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New to auctions? Start here

Never used an auction site before? This is the five-minute version of how buying works on Trevul — what an auction is, how you actually win one without watching the clock, and the few words (reserve, Buy It Now, Max Auto-Bid) that are worth knowing up front. Each section links to a deeper page if you want it.

What is an auction?

Most listings on Trevul are auctions. Instead of a fixed price, buyers place bids, and the highest bid when the clock runs out wins the item. Each listing shows the current high bid and a countdown to its close time.

One important thing: a bid is a commitment, not a maybe. If you're the high bidder when the auction ends, you've bought the item and you'll be charged automatically — so only bid what you're willing to pay.

Do I have to sit and watch the clock?

No — and you don't have to keep topping up your bid by hand either. Trevul uses Max Auto-Bid (the auction world calls this "proxy bidding"). You tell Trevul the most you're willing to pay, and it bids for you in the smallest steps needed to keep you in front — never more than your limit, and only when someone challenges you.

Example: the high bid is $40 and you set a Max Auto-Bid of $100. Trevul bids $41 for you. If someone bids $50, Trevul answers $51. If nobody pushes past you, you win at $41 — even though you were willing to go to $100. Your limit stays private; other bidders only see the current visible bid. This is the relaxed way to bid: set your number and walk away.

More detail → Bidding (bid increments, Max Auto-Bid rules).

What stops someone sniping it in the last second?

Trevul has anti-sniping. If a bid lands in the final hour, the close time pushes out by another hour, so a last-second bid can't steal the win before you get a chance to respond. The clock keeps extending as long as people keep bidding in that final stretch. You get a fair shot even on a slow connection.

What's a "reserve price"?

Some sellers set a reserve — a hidden minimum they're willing to accept. The exact number stays secret, but the listing tells you where things stand with a badge:

• Reserve not met — bidding hasn't reached the seller's minimum yet. If the auction ends here, there's no sale even if you're the high bidder, and your card is not charged.
• Reserve met — bidding has cleared the minimum, and the auction will close as a normal sale to the high bidder.

A reserve is just the seller's price floor — bid the way you normally would (your Max Auto-Bid protects you up to your limit either way).

What's "Buy It Now"?

Buy It Now is a fixed price that lets you skip the bidding and buy the item outright, right now. Some listings are Buy-It-Now only (they work like a normal online store — click, pay, done). Others are auctions that also offer a Buy It Now price:

• If the auction has no reserve, Buy It Now goes away the moment the first bid is placed — after that it's a pure auction.
• If the auction has a reserve, Buy It Now sticks around until bidding meets that hidden minimum, so you can still buy outright while bids are low.

More detail → Buying (Buy It Now, hybrid auctions, the order page).

I won — now what?

When you win an auction (or click Buy It Now), Trevul charges the payment method you used — your bid amount plus shipping plus sales tax — automatically. You don't send money to the seller yourself. The seller is notified to pack and ship, and you get an order page that tracks the whole thing through five steps: Won → Paid → Seller paid → Shipped → Delivered.

Once the seller ships, your order page shows the tracking link. When your plant arrives, click "Mark received" to close it out (if you forget, Trevul auto-marks it delivered 14 days after shipment).

More detail → Payments · Shipping.

What does it cost me to bid?

Nothing beyond the item itself: you pay your winning bid (or the Buy It Now price) + shipping + sales tax. There's no separate buyer fee for bidding or winning — Trevul's selling fees are paid by sellers, not buyers.

Before your first bid

Trevul asks for three quick things before you can bid, so a win can actually be paid for and shipped:

• A verified email — confirm the link we send you.
• A payment method — a card (Stripe) or PayPal saved on your account.
• A shipping address — somewhere to send the plant.

If any are missing, the bid form points you straight at the page to fix it. One quirk worth knowing: your first bid on a listing locks in which payment method will be charged if you win, so set up the method you want before you bid.

More detail → Bidding → "Why can't I bid on this listing?"

Still have questions? support@trevul.com.