How it works!

Bidding (Online Only)

No, our ONLINE Only auctions are automated auctions that run via a computer system without an auctioneer. It is therefore unfortunately not possible to place a telephone bid.
Yes, you are welcome to send us a power of attorney for collection prior to collection. Please send us an e-mail with the authorization to collect@van-ham.com.
You can browse the catalogues of our current auctions on our Homepage, via „Auctions and Results“ and via „Online Catalogues“.

If you already have a client account on My VAN HAM, you do not need to register again. Go to „MY VAN HAM“ on the navigation bar and select „Login“ (appears in a pop-up window) and enter your access data as usual.

Register on My VAN HAM

Register using the registration form to create your personal client account on My VAN HAM.

Enter your personal information in the registration form. We need a copy of your valid identity card (front and back) with your current physical address stated on it. If your billing address differs from your physical address or if you only have a valid passport without a valid address, we would also have to ask you to provide proof of your billing address (e.g. in the form of an electricity or telephone bill). If you wish to bid on behalf of a company, please also provide us with a current and valid proof of organisation (e.g. your extract from the commercial register). Select your desired credit limit (that is your bid limit) that applies to all of your bids within an auction. If you wish a higher credit limit than 50,000 euros, we ask you to send 2 – 3 references in the form of paid auction invoices or a credit rating of your bank. Read and accept our GTC and privacy policy and submit the form using the button „Register now“.

You can find more detailed information on the required documents and the way to forward them to us under „What we need from you“.

After your registration you will receive a confirmation email and a code via mobile phone. Follow the link provided in the email and enter the code to activate your client account. Please also check your spam folder. If you have not received an email your client account cannot be activated neither. In this case please contact us via: online@van-ham.com

Please note that once you have registered your client account on My VAN HAM, you will need to enrol to bid for every individual auction up to 24 hours prior to the start of the relevant auction.

After you successfully activated the confirmation link you can log in to My VAN HAM with your access data.

Each auction requires you to enrol for bidding separately via your client account in order to receive a bidder number.

Log in to My VAN HAM with your access data. Go to „MY VAN HAM“ on the navigation bar and select „Online Catalogues“ (appears in a pop-up window). Select the auction you would like to enrol for. Move your mouse to this auction and enrol for it using the button „REGISTER TO BID“.

Alternatively you are also welcome to submit your bid directly via the online auction catalogue.

After your registration you will be approved for the auction by us manually and only on working days. The registration for the auction can take place up to 24 hours prior to the start of the auction. We will do our best to confirm your registration also shortly before an auction, but we cannot guarantee this.

Please log in to My VAN HAM with your access data first. Go to the online catalogue of the auction for which you would like to submit a bid. There you can place your bid for the desired lot in the general overview of the auction lot numbers or in the detailed overview of the individual lot number (click on the corresponding lot). Enter the maximum amount for which you are willing to purchase a lot - your maximum price (without premium). Before the bid is finally submitted a window with the overall costs will open. If everything corresponds to your wishes submit the bid. The bidding system will automatically process your maximum price in bidding steps. VAN HAM only uses default bidding steps, which you can view via a drop-down box on the detailed overview of the individual lot number. Your maximum price (without premium) will only be used until the other bidders have been outbid. If there are two identical maximum bids, the bidder whose bid was received first will be given priority. If you have been outbid, you will be informed via email thus you have the opportunity to increase your bid. You can increase your bid via the link provided in this email.

Keep track of your bids

Monitor your bids during the entire auction in order to make sure that you are the highest bidder. You can always check the status of your bids via your client account on My VAN HAM. Log in to My VAN HAM with your access data. Go to „MY VAN HAM“ on the navigation bar and select „My Bids“ (appears in a pop-up window). Choose „Confirmed Bids (ONLINE ONLY)“ that shows the history of all your bids. 

End of the ONLINE ONLY auction

At a set time the auction runs out in 1-Minute-Intervals. Usually the first lot runs out at 6pm. If a bid is placed 3 minutes before the lot expires, this lot is automatically extended by 3 minutes. This only applies to the individual lot number and has no effect on subsequent lots. This process is repeated until no more bids have been submitted for 3 minutes. Only then will the lot be knocked down. Thus it may happen that lot numbers are knocked down of their numerical order. This 3-Minute-Rule is limited to 2 hours.

