How to take part in an auction

1. Apply

   The next sale and its lot catalogue are on the online auction page. Press “I want to take part”: give your name and email (a phone number is optional), accept the terms of participation and consent to the processing of personal data. You do not need an account on the site. Applications are accepted until the sale starts or, if the terms give a deadline (“applications until …”), until that deadline.
2. Confirm your email

   We will send you an email headed “Confirm your email”: press “Confirm email” in it, then “Confirm” on the page that opens. Bids are accepted only from a confirmed address. No email? Check your spam folder or, after a few minutes, apply again with the same address: a new email will come.
3. Wait for approval

   The organisers review each application. Once it is approved, you will receive an email headed “Your access to the auction is open” with a personal link to the auction room – it works on any device. The link is personal – do not share it. Lost the email? The auction page has an “Already approved? Send me a sign-in link” button.
4. Study the lots and place advance bids

   Each lot shows its starting price (or the current bid once there are bids) and, for many lots, an estimate – an approximate valuation. See also how the price is set at a painting auction. Once approved, you can bid in advance, before the sale starts: an advance bid immediately becomes the lot’s current price and takes part in the sale. It is a fixed amount, not a ceiling: if it is outbid, you raise it yourself. Decide in advance how far you are prepared to go – it helps you not to get carried away during the sale.
5. Bid during the sale

   At the appointed time the auctioneer opens the lots one by one. The “Bid” button with an amount places the lowest bid allowed: the first bid on a lot equals the starting price, each later one the current price plus the step. Below the button is the “Custom amount” field: enter any sum not below the minimum and press “Bid”. Under the lot a countdown runs to the fall of the hammer: a new bid in the last half-minute extends the time, so the bidding does not break off at the last second. If your bid is the highest, the page says “Your bid is leading”.
6. The fall of the hammer

   The lot closes when the countdown ends – the auctioneer may also bring the hammer down earlier. It goes to the highest bidder. If a lot has a reserve price – the minimum selling price – the bid must reach it, otherwise the lot stays unsold. The result of each lot is shown on the auction page at once.
7. Give an address, pay and receive the work

   After the sale the winner receives an email with the auction results and a “Give the delivery address” button. Enter the address on the results page: all the lots you won travel in one parcel. We work out the delivery and issue one invoice – the price of the lots plus delivery. Once it is paid, we ship the work; the order status is shown on the results page and, if you applied from your site account, under “Lots you won” in your account.

You do not have to wait for an auction

A significant part of the collection is available to buy directly, outside the sales. In the catalogue each work shows a price or an option to request it – you can buy straight away, without waiting for the next auction and without bidding. For paintings in the collection and how to buy them, see “Buy an original painting”.

An auction house and an electronic trading platform are different things

In Russia the terms “electronic auction” and “online tenders” often refer to public procurement and bankruptcy sales – procedures on platforms such as Roseltorg or Sberbank-AST, where goods and services are procured or debtors’ assets are sold under Federal Laws 44-FZ and 223-FZ. If that is what you were looking for, you need one of those platforms, not an auction house.

Don Foundation is an art auction: it sells works of art – paintings, graphics, sculpture and decorative and applied art. The sales are open – anyone whose application the organisers approve can take part – and the items are offered with the artist, year and technique where known, and details of any expert assessment.