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Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about buying and selling spirits at Whisky.Auction, from registering with us to taking part in an auction.

Whether you're new to buying and selling spirits or you've got a specific query about buying or selling with Whisky.Auction, our FAQs provide everything you need to know.

General | Buying | Selling

general Top

You can use Whisky.Auction to buy or sell bottles of single malt Scotch whisky, blended whisky, Japanese whisky, Irish whiskey, American whiskey such as bourbon, other world whisky, Cognac, Armagnac, gin, rum, vodka, tequila, liqueurs, vermouth, fine wine, vintage Champagne, vintage port. We are here to help so contact us for more advice on what we accept.

You can also buy and sell miniature whiskies and spirits and whisky memorabilia, whisky books, crystal decanters, whisky jugs and whisky mirrors.

Setting up an account to sell and buy on Whisky.Auction is straightforward. There is a one-off registration fee of £5 for buyers, you can bid on as many items as you like. It is free for sellers to register.


If you need help you can contact us and we’ll help guide you through the registration process.

Go to the log In page, enter your email address and password, and then click the LOG IN button.

If you know your password, log in and go to your user profile then click the change password button.
If you've forgotten your password, go to the log In page, click the forgotten password link and enter your email address. A link to allow you to reset your password will be emailed to you.

Our offices are in north-west London. You can find full details on our Contact Us page.

We run a monthly live auction as well as regular specialist miniature live auctions. Each auction runs for ten days.

In each auction we will list items received and accepted before the cut-off time indicated below. The dates for our auctions are as follows:

2024 Auction Dates
Auction Submission cut-off Auction Live Auction Ends
Whisky & Spirits 19 March 7 April 16 April 2024
Miniatures, Memorabilia & Books 2 April 21 April 30 April 2024
Whisky & Spirits 23 April 5 May 14 May 2024
Whisky & Spirits 21 May 2 June 11 June 2024
Fine & Rare Wines 28 May 16 June 25 June 2024
Whisky & Spirits 25 June 7 July 16 July 2024
Whisky & Spirits 16 July 28 July 6 August 2024
Whisky & Spirits 20 August 1 September 10 September 2024
Whisky & Spirits 17 September 29 September 8 October 2024
Miniatures, Memorabilia & Books 1 October 13 October 22 October 2024
Whisky & Spirits 15 October 27 October 5 November 2024
Fine & Rare Wines 29 October 10 November 19 November 2024
Whisky & Spirits 12 November 24 November 3 December 2024

Buying Top

First make sure that you are logged in, then find a lot that you wish to bid on. When you've found something you like the look of, enter your maximum offer and click the Bid button.

The current winning bid in an auction goes up in intervals, based on the value of the previous winning bid:

From To Increment
£2 £9.99 £1
£10 £29.99 £2
£30 £99.99 £5
£100 £499.99 £10
£500 £999.99 £25
£1,000 £1,999.99 £50
£2,000 £4,999.99 £100
£5,000 £14,999.99 £200
£15,000 £29,999.99 £500
£30,000 £99,999.99 £1,000
£100,000 £100,000+ £5,000

When you enter your maximum bid, the auction will automatically raise your bid and that of the winning bidder until one of you has the highest bid. It will stop when it reaches either your maximum bid or the other bidders.

You can easily increase or reduce your maximum bid to any value above the current bid by setting a new bid limit.

Bidding on an item at auction is a legal contract so we don't allow the retraction of bids, outside of what we are legally obliged to. Contact us as soon as possible after making an accidental bid and we will see what we can do to help. Please note that repeated requests for bid retractions will lead to your account at Whisky.Auction being closed.

We charge a commission on all sales made through Whisky.Auction, so each lot will cost slightly more than the final bid. Your invoice may also include postage if you have asked for your lots to be shipped to you. You can find details of our commission rates on our Buying page, and our shipping rates on our Delivery Charges page.

