(Q) How do I register?
(A) To register click on the "register" link found on both the header and footer navigation sections.

(Q) I'm under 16 and can't signup?
(A) In accordance with standard law anyone under 21 cannot participate in auctions as they are legal binding contracts. This for your protection as anyone under 21 cannot take legal action in a disputed transaction. If you are 18 but under 21 you may register under your parent or legal guardian that is over the legal age of 21. The account must be in their name and they must assume all legal rights to your actions and contracts.

(Q) How can I list an item?
(A) You must first be a registered member. Once you have registered simply login to your account and click on the "Sell" link. The first thing to do is select a general category for your item, note that you can choose a more specific category further into the listing process. You can then enter in your chosen settings and item description.

(Q) How can I keep track of items I'm selling?
(A) You can keep an eye on everything you are selling by visiting your members area "My bidOwl" and selecting the "selling" page. See Illustrated Help

(Q) Can I use HTML when listing an item?
(A) Yes you can, however we recomend you use basic tags as complex HTML descriptions may not display correctly. Links outside of our system are not allowed for Auction or BuyNow listings and are automatically removed. Java script may not function properly and is not reccommended. Tip; remove the java script header from your html and our system may be able to run it.

(Q) How can I place a bid?'
(A) To place a bid on an item you must first login to your account. Once logged in a bidding box will be displayed at bottom of all auction pages.  You can use this box to place you chosen bid .

(Q) How can I keep track of items I'm bidding on?
(A) You can keep an eye on everything you are bidding on by visiting your members area and selecting the "bidding" page.

(Q) How do I know if I am outbid on an item?
(A) Our auction system will automatically notify you via email if you are outbid. Be sure to set your email blockers to allow email from bidowl.com or offer-now.com on your blocking software and email provider setup.
How do I place a Want Ad?

(Q) Can I list my email address on the auction page
(A) Yes it is allowed to list your email address for direct contact but not advised. It opens avenues for spamming and phishing sources. All mail that you receive from offer-now is private and concealed from these sources.

(Q) How do I Manage Buying and Selling
(A) The Member area My bidOwl is the complete management tool for buying and selling.

Dutch auctions
On a Dutch Auction, the auctioneer has more items of the same product for sale. The
bidder will enter a maximum bid he is willing to pay for an item, and the number of items he
wants to purchase. The highest bidder(s) will receive the number of items they have bid
on, and the remaining bidders will receive the number of items still available. Buyers are
able to bid more than once for the same item. Enable Dutch Auction for multiple items
when using BuyNow listings.

Item watching
The item watch features lets you keep a close eye on any auction without having to place a
bid on it. This feature means you can be kept up to date on how an auction is doing and
prepares you to place a winning last minute bid. You can watch any auction by clicking on
the Watch this item link on any auction page.

Auction watch
The auction watch features notifies you of newly listed auctions which contain keywords
you have chosen. For example if you are looking for a Playstation 2 you could enter in
those keywords from within your members area. Each time a new auction is listed
containing the term Playstation 2 you will be notified via this web-site. You can enter in as
many keywords as you like.

Members Area
Once you have successfully logged in using the login forms from the main
page or from the login page (click on the login button from the page header), you will be
redirected to the members area page. This page is divided into four tabs:

a. Bidding On this page, you will be able to see the items your currently bidding on, as well
as the status of the bids, items you have won, and watched items. By clicking on the
Auction Watch link, you will be able to add keywords for auctions your interested in. An
email will be sent to your email address every time an auction that will contain the keyword
in its name or description will be submitted. By clicking on the View Details link from the
Won Items area, you will be able to see the details of the seller, and make contact with him
in order to perfect the sale.

