Help

How Crossroad Sellers works, for bidders, auction house staff and owners.

You came here from Crossroad Auctions. A question about your bids, an invoice or a pickup there goes to them — the Ask a question button does that.

Common questions

Registering to BidRegister once on crossroadsellers.com, then register to bid at each auction house from one of its lots; the house approves you and gives you a paddle number.
Placing a Bid and Maximum BidsEnter the most you would pay; the site bids for you a step at a time, and you never pay your own maximum unless someone pushes you there.
How a Timed Auction WorksLots close one after another, a set number of seconds apart that the house chooses, and a late bid extends only that lot.
Your InvoiceOne invoice per auction, frozen when the auction closes, under Account → Invoices.
Paying an InvoiceA saved card is charged automatically; otherwise pay from the invoice page by card or, where the house offers it, Amazon Pay. Bidders cannot pay by bank transfer or bank debit.
Pickup or ShippingSome lots must be collected, some can ship, and you choose on the invoice when both are possible.
What You Pay: Hammer, Premium and TaxThe price you won at, plus the buyer's premium and any sales tax, in whole cents.
Signing In, Passwords and PasskeysSign in at login.crossroadsellers.com with your email, then a passkey (fingerprint, face, PIN), your password, an emailed code or Google. Twelve characters or more for a password; add a passkey and you will not need it.
Getting HelpSearch here first; a question you send goes to the auction house, who reply by email.
One Account for Every Auction HouseYour login is platform-wide; your approval, paddle number and limits are per house.

Getting started

The Words We Use — Lot, tag, hammer, premium, reserve, soft close, maximum bid, invoice, consignor, statement — every word on the site, in one line each.
Searching Every Auction House — The Search button looks across every auction house on the platform; the search bar on an auction's page looks inside that auction. Filter by ongoing, upcoming or past, and by category.
Past Auctions and What Things Sold For — Every auction an auction house has closed stays on its site, with every lot, every photo and the hammer price, for as long as the house is on the platform.
This Site Is in Test Mode — None of the auctions here are real yet. Nothing is for sale, and no bid, win or payment counts.
Getting Around on a Phone — On a phone the links fold into the menu button with three lines at the top left. Sign in, the bell and your picture stay in the bar.
The Crossroad Sellers App for Your Phone — The iPhone app does everything the website does for a bidder — browse, register, bid, watch, pay, alerts on your lock screen — with the same login and the same rules.
Registering to Bid — Register once on crossroadsellers.com, then register to bid at each auction house from one of its lots; the house approves you and gives you a paddle number.
Confirming Your Email Address — The six-digit code, how long it lasts, and what to do if it does not arrive.
One Account for Every Auction House — Your login is platform-wide; your approval, paddle number and limits are per house.
Accessibility, and How to Report a Problem — The site is built to WCAG 2.1 AA (keyboard, screen reader, contrast, zoom, reduced motion), what is not perfect yet, and how to report a problem with or without an account.
Selling on Crossroad Sellers: How a House Joins — Auction houses apply at crossroadsellers.com/sell; a person reviews every application; the owner verifies their identity, sets up a second way to sign in and connects a bank account before publishing.
Your Bidder ID — One number, yours for good, the same at every auction house; the paddle number is the house's.

Browsing and bidding

Adult Content, Blurred Photos and Reporting — Why some photos are blurred, how to see them if you want to, how to keep them hidden, and how to report a photo that breaks the rules.
Saved Searches and Following a House — Save a search and be emailed when a new lot matches it anywhere on the marketplace; follow a house and hear when it opens an auction.

