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Buying

Buy It Now, hybrid auctions, and what happens after you win.

Buy It Now vs auctions

Most listings are auctions — you bid against other buyers and the highest bid wins at the close time. Some listings also (or only) have a Buy It Now price: a fixed amount that lets you skip the auction and purchase immediately. Hybrid listings show both. On a hybrid without a reserve price, Buy It Now disappears the moment the first bid lands — after that the listing is auction-only. On a hybrid with a reserve, Buy It Now stays available until bidding meets the hidden reserve, so you can still buy outright while bids are below the seller's floor (doing so cancels those below-reserve bids and notifies the bidders). See Bidding for the reserve details.

What happens after I win or click Buy It Now?

We charge the payment method you bid with (or chose at Buy It Now checkout) for the bid amount + shipping + sales tax. The seller is notified to pack and ship; you get an order page at /orders/<id>/ showing live status — Won → Paid → Seller paid → Shipped → Delivered.

Your order page also surfaces the shipping address recap, tracking link (once the seller marks it shipped), and "Mark received" button so you can close the loop when the package arrives.

My payment failed — what now?

Card declines happen — expired, wrong CVV, fraud-protection block at your bank. The order pauses in Payment failed state with the specific decline reason. Update your card at Account → Payment methods, then hit "Retry charge" on the order page. The seller is notified your win is still good — they won't ship until payment lands.

How does the order page tell me what's happening?

Five steps:

1. Won — completed the second the auction closes in your favor (or you click Buy It Now).
2. Paid — your card or PayPal cleared. We've notified the seller.
3. Seller paid — the seller's portion has left Trevul's balance toward their account.
4. Shipped — seller marked it with carrier + tracking number.
5. Delivered — you clicked "Mark received," or 14 days passed since shipped and we auto-marked it.

I bid on the same listing twice — why can't I switch payment methods?

Your first bid on a listing locks in which payment method (Stripe or PayPal) AND which specific saved card / PayPal account will be charged if you win. Subsequent bids on the same listing reuse that snapshot. This means adding a new card later doesn't accidentally redirect a winning charge — but it also means you can't switch mid-auction. To use a different method, you'd have to retract (within the 12-hour window — see Bidding) and rebid.

Questions? support@trevul.com.