, up to your max. Jump Bid places an exact public amount immediately, pushing the visible price up in one move. Nuke'Em beats the leading bidder's hidden max by exactly one increment and cannot be retracted. The full guide lives on the How to Bid page.

The minimum step between bids depends on the current bid amount:

• $0–$50 → $1 increments
• $50–$100 → $5
• $100–$500 → $10
• $500–$1,000 → $25
• $1,000–$5,000 → $50
• $5,000–$10,000 → $100
• $10,000+ → $500

A max bid is a private ceiling — the highest amount you're willing to pay for a lot. The system bids on your behalf, only as much as needed to keep you in the lead, up to your max. Other bidders can't see your max; they only see the current visible bid. If someone tries to outbid you below your ceiling, the system fights back automatically.

BidWut catches this before placing the bid and offers you the two closest valid amounts to choose from — one rounded down and one rounded up to the nearest increment. Pick whichever you prefer.

Yes, but only within a narrow window. You have 15 seconds after placing a bid to retract it, and only if you're the current high bidder and there's more than 1 hour left in the lot. After that window the bid is locked in. Nuke'Em bids cannot be retracted at all, even within those 15 seconds.

If a bid lands in the final 2 minutes of a lot, the end time automatically extends by another 2 minutes. This prevents sniping — the lot stays open until the bidding settles down, so the highest motivated bidder wins rather than whoever happened to bid in the last second.

Yes. Some sellers require bidders to register for an individual auction before placing bids on its lots. When that's the case, you'll see a prompt the first time you try to bid on the auction. Registration is free and takes one click; it confirms you've agreed to that auction's specific terms.

When the lot ends with you as the high bidder, an order is created and your card on file is charged automatically for the winning bid plus a 15% buyer's premium and 8.5% sales tax. You'll get an email confirmation and the lot will appear in the Orders tab of your account. From there you can schedule pickup or arrange shipping with the seller.

BidWut sellers sometimes add a buyer's premium on top of the winning bid amount.

Yes. Sales tax is applied to the winning bid amount and added to your total. If you have a valid tax-exempt ID on file in your account settings, tax is waived on qualifying orders.

BidWut accepts major credit and debit cards. A valid card must be on file before you place your first bid. Add or update your card in the Wallet tab of your account.

Your card is charged automatically as soon as a lot you're winning ends. You'll get an email receipt the moment the charge succeeds.

If auto-charge fails (expired card, insufficient funds, declined transaction), the order moves to invoiced status and you'll receive an email asking you to pay manually through your account. Failure to pay within the allotted time can result in order forfeiture and account suspension.

Each seller configures their own pickup schedule. After winning, open the order in the Orders tab — if the auction requires scheduled pickup, you'll see available time slots; book one within the seller's pickup window. If the auction has an open pickup window (no scheduling required), you can show up any time during posted hours. The order's pickup status will show as scheduled, completed, missed, or unscheduled.

If you miss a scheduled pickup, the order's pickup status moves to missed and you can usually reschedule from the Orders tab. Repeated missed pickups or going past the seller's final pickup window may result in forfeitureof the order at the seller's discretion.

Shipping is handled by the individual seller, not by BidWut directly. Each lot is marked as shipping-eligible, pickup-only, or both — you can see this on the lot detail page before bidding. When shipping is offered, costs and tracking are arranged with the seller after you win.

Refund policies are set by each individual seller. Sellers can issue full or partial refunds for individual line items or entire orders. Refunds are processed back to your original payment method and may take several business days to appear. Contact the seller first if you believe a refund is warranted; BidWut facilitates the refund process but doesn't guarantee refunds.

All items are sold as-is unless otherwise stated by the seller, and item descriptions, conditions, and images are provided by the seller. Inspect items before leaving the pickup location whenever possible. If you believe a lot was misrepresented or arrived damaged, reach out to the seller through your order page first; if the issue can't be resolved directly, contact [email protected].

BidWut acts as the marketplace platform connecting buyers and sellers — we're not a party to the underlying transaction. We facilitate the refund and dispute process and may step in if direct resolution between buyer and seller fails, but the seller is responsible for the accuracy of listings and the condition of items.

Submit a seller application through your account. Once approved, you'll get access to the Seller Dashboard where you can create a company profile, set up locations and pickup hours, and start listing auctions. For details on approval criteria and pricing, contact [email protected].

From the Seller Dashboard, create a new auction with title, description, start/end times, and pickup configuration. Then add lots — either one at a time or via bulk upload — with images, condition, reserve price, and starting bid. Publish the auction when you're ready; lots become biddable at the auction's start time.

Open the account modal from the avatar icon, switch to the Notify tab, and toggle the channels (email, SMS) you want for each notification type — outbid alerts, auction-start reminders, won-lot confirmations, payment receipts, pickup reminders, and refund notifications. SMS requires a separate consent checkbox and you can reply STOP to any SMS to opt out instantly.

See our Privacy Policy for the full details. In short: we collect only what we need to operate your account and the marketplace, we don't sell mobile information or SMS opt-in status to third parties, and you can request export or deletion of your data at any time.

Yes. Email [email protected] from the address on file and we'll close your account, provided all outstanding orders are settled. Closed accounts are retained in a tombstoned state for compliance and audit purposes — see the Privacy Policy for details on data retention.