Your account

Your Data Choices: The Data Policy and Analytics — What you agree to when you register, the one optional choice (analytics), what it turns on, and where to change it.
"Why Is This Locked?" After an Account Recovery — After you get back into your account through a recovery, a few settings stay frozen for a while so that whoever got in cannot cut the real owner off. What is frozen, what still works, and how the lock ends.
Your Account, and What Is Where — Your account is its own place, account.crossroadsellers.com, reached from your picture. Home shows what needs attention and a card per section; Security opens separately, on the sign-in site.
Your Address, and Why It Is Needed — A verified address for invoices, shipping and tax; start typing and pick the suggestion.
Confirming Your Phone Number — A six-digit text confirms your number; once texts are switched on, every house asks for it before your first bid.
Signing In, Passwords and Passkeys — Sign in at login.crossroadsellers.com with your email, then a passkey (fingerprint, face, PIN), your password, an emailed code or Google. Twelve characters or more for a password; add a passkey and you will not need it.
Verifying Your Identity — Most bidders never need to. Once you have won more than the platform's limit in thirty days, a one-time identity check with our payment processor keeps you bidding.
Emails You Get, and the Mailing List — Emails about your own bids and invoices always come; auction announcements are optional.
Your Photo and the Account Menu — The picture at the right end of the menu is you; press it for Your account, My bids, Security and Sign Out. Add a photo from Your Account → Personal Info → Photo.
The Bell: Your Notifications — The bell in the menu counts what you have not read yet; the notification center lists every outbid, win, invoice, reply and statement, from every house.
Closing Your Account — You can close your account once nothing is owed; records of past auctions are kept.
Selling Through an Auction House: Your Consignments — If an auction house sells goods for you, it can connect your account so you see your lots, what they sold for, and your settlement statements.
Getting Help — Search here first; a question you send goes to the auction house, who reply by email.
Locked Out? Your Trusted Contact Lets You Back In — An owner chooses a trusted contact who can let them back in after speaking to them, with two PINs over the phone or a code and four digits in person; staff ask their owner the same way. Afterwards email and phone are frozen for seven days.
Rating an Auction House — After you pay an invoice you can rate the house; ratings are blind until both sides have rated, and houses rate you too.

Bidding

How a Timed Auction Works — Lots close one after another, a set number of seconds apart that the house chooses, and a late bid extends only that lot.
Coming to Look Before You Bid — Some houses hold preview days when you can see the lots in person. Where they are listed, whose clock the times are on, and what to do if it says by appointment.
Placing a Bid and Maximum Bids — Enter the most you would pay; the site bids for you a step at a time, and you never pay your own maximum unless someone pushes you there.
Reading the Bid History — Every lot shows the bids placed on it — when, which paddle, the price after, and whether it took the lead or was beaten by someone's standing maximum. Nobody's maximum is ever shown.
Soft Close: Bids in the Last Minutes — A bid in the final window extends that lot, and only that lot.
Outbid Emails and Watching Lots — When you are emailed, when you are not, and the Watch star.
Sharing an Auction or a Lot — Every auction and lot has share buttons. Copy the link, or send it straight to Facebook, X, WhatsApp, email or a text; the link unfurls with a photo wherever you paste it.
Your Bidding Limit — The most you can have committed at one house at once, and how to raise it.
Cards on File, Holds and Pre-Authorization — Why a house may ask for a card, what a hold is, and the per-auction pre-authorization some auctions need.
Reserves — What reserve not met means, and what happens when a reserve is never reached.
Asking a Question About a Lot — Ask the house about a lot from its page; a person reads every question before it appears, and you are told what happens to yours.

After the auction

What You Pay: Hammer, Premium and Tax — The price you won at, plus the buyer's premium and any sales tax, in whole cents.
Your Invoice — One invoice per auction, frozen when the auction closes, under Account → Invoices.
Paying an Invoice — A saved card is charged automatically; otherwise pay from the invoice page by card or, where the house offers it, Amazon Pay. Bidders cannot pay by bank transfer or bank debit.
Paying with Amazon Pay — Where an auction house offers it, you can pay an invoice with the card or bank account saved in your Amazon account. What happens, what it costs you (nothing extra), and refunds.
Pickup or Shipping — Some lots must be collected, some can ship, and you choose on the invoice when both are possible.
Sales Tax Exemption — Ask with your resale certificate number; staff confirm it, and it applies to open invoices and future auctions at that house.
Second-Chance Offers — When a lot goes unsold or a winner does not pay, the house may offer it to you at a price for a limited time.

For auction houses

Applying to Run an Auction House — What the application asks, how it is reviewed, and what happens if it is not accepted.