Michigan Auction Sales

Thanks for your interest in selling on our site!

How to sell on our site:

First, register as a bidder on our site, so that we have your full contact information.

Read and accept our rules and fee structure (below).

Call us, stop in or e-mail us with your online bidder number and request to be issued a seller login.

You will soon be sent a seller ID and password, via email, along with directions on how to list your items.

Sell, Sell, Sell!

Rules: Sellers will need to have a digital camera and must provide potential bidders an honest and accurate description of any and all items listed, as well as provide an honest and accurate photo view of the item being sold. This should include a thorough description, size and/or measurements, and most importantly, pointing out defects (cracks, chips, damage, etc), not hiding them.

Here is a template that you may copy and use in your listings:

Size:
Brand:
Condition:

Defects:

Length:
Width:
Height:
Depth:

Color:

Sellers may not bid on their own items for any reason whatsoever. If a Seller is found to have bid on their item(s), or had someone bid on their item(s) with the purpose of artificially inflating the price of an item(s), (this practice is known as shill bidding), that Seller will no longer be able to sell or buy on this site. We do have software that will determine and report common patterns of shill bidding, and all IP addresses are recorded. Shill bidding is a violation of various state and federal laws.

Plagiarism: A seller may not plagiarize from any other person or website. Any plagiaristic listings will be removed.

Sellers on our site are consignors (customers), not employees, nor contractors of Michigan Auction Sales. No employee or contractor relationship is established between any seller and Michigan Auction Sales by selling on this site. The Seller is solely responsible for reporting any applicable earnings to the State or Federal governments.

No seller can list pistols (without prior approval), adult oriented items (other than Playboy magazines), used clothing (with the exception of shoes, coats, sweatshirts, hoodies and jackets), used makeup or other items posing health hazards, or anything illegal.

Any seller who wishes to list items in the Food Grocery category, must have prior approval by the auction company or the listing may be removed..

Returns: All sellers must accurately describe their items. If any item has been misrepresented (whether intentional or unintentional), the buyer will be given a full refund and the item will be returned and backcharged to the seller. No refund of commissions or fees will be provided to a seller for a refund given in the case of a misrepresented item. While everything is sold in as-is and where-is condition, we all still owe it to the buyers to provide an honest, accurate description of the item being sold, so that they keep coming back.

Listings: Once you place a listing on the site, it can not be removed at anytime during the auction, for any reason.

Categories and Quantities: Sellers can now choose the category for their item and assign a quantity to their listings. Changing a quantity will multiply the bid times the quantity entered. Quantity should be entered at the initial time that you place the listing only, you should not change a quantity at any other time. If quantity is more than 1, you should state in your listing that the bidder is bidding on "x" number of pieces, times their bid. You are encouraged to categorize your items, but please do not make up your own categories. We welcome suggestions of new categories! Also, please be careful of your spelling. If you can not determine the appropriate category to place your item in, leave it blank and we will gladly assign it for you. Here are a list of the current categories:

Art
Arts Crafts
Antiques
Appliances
Automotive
Automobiles
Barware
Beer Signs Mirrors
Bicycles
Boating
Books Magazines
Cameras
Camping
Cast iron
Childrens
China
Christmas
Clocks
Clothing
Coca Cola
Coins Currency
Collectibles
Construction
Comics
Computers
Commercial
Die Cast
Dolls
Easter
Electrical
Electronics
Food Grocery (Please check with us before listing any food items!)
Firearms
Fund Raising
Furniture
Gift Certificates Coupons
Glassware
Halloween
HBA (Health and Beauty Aids)
Home Decor
Home Improvement
Household
Hunting Fishing
Jewelry Watches
Knives Swords
Lawn Garden
Medical
Military
Miscellaneous
Models
Movies
Musical Instruments
Music
Neon Signs
NASCAR
Paper Ephemera
Pets
Pictures
Playboy
Pottery
Primitaves
Purses
RC Vehicles
Real Estate
Records
Recreational Vehicles
Restaurant Equipment
Retail Store Fixtures
Services
Scooters Mopeds
Shipping Office Supplies
Silverware
Slot Machines
Sports Cards
Sporting Goods
Sports Memorabilia
Stamps Postcards
Sunglasses
Timeshares
Tobacco
Tools
Toys Games
Trains
Video Games
Wholesale Lots
Yearbooks

Contact Info: Sellers may not include any contact info including email address, telephone number, name or address in their listings. Bidders can communicate with us and we will pass all messages on to the appropriate seller.

Reserves: Everything is in true auction format and bidding starts at $1 on all items. However, each seller may have up to 3 of their items each week with a reserve price or a higher starting bid. If a reserve price or higher starting bid is placed on an item, there will be a $3.00 fee for each such item. If the item sells, this fee is waived. You will not be charged a no-sale fee on top of the reserve fee. The reserve price is hidden from buyers, the higher starting bid obviously is seen by buyers. To list an item with a reserve, place the following text at the end of your listing "This item has a reserve of $xx.xx". Please be sure to enter your reserve price. To list an item with a higher starting bid, place the following text at the end of your listing "This item has a starting bid of $xx.xx". please be sure to enter the actual amount of your starting bid. If you do not follow this format carefully, your listing could be removed. If you wish to lower or drop a reserve price on an item, you must do so BEFORE the auction ends. Once the auction ends, if an item did not meet the reserve, those bids are deleted, and are gone forever.

