How do I register?

It's simple. Just go to the Register tab on the home page, fill out the new user registration form, and submit it. You'll receive an activation email, sent to the email address that you provided during registration. Once you click on the link your ready to start buying and selling on esoouk!

Do I have to give you my personal details?

Yes. We do require your personal details from you, and they must all be correct. If you do not provide valid details we may immediately suspend your account for lack of contact information which can lead to problems in the future when contact with you needs to be made.

The personal information you provide is held with care and security. Please note esoouk does not pass on your personal information without your consent. Your address is required to enable sellers to post your item or to receive payment from buyers who purchase your items.

Your phone number is required in order to make contact, if necessary regarding your account.

How do you assure the privacy of my information?

We respect your privacy and would not abuse your information. Specifically:

Please refer to our Terms & Conditionsand Privacy Policyfor more information.

Is it free to join esoouk?

Joining esoouk is completely free. You can be bidding within a few minutes.

How Do I Claim My Free 1GB USB?

This is automatically sent out to you within the first 3 months of becoming a esoouk member, as long as you have listed 3 items to sell within the first 3 months and there are no issues on your account. We post it out directly to you so when you register ensure you register with the correct details.

I’ve been told my account is on Hold?

To allow genuine sellers a clean and efficient marketplace in which to trade, we ask all sellers to not break our listing rules.

If any of your items cross this boundary, ALL your auctions will be deleted without notice and your account placed on hold. When you try and login while your account is on hold you will find you are locked out. To remove this ban, please email us using the contact form in the Help section stating the item(s) you posted to create this ban and that you will not post such items any more. Please do not email us asking us what you did wrong, a simple apology will re-open your account almost immediately whereas a long winded email conversation will waste ours and your time.

If you state you will refrain from posting banned items and are caught a second time, the same will happen.

If you are caught a third time your account will be locked on a permanent basis. It is up to you to read the listing rules and abide by them, users are expected to familiarize themselves with the listing rules when they start an auction. "I didn't realise" won't be a valid excuse!

Continuous negative feedback will also see your account placed on hold. Always make sure your first feedback is positive otherwise your account will be investigated.

Holders of multiple accounts will also be placed on hold.

Users suspected of bidding on their own auctions (shilling or shill bidding) will see their accounts placed on hold.

Users with incomplete address details will be placed on hold.

How do I Start An Auction?

Once you have completed the new user registration form, click on the ‘Sell’ tab. Choose which category you want to place your item(s) into. Then follow the on screen instructions. You will need to enter details including the item details, a description, a photo if you have one, the starting bid price, how long you want it listed for…

Can I change my Auction Price or Quantity?

Yes, once you have logged in, go to your ‘open auction’ and click on ‘edit description’.

What is a Bid Increment?

The bid increment of your auction is the amount the minimum bid price is automatically raised by after each bid is made

How do I Contact the Buyer?

You will be automatically sent the buyers full contact details by email when your auction reaches its end.

What if I Can't Contact the Highest Bidder?

If you've been unable to contact the high-bidder by email, then you may, if you wish, contact the other bidders for your item. Please remember that many people don't access their e-mail daily, so they may not be intentionally ignoring you if you don't hear from them.

What is a Reserve Price?

The reserve price of an auction is the minimum price that the seller of the item is willing to sell the item for. This price should be above the minimum bid price. The auction will begin at the minimum bid price and once the bidding reaches the reserve price then the seller is obliged to sell the item placed for sale.

What if the Reserve Price Isn't Met?

If an auction ends and the reserve price has not been met, both the seller and the high bidder are released from any further obligation to complete the transaction. The buyer must know that if they did not meet the reserve price, then as stated, the seller will not be willing to sell the item.

How can I Add a Photo To My Auction?

If you have your photo on your hard drive then upload to your Gallery when you are listing a new auction or go to My eBid at any other time.

If you have your photo on your digital camera then you will need to move it onto your computer before you can upload it. Check you camera's instructions for doing this.

Uploading a picture to your new auction is very simple. When posting your item, under the Photo section, click on the choose button then in the Image Upload Form you can show the location of your image. If the image is on your PC use the Image Location on Hard Drive section (use the Browse button if you need to find the location). If the image is stored elsewhere on the Internet use the OR Web Image Location to indicate the address. Files should be only in jpeg and should be below 4mb in size. Or else the photo will not upload.

What is a Dutch Auction?

A Dutch Auction is an auction in which the seller has multiple identical items to sell. When starting a Dutch Auction the seller must enter the quantity, starting bid (reserve price is not used) and bid increments. All winning bidders pay the same price, which is the lowest successful bid.

Bidders must specify both a bid price and the quantity they want to buy.

Example:

Say there is a dutch auction for ten identical items..
Let's say at the end of the auction there have been four bidders...

the first bidder bid £3.00
the second bidder bid £4.00
the third bidder bid £5.00
the fourth bidder bid £6.00

At the end of the auction the four winning bidders each pay £3.00

What is the number next to the each username?

Every time a member has been involved in a successful auction they are expected to leave feedback on the counterparty. You have an option of leaving either Praise, Neutral or Negative feedback along with any comments you have about your experience with this member. This will give other members of the community an insight into the trustworthiness and reliability of this individual. To leave feedback you need to go to your “My esoouk” login area and click on the ‘my reputation’ link.

What is the BuyNow feature?

BuyNow allows you to list an item with a 'BuyNow' price above your specified reserve and starting price. If a potential bidder elects to use the 'BuyNow' price they will have to pay a premium. By paying the BuyNow premium the buyer is Guarenteed a successful purchase of your item. If the BuyNow feature is elected, the item listing will close immediately and will not enter into an auction type bidding war.