Your purchase

You will be automatically informed about your successful bid via email. You can always check the status of your bids via your client account on My VAN HAM. Log in to My VAN HAM with your access data. Go to „MY VAN HAM“ on the navigation bar and select „My Bids“ (appears in a pop-up window). Choose „Confirmed Bids (ONLINE ONLY)“ that shows the history of all your bids. 

You will receive an invoice by email within 48 hours after the auction and later on by post, in which all instructions for payment and shipping are listed. Please note that there may be delays due to weekends and public holidays.

The amount shall be made via Electronic Cash, by wire transfer or by bank certified cheques. Cheques shall only be accepted on account of performance. All taxes, costs and fees (including bank fees charged to VAN HAM) shall be borne by the customer.

Cash payments of 10,000 euros or more per calendar year will be registered according to legal requirements. Payments can only be made by the person named on the invoice. Verified and issued invoices cannot be altered.

In the event of a delay in payment, delay interest shall be charged at a rate of 1 % per month begun.

It is possible to collect your auctioned item personally or to have it sent to you by us. Please take our export conditions into account.

If you reserve a pickup date, please take into account that the lots from our ONLINE ONLY auctions are located in our external warehouse in Wesseling and the pickup can take up to 3 days.

You can find more information about shipping and collection here.

All lots in this catalogue with an estimate of 1.500 € are searched against the Art Loss Register’s database.

ONLINE ONLY auctions are only accessible on the internet via My VAN HAM. The curated auctions have firmly established themselves at VAN HAM and form the ideal supplement to the traditional auction program.

Our ONLINE ONLY auctions are so-called Timed Auctions, i.e. pure online auctions that are not carried out by our auctioneers but by a computer system. At a set time the auction runs out in 1-Minute-Intervals. Usually the first lot runs out at 6pm. One minute later the next one starts, until finally all lots have expired. The exact expiration time can be found in the description of the individual lot in the online catalogue. The starting price is also the lowest bid at which a lot can be knocked down. The highest bidder wins the lot.

A special feature is the 3-Minute-Rule. If a bid is placed 3 minutes before the lot expires, this lot is automatically extended by 3 minutes. This only applies to the individual lot number and has no effect on subsequent lots. This process is repeated until no more bids have been submitted for 3 minutes. Only then will the lot be knocked down. Thus it may happen that lot numbers are knocked down of their numerical order. This 3-Minute-Rule is limited to 2 hours and is intended to prevent last-second bids so that all participants have a fair chance to submit a counter-bid.

At a set time the auction runs out in 1-Minute-Intervals. Usually the first lot runs out at 6pm. One minute later the next one starts, until finally all lots have expired. The exact expiration time can be found in the description of the individual lot in the online catalogue. 

If a bid is placed 3 minutes before the lot expires, this lot is automatically extended by 3 minutes. This only applies to the individual lot number and has no effect on subsequent lots. This process is repeated until no more bids have been submitted for 3 minutes. Only then will the lot be knocked down. Thus it may happen that lot numbers are knocked down of their numerical order. This 3-Minute-Rule is limited to 2 hours and is intended to prevent last-second bids so that all participants have a fair chance to submit a counter-bid.

Please log in to My VAN HAM with your access data first. Go to the online catalogue of the auction for which you would like to submit a bid. There you can place your bid for the desired lot in the general overview of the auction lot numbers or in the detailed overview of the individual lot number (click on the corresponding lot). Enter the maximum amount for which you are willing to purchase a lot - your maximum price (without premium). Before the bid is finally submitted a window with the overall costs will open. If everything corresponds to your wishes submit the bid. The bidding system will automatically process your maximum price in bidding steps. VAN HAM only uses default bidding steps, which you can view via a drop-down box on the detailed overview of the individual lot number. Your maximum price (without premium) will only be used until the other bidders have been outbid. If there are two identical maximum bids, the bidder whose bid was received first will be given priority. If you have been outbid, you will be informed via email thus you have the opportunity to increase your bid. You can increase your bid via the link provided in this email.

End of the ONLINE ONLY auction

The lots of the ONLINE ONLY auction expire one after the other in 1-minute-intervals. If a bid is placed up to 3 minutes prior to the expiration time, the expiration time of the lot will be increased by another 3 minutes. This only applies to the individual lot number and has no impact on the following lots. Thus lot numbers may be knocked down out of their numerical order. Watch your lot or pay attention to your emails at this time thus you have the opportunity to increase your outbid maximum bid if necessary.

