How to bid for Rare Whisky
An Introduction To Bidding In Our Auction
We endeavour to offer the most user-friendly auction service available. If you have any queries throughout the auction process, or if you would like to suggest improvements, please contact us at [email protected].
Step 1 - Website Registration
Click Here to be taken to the website registration page. You must be a registered user to use Whisky Hammer, as a buyer and/or a seller. There is a one-off, non-refundable website registration fee of £5+VAT. This is to ensure that your registered card details are confirmed and to avoid illegitimate bidding.
Important - Account Verification
If you are planning to bid a cumulative value of over £2,000 in any auction we require some identity information. This is to ensure the legitimacy of bidders and to protect sellers. You can request for your account to be verified to bid over £2,000 here.
By registering you are agreeing to our Terms & Conditions – please make sure you read and understand the T&Cs.
Step 2 - Search Auctions
Our online auctions are hosted on a monthly basis. As a registered user we will send you an e-mail when an auction goes live. Please see dates of our upcoming auctions below;
| Auction Live / Ends (from 3pm UK time) | Bottles (from Seller) Required By... |
|---|---|
| 20th September - 29th September | 16th September |
| 18th October - 27th October | 14th October |
| 30th October - 3rd November | 27th October |
Step 3 - Place Your Bids
Bidding couldn’t be easier with our online auction system. Simply enter your maximum bid into the ‘place bid’ box. Whisky Hammer will automatically increase the bid level of the Lot incrementally (based on the table below) until it reaches your maximum bid. We will alert you by e-mail if you have been out-bid.
| Minimum Next Bid | Incremental Bid |
| £0 - £9.99 | £1.00 |
| £10 - £49.99 | £2.50 |
| £50 - £99.99 | £5.00 |
| £100 - £499 | £10.00 |
| £500 - £999 | £20.00 |
| £1000 - £2499 | £25.00 |
| £2500 - £4999 | £50.00 |
| £5000 - £24999 | £100.00 |
| £25000 - £49999 | £250.00 |
| £50000+ | £500.00 |
Auctions end from 7pm (UK time) on the end date. At the end of the auction we ensure that no-one is unfairly outbid by using 'anti-sniping' measures. This means that any bid placed in the last 10 minutes of the auction timer will simply extend the auction time on that Lot by a further 10 minutes. All placed bids are visible in your account whereby you will be able to check if your bids are winning, or outbid.
Step 4 - Payment
If you have successfully won an item – congratulations! We will alert you by e-mail and request that you follow a link to our secure payment page, in order to complete the purchase of the item and let us know your delivery requirements. Buyer’s commission of 12.5% (from April 2024) is added to the Hammer Price of all Lots.
We accept payment via Bank Transfer/BACS, and all major credit / debit cards. Please note that we do not accept American Express (Amex).
For customers out with the UK, a payment surcharge of 3.5% will apply to payments made by credit card.
If you are situated within the UK, 20% Value Added Tax (VAT) will be added to all fees, including commission charges and delivery.
Step 5 - Shipping
Whisky Hammer offers international shipping to as many locations as possible, but not all. Please make sure you check our Shipping Page before bidding to ensure that we can deliver to your location and also for information on shipping costs to your location. Please note that you will be responsible for any local taxes, duties or any other requirements when importing alcohol.
If you are nearby our HQ at Whisky Hammer, Udny, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, AB41 7PR – we also offer a free collection service. This option will be available at checkout and we simply ask that you provide us with a rough collection date so that we know when to expect you. You can pick up anytime from 10am to 5pm Monday-Saturday.
If you would like us to store your bottles, i.e if you are overseas and want to reduce average shipping cost, we can offer storage free of charge for 3 months after you have won an item. The idea here is to allow bidders the choice of bidding on 3 auctions in order to own a number of bottles before sending in a single shipment.
If you are based in Asia, check out our Singapore Bonded Warehouse service - this service aims to unlock a variety of great benefits and allows a more convenient and flexible logistics solution for buyers located in the Asia-region.