'BuyNow' will only be available during the opening period before any bidding activety has started. You can also use the BuyNow facility on its own without bidding facilities by choosing the Fixed Price method of selling.

Can I Stop Unwanted Users from Bidding on My Auctions?

If you have had a bad experience with a member in the past and you do not wish them to bid on your auctions. Log in to My esoouk and go under “selling” you will see a link “block User” click on this and add the User name you wish to block. And can also enter a reason so the User can see why they have been blocked

How do I Find Out How My Auction Ended?

Auction results are available within "My esoouk" section. You will need to login and go to under selling there will be a link which say “closed auctions” this will show you how the auction ended

What items are banned on esoouk?

Please refer to our prohibited listing policy

What if I'm Caught Breaking the esoouk policies

If you list any of esoouk’s prohibited items, your auction listing will be deleted without notice and your account placed on hold. When you try and login while your account is on hold you will find you are locked out. To remove this ban, please email us stating the item(s) you posted to create this ban and that you will not post such items any more. A simple apology will re-open your account almost immediately. If you are caught a second time your account may be locked on a permanent basis.

Continuous negative feedback will also see your account placed on hold. Always make sure your first feedback is positive otherwise your account could be investigated.

Holders of multiple accounts may also be placed on hold.

Suspected bidders on their own auctions (shilling) will see their accounts placed on hold.

Users with incomplete address details will be placed on hold.

What is Auto relist?

If your item did not sell, your item will automatically be re-listed if you selected this option when completing the listing.

Can I open an esoouk Store?

Yes. You can upload a logo, add a store title, create your categories and colours and set your store to "Online" and you are set. Upload auctions the same way you would normally and you will see an extra drop down menu allowing you to choose the category which the auction will be allocated to in your store.

All auctions in esoouk Stores are shown as normal within our search result and category/subcategory browse pages.

Can I add a Video to my auction?

Yes, you can upload a media file when creating your listing.

Can I Start and end My Auction at a Specific Time?

Yes, you can schedule the start time for your auction and when you would like your auction to end when completing your listing.

How do I find something to bid on and then make abid?

You can search for auctions using the search box at the top of every page. You can browse for auctions using the categories listed below the search box on every page.

What if the seller doesn't want to sell anymore?

Although this does not happen that frequently, since normally sellers are eager to sell their goods, it can be disappointing when it happens. We cannot "force" a seller to honour the final auction results. One remedy is to cast a negative comment about the seller by clicking on their rating (the number following the seller's username on the auction page).

How does esoouk automatically bid on my behalf?

If you cannot attend the auction and still want to place a bid, esoouk can bid for you.
If it is above the "lowest possible bid" amount, your maximum bid will be kept secret. If another member places a bid higher than your visible bid esoouk will bid on your behalf by increasing your bid by the current bid increment up to your maximum.

Can I reduce or retract my bid once it has been placed?

esoouk works on a basis of trust between registered members. If you place a bid, there is no mechanical way to retract your bid. If you finish as the highest bidder and do not wish to continue with the transaction, please notify the seller straight away so that they can in turn contact any underbidders who may still be interested in the purchase of the item.

Can I ask the seller a question?

Yes, and we recommend you do this if you have a query. If you go to the page where the item is listed and click on the "ask seller a question" button there you will be able to ask the seller a question via email. An email will be sent to the seller automatically with your question and inviting the seller to post an answer. As soon as they have posted a reply, you will receive an email with this information.

How do I find out how my auction ended?

You will be emailed within 15 minutes of the auction closing time.

After the Auction Closes & Making Payments

What do I do after the auction has finished?

esoouk acts as the venue for sellers to conduct auctions and for bidders to bid on sellers' auctions. esoouk is not involved in the actual monetary transaction between buyers and sellers, this can be done via a third party company like PayPal.com.

When the auction closes the Buyer and Seller will see an After Auction Log (AAL) appear at the top of the auction page. The AAL contains options for payment, questions, feedback etc. If the seller has chosen to accept a payment option that are integrated with esoouk (PayPal) then you should see links to make payment immediately. Otherwise you can use the AAL to contact each other and arrange delivery and payment for the item. If you do not hear from your counterparty immediately please be patient, there is in all likelihood a legitimate reason whey they have not responded.

Once you have received payment we would recommend sending the item as quickly as possible. You are much more likely to receive a positive feedback from a purchaser who receives a timely posting. Where possible obtain a postal reference, proof of posting or tracking number. If you send an item with a tracking number you could pass this to the purchaser so they can track the delivery.

esoouk recommends Paypal for all your online auction payments, they offer a safe and secure payment methof.

After payment and delivery have taken place, please leave feedback for each other to give other users an insight into the reliability and overall quality of each other..

Where can I find the buyer/seller email address?

Once the auction has completed, all successful parties are sent a confirmation email. The email contains the counterparties address and telephone number.

What if the buyer doesn't pay for the auction?

If you have allowed a reasonable time to elapse and you have not received payment, you should request payment by choosing "Send Payment Reminder" from the drop down menu on the After Auction Log.

If you have been unable to contact the counterparty and no payment has been received please leave the appropriate feedback or report the user as a Non Paying Buyer using the drop down menu on the After Auction Log page.

If you wish us to review any fees as a result of the action of a non paying buyer, simply contact us via our contact form on the Helpdesk index page. Please ensure you have left Negative feedback or reported the user as a Non Paying Bidder prior to contacting us..

How can I post feedback?

To post feedback for a particular auction you can use the "Leave Feedback" option from the drop down menu on the After Auction Log. You will then be taken to the Fee