Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Getting Started
There are numerous ways to bid in our different auction types.
For a RIAC On Time Auction, all participation is via our website. To bid, sign into your account and navigate to the auction. When you find a lot you’d like to bid on, you may click “Next Bid” to place a single bid, or you may click “Max Bid” to set a maximum amount. If you have elected to receive outbid notifications, you will receive them in the event you are outbid.
For our Premier Auction events, there are five ways to participate.
1. In person
In person bidding is by far the most exciting way to participate at auction. Please register to bid prior to auction. Pre-registering can be done via your web account or by contacting our Customer Support team. Remember to bring your driver's license and a major credit card. Registered bidders will receive a bidding card. When your lots comes up for bid, raise your card each time you’d like to place a bid.
2. RIAC Live
RIAC Live is our proprietary software that brings the auction house to you. With live, streaming video, you can stay up-to-date with the action and place bids from anywhere you have an internet connection. An extra 1% will be added to the buyer’s premium for winning bids placed using this service.
3. Phone Bidding
Phone bidding allows you to bid with a RIAC representative anywhere you can receive a phone call. When you choose to phone bid on a lot, a RIAC representative will call you from our auction hall approximately five lots prior to your item crossing the podium, and will bid per your instructions.
4. Absentee Bidding
Absentee bidding is a bid placed prior to auction. You indicate a maximum amount and our auctioneers will bid on your behalf, attempting to win the lot for you at the lowest price.
5. 3rd Party
Our auction events are also made available via 3rd party platforms such as Proxibid and Invaluable. Please keep in mind, those platforms will assess additional fees to successful bidders utilizing their services.
You must create an account at Rock Island Auction prior to bidding. This is most easily done via our website, but can also be done by contacting our Customer Support team.
The Customer Support team may be reached via email, live web chat, or by calling 1-800-238-8022.
At Rock Island Auction Company, we offer two auction types: Premier and On Time
Our timed auctions are known as RIAC On Time. These popular auctions allow bidding on items during a set period of time. Lots begin closing at the end of the pre-determined time, and the high bidder when time expires is the winner. All participation is online and there is no in-person event.
Our Premier Firearms Auctions take place with an in-person audience at our Bedford, Texas selling venue. During a Premier Firearms Auction, our auctioneers accept bids from in-person bidders, RIAC Live, phone bidders, as well as absentee bids.
Sign into your web account, navigate to the auction, find a lot you are interested in and click the “Place Bid” button. Enter your bid amount, select a +1 or +2 if desired, and click “Place Bid.” This will place your bid into your Bid Cart. When you have finished placing all your bids, you must submit them.
To submit your bids, you may click the shopping cart icon in the upper right corner of the website or may navigate to the “Cart – Unsubmitted Bids” tab in the “My Account” page. To submit all your bids, click the “Submit Bids” button.
To avoid a tie, absentee bidders may wish to place a +1 or +2 on their bid. This will authorize the auctioneer to place an additional single bid (+1) or two bids (+2) on your behalf to win the lot.
Bidders utilizing absentee bids are encouraged to bid early, as in the event of a tie the lot will be awarded to the earliest placed absentee bid.
Absentee bidding may be done via our website, calling or emailing our Customer Support team, or by mailing or faxing us a completed bid form. Please contact us to receive a bid form.
When you request a phone bid, you will be called during the live auction by a RIAC representative who will bid per your instructions.
The easiest way to request a phone bid is via our website. Sign into your web account, navigate to the auction, find a lot you are interested in bidding via phone, and click the “Phone Bid” button. You will then see a confirmation message and have the option to indicate a Cover Me bid.
In the event you cannot be reached, your Cover Me bid allows your phone bidder to safely bid for you up to your specified amount.
You may also contact our Customer Support team for assistance requesting a phone bid.
To bid with RIAC Live, sign into your web account and register to bid for each auction in which you’d like to participate.
