FAQs

Registration for our online auctions is easy! Simply visit bid.orbitbid.com and click the “Register” icon in the upper right corner and proceed to complete the steps. This will generate a username/password that will allow you to access all of our auction sites, as well as our licensed auctions. You should be all set to start bidding on any of our online auctions!

Please refer to our Privacy Policy regarding protection of your personal information.

You need only to register once for our online auctions. At that time you will choose a username and password which is good for all of our online auctions.

Yes. Our system is fully encrypted and personal information and credit card information are kept in completely different systems. We do not sell our lists to anyone. Your contact information will only be used by our staff if you are the high bidder. Click here to review our Privacy Policy.

Don’t worry, this happens to everyone at one time or another.

• If you forget your Username, our Customer Service team can help you retrieve it and get you back into your account. You will need to be able to verify a few things about your account for us. Contact our Customer Service team at 616-261-4987 to begin retrieving your login information.
• If you forget your password, there are a few different ways that you can get a new password sent to you. The first way would be by answering the hint question and having a password sent to your email. If that solution doesn’t work for you, contact our Customer Service team at 616-261-4987 and they will be able to get you into your account

A “Credit Card isn’t Valid” message usually means that the information entered doesn’t exactly match the way it reads on your card. Verify that the card number, name, expiration date, three-digit security code on the back of the card reads EXACTLY as it appears on the card. The billing address also needs to be entered exactly how it shows on your billing statement. This includes middle initials, periods, etc. If all information is confirmed to be accurate, please contact your bank or credit card issuer.

Orbitbid.com requires a credit card on file in order to place a bid.  

You will be prompted when you attempt to place a bid to add a card on file. 

OR

• Sign In at bid.orbitbid.com
• Click on ACCOUNT at the top right of the page
• Select CREDIT CARDS from the menu bar on the left side of the page
• Select ADD CREDIT CARD located on the gray bar
• Enter credit card information as requested in each field, be sure that your address matches the address associated with your billing information
• Click the four confirmation boxes, and click SAVE

Yes, all online Miedema Companies websites feature the option for the user to ‘pre-bid’ on the item. A pre-bid is a specified dollar amount that is initiated before the auction goes live. This allows you to establish a maximum that you’re willing to pay for the item. During the actual auction, your name will be displayed as the high bidder as long as your pre-bid remains the highest bid.* Posted closing times and displays of Auction Co.’s current time are approximate. Auction Co. reserves the right to close early or extend auctions at any time at its discretion. It is strongly recommended that bids be placed early to avoid losing out. All times are based on the Time Zone as specified on the auction.

Dynamic bidding – The dynamic bid on this website is a feature that does NOT allow an item to sell at the end of the auction until there is 10 minutes of bidding inactivity. Example: An item is bid on at 7:50pm. An auction is scheduled to close at 8:00pm. When this bid is placed the ending time will automatically extend to 8:10pm. When another bid is placed at 8:01 the auction will extend to 8:20pm. This will give the bidder 19 minutes to place another bid. If no bids are placed this auction will conclude at 8:20pm. The key to your dynamic bidding feature is that the auction extends from the preset closing time in 10 minute intervals, NOT 10 minutes from when you placed your bid.

Now you are ready to bid on any and all of our online auctions at your own convenience. Happy bidding!

*Assuming that there are no higher pre-bids placed by other users before the auction begins.

Pre-bidding is a feature that all Online-Auction Software (OAS) websites have. It is a feature that allows you to bid on items before the day of the auction. These bids are placed not knowing what the current bid on the item is. You will have to place your maximum bid for each item that you bid on. This is a nice feature to use if you are unable to place a bid on the day of the actual auction.

A maximum bid can be placed in the pre-bidding stages of the auction or during the auction itself. Establishing a maximum bid allows you to establish the most you are willing to bid for a specific item. It ensures that you will continue to be the highest bidder at the lowest qualifying bid until another user either outbids your maximum or establishes a higher maximum bid than you have. If the auction closes before your maximum bid is reached, then you will have won the item for less than you maximum bid.

A bid increment is the required raise in bid price.

For example, if the current bid is at $500 and the bid increment is $25, the next acceptable bid would be $525 or more.

After clicking the ‘place bid’ button on the page, a notice will appear to indicate as to whether your bid was successfully accepted or if your bid did not meet the minimum requirement. You may set your account settings to receive notifications of bid status by email.

No. Bids are final in nature and non-retractable. Any bid or pre-bid that is placed is a legal binding contract. However, if you place a bid or pre-bid you can always “freeze” your bid so there is a chance that you will not be the winning bidder of the item.

The “freeze” button is only visible when you are the high bidder, and you have a maximum bid in place. This button is a helpful feature that can be used if you type in a bid incorrectly. If you are trying to bid $100 on an item, but you mistakenly bid $10,000 on the item. Clicking the “freeze” button would stop your bid from auto bidding until your max bid of $10,000. You are still able to rebid on the item with the correct bid that you would like to place.

Scheduled ending times are stated in the bidding area for each item. Our system is a dynamic bidding, anti-sniping type system, meaning that if someone bids within the last 10 minutes of the auction, the auction will go into an overtime period and will extend ten minutes past the stated end time. If someone bids within that overtime period, the auction will extend another 10 minutes and so on until there has been a 10 minute overtime period without bidding activity. We believe this is the fairest way to make sure all parties have an opportunity to bid and don’t lose out in the last few seconds because of a slow internet connection or computer issue. The key to the dynamic bidding feature is that the auction extends from the preset closing time in 10 minute intervals, not 10 minutes from when you placed your bid.

