Auction FAQs

Ramco sells surplus equipment for businesses and government departments. We source quality items from organisations across the UK and make them available to bidders like you through our regular Ramco auctions.

From industrial machinery and tools to furniture and electronics, our auctions feature a wide range of surplus assets that have been professionally collected, assessed, and, where needed, refurbished.

While auctions are our main sales channel, we occasionally offer direct sales on select items. Every item we sell has been part of a responsible, managed process — giving you access to fantastic equipment while helping reduce waste.

A timed auction is an online auction where items are open for bidding for a specific period of time. Bidders can place bids anytime during that period, and the highest bid at the closing time wins the item, provided the bid exceeds the reserve price.

A live auction is the real thing where live audio and video feeds connect you to auctions around the world, where you can bid in real time over the internet. They are traditional auctions, based in a building, yard, farm etc which are then broadcast over the Bidspotter.co.uk platform.

Currently, all our auctions are timed auctions.

• The auction opens at a scheduled start time.

• Each lot or item has a countdown timer showing when bidding closes.

• Bidders place bids online at any time while the auction is open.

• When the time expires, the highest valid bid wins the lot, provided the bid exceeds the reserve price.

Our auctions include a soft close feature, meaning the timer extends by 5 minutes should a bid be placed in the last few minutes to allow others to respond.

Prior to being able to bid on our auctions, you need to create an account with Bidspotter.

After creating your account, locate the auction you're interested in and register to bid. During this process, you’ll be asked to provide your delivery address and confirm that you’ve read and accepted the auction’s terms and conditions. You will need to input debit or credit card details, but we will not take anything from your card when you register to bid.

We will review your registration and decide whether to accept.  There are instances where your registration may be declined. If you have been blocked by multiple auctioneers due to non-payment or collection, then it is likely that you will not be approved to bid. 

Once registered, you’ll be able to place bids on any items within that auction.

A max bid is the most you are willing to bid on a particular item. After placing a max bid, your bid will increase incrementally whenever another bidder makes a bid that is less than your max bid.

You will only pay up to your max bid, if another bidder bids more than your max bid you will need to increase your bid. You will be notified that you have been outbid.

Usually no. Once a bid is placed, it is considered legally binding, and if you win the item, you must complete the purchase.

If the highest bid does not reach the seller’s reserve price, the item may:

• Not be sold
• Be relisted in another auction
• Be offered to an underbidder should the seller deem the bid acceptable

We charge a buyer’s premium and VAT on all items sold at auction. There will also be applicable shipping costs if items are for delivery.

We kindly ask bidders to consider the cost of all fees and shipping costs prior to placing a bid.

To help you understand the total cost of your purchase (excluding shipping), please use our Auction Fee Calculator. It gives a clear breakdown of what you’ll pay based on your winning bid.

Please read the Terms and Conditions and Important Information section for each auction prior to bidding as fees can differ between auctions.

Once the auction ends, you'll receive a sales order listing the lots you've won, along with an email outlining the next steps. After payment is received, your order is passed to our warehouse team to be picked, consolidated, and packed. Delivery charges are then calculated based on the final weight and dimensions of the consignment, and we’ll provide a quote accordingly.

Parcels are shipped via Parcelforce’s 24-hour service. For pallet deliveries, we typically use a 3–5 working day economy service. If you require a faster pallet delivery, next-day options may be available depending on your UK location — please contact our sales team for more details.

Yes, we do combine shipping. Once you receive your sales order, our warehouse team will pick and consolidate your lots into as few consignments as possible to help minimise delivery costs.

We accept VISA and Mastercard debit/credit cards (up to £5,000) and bank transfers. A payment link will be included in your sales order email, along with our bank details if you prefer to pay via transfer. We’re also happy to process payments over the phone if that’s more convenient for you.

Sorry if you are unhappy with your purchase.  We always want our bidders to have the best possible experience with us.

When you bid in an auction, there is no right of return, everything is sold as seen. Bidding online is a contractual bid to buy.

We would always recommend that you ask any questions prior to bidding. We ask that all our clients be transparent if they know something is not working and we ask to be notified so that we can provide this information when listing the items i.e. spares or repairs.

Unfortunately, if we are not notified then we are limited on what we can provide and we do our best to show any imperfections or damage in pictures.