Approximately 15 minutes prior to auction the RIAC Live service will be activated on our website and a large link will appear on our homepage. Clicking the link will take you to the RIAC Live auction page. When you are ready to participate, click “Enable Bidding” and the buttons to bid will be active. The button to bid will show the current asking price. Clicking it will signal our representative in the auction hall to place a bid on your behalf.
General Auction Questions
Yes. Navigate to the auction catalog on our website, and use the available filters to find your desired items. When finished, locate the “Download Catalog as PDF for Printing” button or the “Download Catalog as EPub” to view on eReader devices.
All payments made by credit card are subject to an additional 3.5% service fee.
Sales tax and shipping charges may also apply.
Catalogs may be purchased via our website. You may also contact our Customer Support team via telephone or email.
Complimentary digital versions can be found on our homepage while that auction is accepting bids.
Only our Premier Auctions have a catalog available for purchase. These multi-volume sets are filled with stunning photography, detailed descriptions, full condition statement, and facts relevant to collectors.
Our website offers the ability to create multiple wishlists. Sign in to our website, navigate to the desired auction, and find them item you’d like to track. On the main catalog or in the individual item listing, click the “Add to Wishlist” button. You will be prompted to add the item to a certain wishlist and add any notes. If you have no current wishlists, you will be able to create one.
Items on your wishlist will also be highlighted when using RIAC Live.
For our Premier Auctions, we offer a full day of preview the day before each auction is held. If you are unable to attend, please contact us to inquire about a private viewing.
For any auction, we are also happy to answer questions or take additional photos of an item. Please contact our Customer Support team with either request.
Our RIAC On Time Auctions do not offer a preview day or private previews, but do accept requests for photos and additional information.
For our Premier Auctions, a text message can be sent 20 lots prior to your desired lot. To set up a text message alert for an item, sign into your account, navigate to the desired lot, and click “Add text alert.”
Conditional bidding helps our clients bid aggressively for the guns they want. Here are three examples of conditional bidding.
Ex. 1: “When my total winnings hit $10,000, please cancel all my remaining bids.”
Ex. 2: “If I win lot X, please cancel my bid on lot Y.”
To set up conditional bids, please contact our Customer Support team.
Rock Island Auction Company uses fixed bid increments. They are set intervals our auctioneers use to request the next bid. Please see the table below to see where the bid increments change.
| $50 - $200 | $10 increment |
| $200 - $500 | $25 increment |
| $500 - $1,000 | $50 increment |
| $1,000 - $2,000 | $100 increment |
| $2,000 - $5,000 | $250 increment |
| $5,000 - $10,000 | $500 increment |
| $10,000 - $20,000 | $1,000 increment |
| $20,000 - $50,000 | $2,500 increment |
| $50,000 - $100,000 | $5,000 increment |
| $100,000 - $200,000 | $10,000 increment |
| Over $200,000 | Auctioneer's Discretion |
A buyer’s premium is a percentage of the winning bid paid by the buyer in addition to their winning bid. The buyer’s premium is 17.5% for our Premier Auctions, with an additional 1% if the winning bid is submitted using RIAC Live.
The buyer’s premium for RIAC On Time is 18.5%.
We currently hold Premier Auctions and RIAC On Time Auctions.
Premier Auctions are the flagship events of the collectible firearms world. They contain elite items from lifelong collections spanning eras, genres, countries, and technologies. One can expect to find high condition, rare, artistic, and high quality items for both the accomplished and aspiring collector.
Our RIAC On Time Auctions are timed auctions and our most recent auction format. These auctions allow bidding for a pre-determined amount of time, and when that time runs out the highest bidder of each lot will win its items.
Questions About Absentee Bidding
An absentee bid is a bid placed prior to auction. You indicate a maximum amount and our auctioneers will bid on your behalf, attempting to win the lot for you at the lowest price.