A Buyer’s Premium is a transaction fee added to the high bid to be paid by the buyer as part of the Auctioneer’s compensations. The Buyer’s Premium is also explained in the site and auction terms of each individual auction.

The buyer’s premium is based on the winning bid amount for each individual lot within an invoice. The buyer’s premium is also a taxable fee. If you would like more information on this Click Here.

Inspection times are posted below each lot under Terms.  In general, inspection is the day before & day of the auction.

When you have a question about a certain lot there is a few different ways that you can get your question answered.

• First, you can contact our Customer Service team at 616-261-4987 or info@orbitbid.com and they can assist you with your question.
• Second, you can look under the lot contact information and contact them with your question. This information is listed on the right side of the screen. It will have the phone number and email address of the individual who to contact if you have any questions that you would like an answer to. 
• Third, you use our “Ask a Question” feature that is shown on every lot. Just below the lot pictures is where this is located. If you click on the purple question mark (?) you will be able to submit a question that will go straight to a manager. They will contact you back via email with the answer as soon as they are able to.

• Sign In at Orbitbid.com
• Click on the WATCH LIST tab at the top right of the page
• On the left hand side, you can filter through ALL, UPCOMING, or COMPLETED lots as well as AUCTION DATES, and items you are WATCHING, BIDDING, or SELLING.

Unfortunately, they do not.  Payment needs to be made prior to pick up either online or at one of our Repocast.com facilities.

• Sign In at Orbitbid.com
• Click on ACCOUNT at the top right of the page
• Under Buying click on INVOICES, then click the VIEW tab of the invoice you would like to pay
• Click on PAY ONLINE at the top right of the invoice, select which card you would like to make payment with and enter the CVV code
• Check the box stating you agree you will not dispute the charge, and click PAY NOW

Yes. Someone can pick up the items that you win on your behalf.

• Photo ID and thumbprint will be scanned during every transaction at the time of pickup. We respect your privacy and we value you as a customer. The photo ID and thumbprint requirement is a security measure to document the actual person picking up item(s) from our facility. The intent of the requirement is to protect you and us, ensuring the items make it to the winning bidders.

EXCEPTION

• If you are having someone pick up a titled vehicle/trailer or camper for you, please call us at 616-261-4987 to speak to our title clerk to discuss additional paperwork that may be necessary. Appointment of Agent Form

• Payment due date is in the upper right corner of invoices.
• Typically, Orbitbid auctions have 2 days for payment to be received.
• However, this does depend on the auction. If you view the terms of the auction it will show this information for each individual auction. It will include the inspection times, payment and pickup times as well.

• Typically, Orbitbid auctions have 3 days for pickup after the auction.

• However, this does depend on the auction. If you view the terms of the auction it will show this information for each individual auction. It will include the inspection times, payment and pickup times as well.

Orbitbid does NOT ship auction items. Buyers, however, can set up shipping with a 3^rd party to remove & ship items on their behalf.

• Sign In at Orbitbid.com
• Click on WATCH LIST at the top right of the page
• You can remove items from your watch list by clicking REMOVE ALL located on the gray bar on the watch list page, or by clicking the WATCH LOT icon that appears as a green eye next to the bid icon tab.

All Michigan Tax Exemption claim forms need to be e-filed through your Orbitbid.com online account.

Steps to complete:

• Log into account at Orbitbid.com
• Click account in upper right corner
• Under buying section, click invoices (for one-time form) OR tax exemption claims for a blanket form.
• Complete form fully. It will not save if all fields are not completed.
• Click sign and save button.

To comply with Michigan Sales Tax Exemption claims, this is the only way to fill out a form and for our companies to remove tax.

• Sign in at Orbitbid.com
• Click on ACCOUNT
• Click on INVOICES
• View your invoice
• Above the invoice number in light blue select CLAIM TAX EXEMPTION
• Select your tax form and click SAVE

• Sign In at Orbitbid.com
• Click on ACCOUNT
• Select PROFILE from the menu bar on the left side of the page
• On the profile bar, select CHANGE PASSWORD
• Enter your current password and new password as requested in each field, and click SAVE

• Sign In at Orbitbid.com
• Click on ACCOUNT
• Select PREFERENCES from the menu bar on the left side of the page
• From here you can enable notifications whenever you are OUTBID via text or email, or select notices for UPCOMING AUCTIONS

• Sign In at Orbitbid.com
• Click on ACCOUNT
• Select PAYEE ACCOUNTS (TIN) from the menu bar on the left side of the page
• If there is a pending form listed click the yellow COMPLETE If there is not a pending form to complete hit the green ADD PAYEE ACCOUNT
• Fill out required fields and click SIGN AND SAVE

• Sign In at Orbitbid.com
• Click on ACCOUNT at the top right of the page
• Under SELLING click on STATEMENTS, or LOTS SELLING, from there you can see what you have listed to sell
• Select SHOW ALL located on the gray bar to view OPEN or CLOSED
• Click on VIEW next to the lot to see more information.