VAN HAM only uses predefined bidding steps, which you can find in the detailed overview of the individual lot number as a drop-down field.
ONLINE ONLY auctions are only offered via My VAN HAM.
There is no additional buyer’s premium for an ONLINE ONLY auction.

You can submit a maximum bid (maximum price) via your client account on My VAN HAM. The bidding system will automatically process your maximum price in bidding steps. VAN HAM only uses predefined bidding steps, which you can find in the detailed overview of the individual lot number as a drop-down field. Your maximum price (without premium) will only be used until the other bidders have been outbid. If there are two identical maximum bids, the bidder whose bid was received first will be given priority. If you have been outbid, you will be informed via email thus you have the opportunity to increase your bid. You can increase your bid via the link provided in this email. Your maximum price is not visible for the other customers and you do not have to intervene at each step yourself.

Please log in to My VAN HAM with your access data first. Go to the online catalogue of the auction for which you would like to submit a bid. There you can place your bid for the desired lot in the general overview of the auction lot numbers or in the detailed overview of the individual lot number (click on the corresponding lot). Enter the maximum amount for which you are willing to purchase a lot - your maximum price (without premium). Before the bid is finally submitted a window with the overall costs will open. If everything corresponds to your wishes submit the written bid.

No. The starting price is the lowest amount that can be bid.

You will be informed via email that you have won a lot.

You can also check if you have won a bid via your client account on My VAN HAM. Log in to My VAN HAM with your access data. Go to „MY VAN HAM“ on the navigation bar and select „My Bids“ (appears in a pop-up window). „Bought Lots“ shows all your bought items. 

You will be informed immediately via email that you are no longer the highest bidder thus you have the opportunity to increase your bid. You can increase your bid via the link provided in this email.

You can always check the status of your bids via your client account on My VAN HAM. Log in to My VAN HAM with your access data. Go to „MY VAN HAM“ on the navigation bar and select „My Bids“ (appears in a pop-up window). „Confirmed Bids (ONLINE ONLY)“ shows the status of your bids during the auction.

After the auction „Outbid (ONLINE ONLY)“ shows your bids that were outbid by counterbidders.

Log in to My VAN HAM with your access data. Go to „MY VAN HAM“ on the navigation bar and select „My Bids“ (appears in a pop-up window).

„Bids on hold (ONLINE ONLY)“ shows the bids that are not confirmed yet, because you have not yet been activated for the auction. We usually do this within one working day. 

„Confirmed Bids (ONLINE ONLY)“ shows all your active bids.

If you can’t find your bid under any of these tabs, there may have been an error in the transmission. In this case submit the bid again, please.

You will be informed immediately via email that you are no longer the highest bidder thus you have the opportunity to increase your bid. You can increase your bid via the link provided in this email.

You can always check the status of your bids or increase your bids via your client account on My VAN HAM. Log in to My VAN HAM with your access data. Go to „MY VAN HAM“ on the navigation bar and select „My Bids“ (appears in a pop-up window). Choose „Confirmed Bids (ONLINE ONLY)“ that shows the history of all your bids. Select the desired lot and „Bid now“. You will be forwarded to the bidding mask and can increase your maximum price.

You can cancel your bid up to 2 hours prior to the end of the auction via your client account on My VAN HAM. Log in to My VAN HAM with your access data. Go to „MY VAN HAM“ on the navigation bar and select „My Bids“ (appears in a pop-up window). Choose „Confirmed Bids (ONLINE ONLY)“ that shows the history of all your bids. Select the desired lot and „cancel the bid“. 

If you still have questions, please send us a short message to: online-only@van-ham.com

You cannot cancel or delete a subsequent bid (post bid).

No, it’s not possible to bid against yourself. If you increase your maximum price, there is no risk that your new bid will be driven up by your previous bid, as this will be deleted.

Each auction requires you to enrol for bidding separately via your client account in order to receive a bidder number. After your registration you will be approved for the auction by us manually and only on working days. We usually do this within one working day. Until then you will be informed that you have not yet been approved for the auction or that your bid has not yet been confirmed.

Our experts are always available to answer any questions you may have about a particular object.

Anica Beil
a.beil@van-ham.com
+49 221 925 862-322
Fax: +49 221 925 862-4

If you have any other question about online bidding please contact us via: online@van-ham.com

Daria Pinkert
+49 221 925 862-106

On ONLINE ONLY auction days please contact only:

Anica Beil
online@van-ham.com
+49 221 925 862-322