Good morning, my darlings! We’ve had quite a week here in the US, so today we’re going to talk about something fun that’s ready to become your new favorite online hobby: Bidsquare.
What is Bidsquare?
Bidsquare is a one-stop-shop portal for accessing auctions held by many major auction houses. Since its inception, Bidsquare’s participants have grown from 6 to more than 120 auction houses: most of which don’t list their items on eBay, so it’s a great way to see sales you might otherwise miss out on completely.
Some of the auction houses offer only jewelry or jewelry-only auctions, others offer jewelry alongside other estate items or art. And with Bidsquare, you can access it all from one site, with one account.
What makes Bidsquare so awesome?
Bidsquare carefully vets the auction houses they work with, you know that each piece listed has been carefully evaluated and authenticated by a jewelry specialist before making it onto the site.
You can also directly contact the jewelry specialists at each individual auction house if you have questions about something you want to bid on. It’s the polar opposite of eBay’s blurry photos and sketchy mystery sellers.
I did a quick search for reference, and there are 1,989 pieces of jewelry up on Bidsquare at this very second. It ranges from antique Victorian bangles to Southwestern silver to retro fabulousness, reasonably-priced diamond studs, and a giant contemporary emerald ring just on the first page of the search results.
Actually, I just lost 20 minutes browsing all of the new items that have popped up since I last checked a couple of days ago.
(With Bidsquare, you can filter all the jewelry – that’s across all participating auction houses – by price point, date listed, keyword, or other options. You can also set up alerts so that if you’re on the hunt for something specific, like “Cartier panther” or “Georgian hand clasp” you’ll get a notification when a lot comes up that matches that.
More jewelry + easy access = treasures at your fingertips, waiting to become yours.
I’m convinced! How do I get started?
Sign up for an account – it’s free and it’s easy. That way, you can save favorites, set up alerts, and get comfortable with the system so that when you’re ready to make your first bid, it’s easy-peasy. There’s even a welcome video to help you get set up to bid.
(I asked Bidsquare what advice they have to offer to people who are considering participating in their first auction, and they had some great tips:
Ask questions: Auction houses are happy to provide additional information and condition reports. Bidsquare puts you directly in touch with the auction house specialists if you inquire online through the product detail pages — you just need to ask. For example, if the size of a ring is not listed and you’d like to know what it is before bidding, press the ‘inquire’ button above the bid box and you can email the auction house any questions you have.
Do your research: Search Bidsquare’s free database online to research past prices of similar items. This will give you confidence to bid at the right price and increase your comfort level of bidding online.
Get Comfortable: Follow a live auction you’re not participating in to get a sense of how it works. Check out Bidsquare’s How It Works/FAQ pages and videos to understand how to bid in an auction
Register early: Registration on Bidsquare is free. All auctions on Bidsquare require you to register and be approved prior to bidding. You need to register because auction houses need to know who will be bidding in their auction. Register early to make sure you don’t miss out on the action!”
That all sounds good to me! I’m registered and I’m ready to lurk until I see the right lot to bid on.
All in all, I’m really impressed with Bidsquare, both as a concept and based on the variety and quality of interesting jewelry I’ve seen in their search results in my few visits so far.
What about you, my dears? Are you ready to check out Bidsquare?
(Ring)
All of the jewelry in this post comes from Bidsquare’s currently listed auctions. If you’d like a direct link to any one of these lots, just ask!
This sponsored post was brought to you by Bidsquare.
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“New online hobby” is right – ack! I will sign up and of course will spend far too much time on the site. Becky, you are such an enabler, lol!
Mwahahahha.