# Auctions

Find properties sold at auction, register as a bidder, place bids, and learn who can run an auction.

At an auction a seller — a private person or a company — sells a property through open bidding before a deadline. Taking part is free and no deposit is needed, but you need an account.

## Find auctions

[Auctions](https://leiakv.ee/en/auctions) lists auctions that are open now and those starting soon. An auction listing shows the start and end time in Estonian time, the starting price, the highest bid and every bid as it arrives.

## Register as a bidder

1. Sign in and open the listing.
2. Press **Register for the auction**.
3. Choose **Private buyer** or **Company**, enter your name as on your ID document and your phone number. For a company, also enter its registry code and your basis of representation.
4. Press **Send request**.

The listing's seller approves the request, asks you to correct it or declines it, and you get an email about the decision. If the seller asks for changes, update your details on the listing page. The listing's seller, and for a company, its members, cannot bid.

## Place a bid

Once the auction is open and you are approved, enter your amount and press **Place bid**. The first bid may equal the starting price; every later bid must beat the highest bid by at least the bid step. A bid cannot be withdrawn. You get an email when someone outbids you.

A bid in the last 5 minutes moves the end 5 minutes later, up to 2 hours past the original deadline.

Some auctions carry a hidden reserve price: the listing shows an icon marker, **Reserve**, but you never see the amount - only whether the reserve has been met (The reserve price has been met) or not (The reserve price has not been met yet).

## After the auction

The highest bidder and the seller receive each other's contact details and agree on the sale between themselves. leiakv does not conclude contracts or handle the purchase money.

If the listing had a reserve price and the highest bid stayed below it, the listing shows "Reserve not reached". The seller still gets the highest bidder's contacts and decides whether to sell anyway - you do not get the seller's contacts in that case.

## Who can run an auction

Auctions are run by sellers leiakv has approved - a private person or a company. To be approved, [contact leiakv support](https://leiakv.ee/en/help/contact-support) and say whether you sell as a private person or for a company. For a company, the company's owner or an admin should ask. You get an email with the decision.

## Run an auction

Once you have access, tick **This is an auction** when creating a sale listing in Estonia and set the start, end and bid step - an auction runs for at most 28 days. An existing sale listing can be turned into an auction on its management page with **Convert to an auction** - any days already paid for on the listing are not refunded.

An auction carries a flat fee, with no separate charge for how long the listing runs, and vouchers apply. leiakv tells you the amount when it grants you access. A private seller pays it at checkout with the listing, and the fee covers the auction and 7 days after it ends; for a company it is added to the monthly invoice. A private seller's auction stays pending until it is paid, and you can cancel it from the management page. If the start time you picked arrives before you pay, the payment can no longer be resumed - cancel the pending auction and pick new dates. Running a closed auction again is charged again.

You approve bidders in the auction section of the management page. The published start and end cannot be changed by you - write to support to move or cancel an auction.

You may also set a hidden **Reserve price** - a floor the sale should not fall below. Bidders see only whether it has been met, never the amount, and it can be at most 2 times the starting price. Once the auction has started you can only lower it or remove it entirely, on the management page with **Lower**, never raise it. Once it has been met it is locked and cannot be changed further; once the auction closes it is frozen for good.

More answers are in the [auction questions](https://leiakv.ee/en/faq/auctions).

## Related articles

- [Contact a seller](https://leiakv.ee/en/help/contact-seller) - Call the seller, email them or send a message from the listing page, and report a listing that looks wrong.
- [Create a listing](https://leiakv.ee/en/help/create-listing) - Add a property for sale or rent in five steps - details, photos and description, extras, preview and publishing.
- [Manage your company's listings](https://leiakv.ee/en/help/company-listings) - See the company's listings in one place, filter them by broker, and change, transfer or delete many at once.
- [Publish, promote and renew a listing](https://leiakv.ee/en/help/publish-pay-renew) - Choose how long your listing is shown, pay to publish it, add stars or a homepage feature, and extend or reactivate it before or after it expires.
- [Company billing and invoices](https://leiakv.ee/en/help/company-billing) - A company pays for each active listing per day and gets one invoice a month. See the running total for this month and download past invoices.

Canonical: https://leiakv.ee/en/help/tenders