Users may add a +1 or +2 to their bid. This permits the auctioneer to add an additional bid increment (+1), or two bid increments (+2), to the absentee bid in order to win the lot. This helps eliminate ties among absentee bidders, and can give an edge to win items with commonly known values.
Premier Auctions: If given ample time prior to an item being sold by the auctioneer, we can cancel an absentee bid. Please contact our Customer Support team for assistance.
RIAC On Time: We are not able to cancel a bid once placed.
Third Party: You must contact the third party bidding service to cancel your bid.
Premier Auctions do not receive the instantaneous outbid notifications that RIAC On Time does, but you can always check your bid standings in the “My Bids” portion of your web account.
To receive email updates of your bid standings as auction approaches, visit your web account and check the “Bidder Notifications” box in the Email Notifications section.
RIAC Live Questions
RIAC On Time Questions
No. At the pre-determined closing time, a lot will close every 15 seconds. If there is last minute bid, the bidding window will be extended by five minutes.
Yes. On your “My Account” page you may select whether you’d like to receive them and via which method: email, text, or both.
No. if your max bid is placed first, then you will remain the winning bidder until your max bid is surpassed.
All lots will display the current high bid. To place a bid, click “Next Bid” or “Max Bid.”
Clicking Next Bid will place a bid one increment higher than the current bid.
Clicking Max Bid will prompt you to enter your maximum bid for the lot. Max bid will bid on your behalf the minimum amount required for you to win the lot, up to your designated maximum. It is possible to win a lot for less than your max bid.
RIAC On Time is our take on the familiar timed auction format. Each RIAC On Time auction will be placed on our website for a pre-determined amount of time, during which clients may place bids. At the end of the period, lots will begin closing and shall be awarded to the highest bidder when time expires.
Post Auction Questions
At the end of each day, absentee bidders will be notified via email if their bids were successful or not. This information is also available via the “Won Auctions” tab of your online account at the end of each auction day.
The Prices Realized is a document containing each lot’s realized price. A realized price is the lot’s hammer price plus the buyer’s premium.
Typically the day following a Premier Auction’s conclusion. You can search them via the auction catalog.
Many items, such as antique arms and non-firearms lots, can be shipped or released directly to you. For firearms or other regulated items, this can depend on your location, applicable licenses, as well as the item’s ATF classification (Curio & relic, modern, NFA, etc). For questions on a specific lot, please contact our Customer Support team.
Purchases typically ship 2-3 weeks after payment is received. You can help this process by completing the Express Checkout in your online account. A link to the form will be included in all successful bid notifications emailed at the end of each auction day.
Rock Island Auction Company is legally considered a “Marketplace Facilitator” and therefore required to collect sales tax when applicable. The tax assessed is based on the state to which the items are shipped.
We require a resale certificate to be on file in advance of the sale. If you are a reseller or want to find out about your state’s requirements on taxes for resellers, please visit this link.
General Questions
If you are attending to preview only, the admission charge is $10/day, payable by cash or credit card (debit cards not accepted). Children under 12 are free.
Not if you have pre-registered. Pre-registering can be done via your account page. If you attend in person and are not pre-registered, the fee is $50, credit card only, which will be applied to your invoice. If you are not successful, it will be donated to a local charity. Registered bidders are allowed one free guest. Children under 12 are free.
Selling with Rock Island Auction
Absolutely. You may use this webform to submit images and information, or may contact our Acquisitions Team by email or by calling 1800-238-8022.
We charge a simple, fixed percentage of the item’s hammer price. That percentage is determined by the quality and quantity of the items. Please contact our Acquisitions team for additional information.
The first step is to submit your item for a complimentary estimate of what it may bring at auction. Once a value and terms are agreed upon, arrangements must be made to transport or ship the item to our facility. From there our firearms experts, photographers, and marketing team take over to do what they do best.
On auction day, you can watch your items cross the podium in person or on RIAC Live. Payments for items will be sent 35 days after auction.