Frequently Asked Questions

Storage-unit auctions are sold as a job lot. Your bid is for the contents of the unit as a whole, not individual items. Unless the auction states otherwise, items are sold as is, where is, based on the listing, photographs and information supplied by the seller.

The storage facility or seller is responsible for the decision and legal authority to sell or dispose of the unit contents. Storage Auctions Australia provides the online auction marketplace and does not determine whether a seller is legally entitled to sell particular goods.

Yes. The buyer premium is currently 10%. SAA may change premiums or introduce service fees for future auctions, with at least 30 days’ notice to affected registered users before an increase or new fee. The notice states the new fee, effective date and affected auctions or services. Published auctions keep their original fee terms, and separately agreed fixed-term offers remain protected. You may decline future participation without a fee-change penalty. See section 6A of the Auction Terms.

Yes. A 10% buyer's premium is added to the winning bid. A separate fixed $200 pending cleaning hold is authorised as a pending credit-card hold through Stripe before collection. It is not paid upfront to SAA or the seller. The purchase charges and separate hold are shown before you confirm them.

The $200 pending cleaning hold is a fixed credit-card authorisation through Stripe, separate from the auction purchase. SAA and the seller do not receive the pending hold as a cash payment. After collection, the seller approves release if the unit is clean and empty, or records a reasonable cleaning or rubbish-removal charge up to $200 with a reason and photos. Only that charge is captured; the unused balance is released. Card holds expire, so renew the authorisation before collection if needed. Your card issuer controls when a released pending hold disappears.

You need an eligible bidder account and must comply with the platform and auction requirements. A facility cannot bid on its own auctions. Always check the location, collection requirements and auction-specific terms before bidding.

The highest valid bid at the final auction closing time wins only if any reserve price has been met and the auction has not been cancelled or affected by a material error. If the reserve is not met, there is no sale, even if you are the highest bidder. The final closing time includes any automatic bid extensions.

No. A bid is a commitment to purchase if you win. Take care when entering both normal bids and maximum bids. If you believe there has been a genuine account or technical problem, contact us promptly, but do not assume a bid can be withdrawn.

You can bid without online identity verification. After winning, complete payment and the required $200 cleaning hold before collection. At every collection, bring your original physical photo ID. Facility staff must match the person, legal name and date of birth before access, and must not photocopy, photograph or upload the ID.

For auctions marked for automatic payment, save a card securely with Stripe and accept the payment authority before bidding. If you win, the final winning bid plus the 10% buyer’s premium is charged to that card. Your hidden maximum is not charged. If your bank needs confirmation or the card is declined, follow the instructions on your payment page. The $200 pending cleaning hold is separate and must be authorised before collection. Auctions without this label keep their normal payment process.

The winning bidder is shown the result in their account and receives the relevant payment and collection instructions. Complete payment through the platform. Online Stripe Identity verification is not required for collection. Bring your original physical photo ID to every collection; staff must match the person, legal name and date of birth before access. Use the collection details shown for that auction.

Collection requirements can vary. The applicable collection period and available collection windows are shown for the auction. Successful bidders should arrange collection promptly and follow the facility's instructions rather than assuming a standard 72-hour period applies to every auction.

Storage-unit auctions are generally final sales of a job lot on an as-is, where-is basis. A change of mind or discovering that an item is worth less than expected does not normally create a right to a refund. Your statutory rights under Australian law are not excluded.

Winning the auction means taking responsibility for the entire job lot. You must remove or appropriately dispose of all contents in accordance with the facility's collection requirements. Leaving unwanted goods behind can affect your $200 pending cleaning hold.

Documents, photographs and other obviously personal items should not simply be discarded. Contact the selling facility and follow its instructions for returning or handling them.

A seller may be entitled to cancel an auction before completion, including where the storage customer resolves the matter or the facility can no longer proceed with the sale. If an auction is cancelled, it is no longer available for bidding.

Storage Auctions Australia uses anti-sniping. If a qualifying bid is placed near the scheduled closing time, the auction close is automatically extended by 2 minutes. Further qualifying late bids can extend it again. This gives other bidders a fair opportunity to respond instead of allowing a last-second bid to end the auction immediately.

You can set the maximum amount you are prepared to pay. The system then bids for you only as required to keep you in front, up to that maximum. Your maximum is not automatically offered as the current bid.

The bidding engine compares the competing maximums and advances the current bid according to the auction's bidding rules. The bidder with the stronger maximum remains ahead unless another valid bid overtakes it. Because competing maximums can be close together, the displayed bid can move by more than one normal increment.

You can increase your maximum bid while the auction remains open. A maximum bid already relied upon by the bidding system cannot simply be reduced to undo bidding that has occurred.

If you notice a concern before bidding, do not bid until you are comfortable with the listing. If you have won and identify a material issue at collection, raise it with the facility before removing the goods and contact Storage Auctions Australia if platform support is required.

The seller/facility is responsible for ensuring it has the legal right to sell or dispose of the unit contents and for complying with applicable legislation, agreements, notices and procedures. Storage Auctions Australia provides the auction platform; it does not replace the facility's legal compliance process.

Provide clear photographs, an accurate description, unit size and access information, collection availability and any relevant auction terms. The optional Appears to contain list can help bidders understand visible contents. Do not make guarantees about items you have not verified.

Yes. The seller can choose whether the physical unit number is displayed publicly. When it is hidden, Storage Auctions Australia retains the real unit number internally while bidders see that the unit number has been withheld by the seller.

Outstanding tenant debt is an internal seller field and is not displayed to bidders. It feeds the seller performance reporting so facilities can compare the amount owing on auctioned units with completed auction sale values and monitor debt recovery performance.

The platform finalises the auction according to its bidding and reserve rules. Sold auctions then move through winner payment, the facility’s physical photo-ID check at collection, and $200 pending cleaning hold processing before the facility payout becomes eligible.

Seller payouts are not simply released at the instant bidding closes. The successful bidder must pay, collection must be completed, the $200 pending cleaning hold outcome must be finalised and the facility's payout account must be ready. Eligible funds are then processed to the configured Stripe Connect payout destination.

Storage Auctions Australia's current auction checkout uses a 10% buyer's premium. Do not rely on fee structures from other auction platforms. Any applicable seller pricing or commercial terms are the terms agreed with Storage Auctions Australia.

Facilities can cancel an auction where permitted by the platform and their legal process. Once bids or other auction activity exist, cancellation should only be used for a legitimate reason. The platform records the cancellation and can notify affected bidders.

After the successful bidder collects the unit, the facility completes the collection/handover process and records the unit condition. The seller approves release of the $200 Stripe hold for a clean, empty unit, or documents a reasonable cleaning charge with a reason and supporting photos. Stripe captures only the approved amount up to $200 and releases the remainder. SAA facilitates this process; disputed charges can be referred to support, and statutory rights are preserved.

Use the seller account to check the auction, payment, identity and collection status first. For anything that cannot be resolved through the normal workflow, contact our support team and include the auction number, facility name and unit reference.