This article contains information on sending and receiving message from bidders via LiveAuctioneers.
For information on contacting an underbidder, see Contact an Underbidder.
For information on creating Announcements, see How to Create an Announcement.
This article contains the following sections:
About Messaging
LiveAuctioneers is not directly involved in the transaction between bidders and auction houses. We encourage bidders to communicate directly with Auction Houses through the Messaging system provided on our platform.
Common questions/requests you might receive from bidders:
- Approval inquiries
- Condition Reports
- How to bid in the live auction
- Retracting a bid
- Shipping inquires
If you are unable to answer a bidder inquiry yourself, it is best to direct them to our Bidder Support team.
Rules for Messaging via LiveAuctioneers
- Messages must not contain links or language that suggests a bidder place their bid directly with the Auction House or through any other platform outside of LiveAuctioneers.
- Engaging in advertising, marketing, or self-promotion is not allowed.
- Please do not share links or other connections to live chat systems.
- A message can only have a total of 5 attachments (the max file-size for attachments is 1GB)
Please remember to be courteous, reply promptly, and keep in mind that some inquires will come from international bidders in different time zones, and may be in different languages.
Receiving/Reviewing Messages
Messages Page
You can view messages from bidders by clicking on the Messages tab located on your Seller Dashboard.
- You will also receive a notification to your business email address with a link to the Messaging Inbox each time you receive a new message from a bidder.
You can search messages by entering a keyword or a bidder name/username into the Search All Messages field and hitting the Enter key.
Messages can be filtered by Read/Unread by clicking on the Status drop-down on the right side of the page.
- Check the box to the left of a message(s) and click the Mark Read button to mark the message(s) as read.
- Check the box to the left of a message(s) and click the Archive button to move the selected messages to the Archive folder. Messages will remain in the Archive indefinitely.
- Check the box to the left of a message(s) and click the Move to Folder button and select the folder to move the message to the applicable folder. If you have not created any folder yet, you will not have the option to move messages to any folders.
Managing Folders
Folders can be created to help you manage various types of bidder inquiries.
To create, edit, or delete a folder, click on the Edit link to the right of the Folders menu:
- To create a folder, click the New link. A new field will appear. Enter the New Folder Name and click the Right Arrow icon. The folder will be added to the list of available folders. Folders will appear in alphabetical order.
- To edit an existing folder, click the Pencil icon to the right of the applicable folder. Edit the folder name as needed and then click on the Right Arrow icon to save the changes.
- To delete a folder, click the Archive link to the right of the applicable folder. A message will appear asking for confirmation. Click the Yes link to proceed. Deleting a folder will not delete the messages within the folder- it will move them to the Archive folder and remove the folder from the Folders list.
Reviewing Messages
Click on a message from the Inbox or any folder to review it.
The right side of each message will display the bidder's username and a link to their profile (if already registered for your sale). It will also include a thumbnail image of the lot that they are inquiring about with a link to that catalog.
Sending Messages
Sending Messages to Individual Bidders
You can send a message to bidders by navigating to your Bidder Dashboard:
- From the Seller Dashboard, click on the Bidders tab and select Manual Approval.
- Locate the bidder using the filters or the Search field. For more information about the Bidder Dashboard, see Bidder Management 101.
- Click on the applicable bidder and then click on the Message button on the right side of the page.
- A new window will open. Enter text into the Subject and Email Body fields and click the Send button.
Sending Messages to Multiple Bidders
Messages can only be sent to multiple bidders at once if the bidders are Pending:
- From the Seller Dashboard, click on the Bidders tab and select Manual Approval.
- Click on the Pending tab check the box to the left of each bidder you wish to message.
- Click on the Envelope icon at the bottom of the page.
- A new window will open. Enter text into the Subject and Email Body fields and click the Send button.
Sending Messages to All Registered Bidders
If you would like to send an email to all registered bidders in your sale, you can create an Announcement from the Marketing tab in your Seller Dashboard. For more information, see How to Create an Announcement.