Online Sellers Fees: We charge a 25¢ listing fee for each listing added, a 25% commission charge on all items listed, also there is a $1.00 "no-sale fee", this no-sale fee is only charged if an item ends with no bids. Each seller will be allowed a 10% no-sale ratio before this fee will be charged. If you list 10 items, you will not be charged for the first unsold item, if you list 100 items, you will not be charged for the first 10 unsold items. We charge this fee because we do not want the site to be overrun with junk items that take up valuable space, make alot of extra work, and don't interest bidders. The fee makes sellers responsible for making sure that their item is actually worth listing. There are no other fees or charges. There is a 10% buyers premium which is charged to the buyer and is retained by the auction company.

New Discounts effective for items listed or consigned:

Our standard commission rate for offline sellers is 25% plus $3 for each item consigned to us. We are very selective on the consignments that we will accept.

The following discounts will apply to both online and offline sellers on single items that sell for $500 or more:

Commission is 25% of the first $499.99,
20% of any amount above $500 and up to $999.99,
17.5% of any amount above $1000 and up to $1999.99,
15% of any amount above $2000 and up to $3499.99,
12.5% of any amount above $3500 and up to $4999.99,
10% of any amount above $5000 and up to $9999.99,
8% of any amount above $10,000. Further reductions may apply on items above $15,000.

Vehicle Listings: FREE! If you wish to list a vehicle on our site (moped, motorcycle, boat, go-cart, snowmobile, car, truck or van), there is no charge, and no commissions will be charged. There are absolutely no costs or fees charged to the seller.

Payments: Sellers will be paid, less fees and commissions, on the Wednesday following the pick-up period for the buyers. We will do everything possible to collect on all items sold, but we do reserve the right to return to the seller, and chargeback, any item which is not paid for and removed by a winning bidder at anytime within 45 days. We also reserve the right to resell any items, for which we have already paid the seller.

Seller pick-up: Sellers can pick up their online auction winnings until the 2nd Wednesday after the auction ends. That way each seller can pick-up, drop-off and get paid in one weekly trip. Any items left past this period will be subject to the late pick-up buyers premium. Due to our live auction schedule, sellers can not pick-up or drop off on Saturday after 4pm.

Seller drop-off: All sold items must be dropped off at our store by 6pm on the Wednesday immediately following the auction end, for distribution to the bidders. All items must be tagged with the corresponding lot number. Out of area bidders must mail their items to us in enough time so that they arrive to us by 11am on the Thursday immediately after the online auction ends. If an item is not delivered to us for distribution by 11am on Thursday, and a bidder comes in to pick up that item, we will offer to ship the item to the bidder, at the sellers cost. Please understand that many of our buyers travel many miles to come and pick up their items and it is not fair to them and it is not fair to us to not have all of their items for them when they come in. If you are not willing or able to deliver your items to us on time, please do not list any items that week! Due to space limitations, sold items can not be dropped off any earlier than the Friday before the auction ends, no large items or large quantities of items can be accepted before the auction ends.

As the site grows, we want to ensure the continued success of this site for all. A new policy is being implemented effective immediately. This policy is designed to help make your selling experience more efficient and enjoyable and to help make the bidding experience equally efficient and enjoyable for the bidders. When you drop off items each week, you should be armed with an inventory checklist of all of your sold items. We will email this checklist to you on Monday evening or Tuesday morning. This checklist will have to be presented to us and the seller must sign the checklist showing that they have double checked their inventory, and confirm that all sold items have, in fact, been brought in to us.

There is nothing worse than taking care of a buyer who has come in from Ann Arbor or even further, who has purchased 1 item, and that item was not brought in to us by the seller. We are left to field that customers anger and their understandable demands for reimbursement of their fuel costs, etc. Additionally, it harms our reputation and hurts ALL of the sellers here, since chances are, that bidder isn't going to be coming back again and they WILL tell others of their experience. We spend alot of money on advertising to acquire new bidders, and since it's our job to ensure the continued success of the site, and because we have to protect the site, we will not allow sellers on this site that will intentionally or unintentionally harm the site and cause harm to the other sellers who make a part of their living here.

As a seller on our site, you are essentially operating your own business and we are simply a broker between you and the bidders. You alone bear the responsiblity to your buyers to check, double check, and triple check, if needed, to make sure that all items are presented to us for distribution to the buyers, on time! We can not and will not bear any financial or other responsibility for any items that are presented late or items that are missing. We do not want to have to ship items to bidders if we don't have to, and we know that you do not want to pay for those shipping charges, that in some cases may exceed the value of the item. PLEASE ALWAYS CHECK, AND DOUBLE CHECK YOUR INVENTORY!

Missing/Mismarked Items: We reserve the right to charge a $5 fee to the seller for each item that a seller is missing or is mismarked during a buyer pick-up period. This charge is completely in the auction company's discretion. This charge will eliminate the loophole where the seller ascertains that they do not have the item to avoid paying the shipping and handling charge to send it to the buyer.

Non-Profit and Community Organizations: Any 501c non-profit or community organizations may list their items on this site and pay discounted rates. Approval must be requested in advance of listing. Please contact us for more information.

Online Store "Buy-it-Now" Listings: All sellers are now able to list items in the Online Store with a set "buy-it-now" type price. At the end of your listing, in the first box, please be sure to insert the actual "buy-it-now" price. For example: This item costs $49.99, or just $49.99 will do fine. When we update the new listings, we will get the price set for you. Currently, there is no charge to list, but usual commissions will apply based on the sale price of the item when sold. There is a minimum required asking price of $9.99. Items can stay in the store as long as you like, but please remember to remove a listing if you sell an item outside of the online store.

When you sell an item in the store, it will be added to your next scheduled settlement sheet and you will be sent an email when the next auction ends, requesting that you bring that item in for the bidder. Bidders will be charged when the next scheduled online auction ends after their purchase.

You can get to the Online Store by clicking here.