For questions on VAT, please see our dedicated page, Auction VAT Explained

If your items are damaged, you must contact us immediately. It is essential that you provide proof of the damage, we will need to see photos of the damaged items, including a photo of the bottle seal as well as the packaging

We take all possible measures to ensure the quality of liquid in any bottles that are sold through Whisky.Auction is of the highest standard. However, this is not something we can guarantee. All spirits, liqueurs, wines, sparkling wines and fortified wines are therefore bought at the buyer's own risk and we do not take responsibility for corked or faulty bottles.

You can find details of our shipping rates on our Delivery Charges page.

You can select the ‘Collection’ option when you are paying for your purchases at checkout. Please contact us to make an appointment to pick up your purchases within 10 working days of checking out, or we may apply a storage charge of £2 per bottle per day.

Unfortunately due to space restrictions we cannot currently store lots that you have won. All purchases must be paid for within four working days of the auction ending. We will ship them as payment clears or if you chose collection you must collect within 10 working days.

Selling Top

Selling on Whisky.Auction is easy. Once you have created your seller account (this is free) go to Sell My Items to tell us which bottles you wish to sell. This automatically creates a packing slip for you. So just print out your list of items and add it your parcel. You can find any past lists you’ve created in your dashboard.

We recommend packaging in plenty of bubble wrap and polystyrene in a sturdy cardboard box and to use your preferred courier. You can find really useful advice on the best way to pack a bottle on our magazine.

If you need help with any of this, please contact us.

Bottles must arrive before the cut-off date to be included in an auction. Anything arriving after that date will be automatically listed in the following auction.

The cut-off dates for our auctions are as follows:

2024 Auction Dates
Auction Submission cut-off Auction Live Auction Ends
Whisky & Spirits 19 March 7 April 16 April 2024
Miniatures, Memorabilia & Books 2 April 21 April 30 April 2024
Whisky & Spirits 23 April 5 May 14 May 2024
Whisky & Spirits 21 May 2 June 11 June 2024
Fine & Rare Wines 28 May 16 June 25 June 2024
Whisky & Spirits 25 June 7 July 16 July 2024
Whisky & Spirits 16 July 28 July 6 August 2024
Whisky & Spirits 20 August 1 September 10 September 2024
Whisky & Spirits 17 September 29 September 8 October 2024
Miniatures, Memorabilia & Books 1 October 13 October 22 October 2024
Whisky & Spirits 15 October 27 October 5 November 2024
Fine & Rare Wines 29 October 10 November 19 November 2024
Whisky & Spirits 12 November 24 November 3 December 2024

We fully check, photograph and create a description for each bottle we receive from you and upload it on to the website.

If for any reason you aren't happy with a description, please let us know before the auction starts and we will try to amend it. We will not take responsibility for errors if not notified in time.

You can track the progress of your items directly in your dashboard. You can see a full list of your items we have received and the current total of any items in auction.

If a lot doesn't sell then you have the option of relisting it in the next auction, or having it sent back to you. If you have it sent back to you, then you will be responsible for paying for shipping. You can find details of our rates on our Delivery Charges page.

You can find a full list of any unsold items in your account.

We charge a commission on all sales made through Whisky.Auction as well as a listing fee, so your invoice total will be the sum of the winning bids, less the total fees applicable. You can find details of our commission rates on our Selling page.

You can find a summary of payments for your sold items with details of any charges.

Money will be paid into your bank account as soon as we receive the payment from the buyer. Please allow up to 28 days for payment.

Whisky value varies depending on how old, how rare and it's condition. To get a FREE valuation please visit our whisky valuations page.

As a UK registered platform, from 1 January 2024 it is now a legal requirement for us to collect, verify and report information regarding our sellers’ income from auction sales through the Whisky.Auction platform to HMRC. This isn’t a change in what is taxable, or your tax reporting obligations.. See our dedicated page for more information

If your query wasn't answered here contact us, we're always happy to help.

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