b. Selling There are three areas available on this page. The My Opened Auctions area,
where you will see details of auctions you currently has open; if no bids were submitted yet
on an open auction, you are able to edit the auction. The My Closed Auctions area, where
you will see the auctions submitted by yourself, and that were closed. You can choose to
edit, delete or re-list a closed auction. On the Sold Items area, you will see the items you
have sold, and by clicking on the View Details link, you will be redirected to a page where
you will see the details of the buyer. If an end of auction fee is set from the admin area,
then the seller will have to pay for the end of auction fee in order for you to see the buyer
details. If, after the seller has contacted the bidder, and no sale has been made, you can
claim back the end of auction fee. By clicking on the Claim back end of auction fee a claim
back request will be sent to the sites administrator, and will be evaluated for fee refunding.

c. Feedback From this page, you will be able to see the feedbacks you have received,
and leave feedbacks to other users. d. Personal Info You can edit your personal
information using this page, except for your username. You can also change the password
for the account. If the password and confirm password fields are left empty, and then the
password will remain the same.

How To Sell
Once you have signed up for an account, you will be able to sell items through the site. In
order to do that, you will have to click on the Sell link and you will be redirected to a page,
you can then select the main category of the product or service you want to sell. This
feature has been made in order to ease the subcategory choosing process. No items can
be sold by choosing only the main category; you will have to choose a subcategory for it.

The second step is entering the auction details, settings, payment methods available, and
choosing a category. An image that will come with the auction is free of charge, but the
admin may charge for adding additional pictures. On the Auction Settings tab, you can
choose the type of the auction, the start price, whether to activate buy now or set a reserve
price. Also, you will be able to choose what type of bid increment to use, the progressive
one implemented into the site (that can be edited from the admin area), or a custom one. If
you choose the custom one, you will have to enter an increment value. You will also be
able to choose whether to feature the item, and the duration of the auction. After setting
the location, shipping and payment and subcategory, and by clicking on the Next Step
button, you will be redirected to

Step Three, where you can review the auction before submitting. If everything is in order,
you can click on the Submit button, and will be redirected to the payment page, or a
confirmation page, if no fees have to be paid. The auction is activated once the payment is
confirmed by the payment gateway, or instantly, if no fees need to be paid.

Registering
Registration is simple and only takes a matter minutes. To start the signup process, click
on the register link at the top of this page. Only users with the age over 21 years are able
to register. The next step is to fill in all your information, failure to supply all the required
information will result in an error. By clicking on the Register button from the bottom of the
page, you will be redirected to a page with a link to the payment gateway if the signup fee
is activated, or to a confirmation page, if signup is free. Your account will be activated
instantly if there is no signup fee, or once the payment has been confirmed by the
payment gateway.

How To Bid
If you have spotted on item you would like to place a bid on you can do so quickly and
easily by following these steps:- Login to your account  If you have not registered
you can do so within 5 minutes Visit the auction page near the bottom of the auction
description page you will see a bidding box, you can use the shortcut link to the bidding
box if you wish. Enter in your bid, note you must bid above the minimum bid required Click
on the place bid button You will then be asked to confirm you bid, once you have done so
your bid will be entered, if successful you will receive a confirmation message. If you bid
fails to outbid the current high bidder you will be offered the option to place a higher bid.

Proxy bidding can aid your chances of winning an auction and help avoid you being outbid
at the last moment.
To place a proxy bid enter in the maximum price you are willing to pay
for the item. If another user places a bid on the same auction automatic bids will be placed
on your behalf in accordance with your maximum bid amount. With proxy bidding you will
pay the lowest possible price until someone else places a higher bid. There is another way
of bidding:

Buy it now auctions.
Buy it now prices are set by the seller, if you agree with that price, you can click on the Buy
Now button which is displayed on the auction details page. After clicking on the button you
will be re-directed to a confirmation page. On a standard auction that auction will end
instantly as the item has been sold via Buy it now.

Important;

Merchants, if you enable Buy Now, users will be able to purchase your item instantly, without the need for the auction end time to be reached.IMPORTANT; BuyNow listings qualify for Run A Sale and submission to GoogleBase web search engine

On a Dutch auction,
you can enter the amount of items you wish to buy (depending on the
quantity available). If you purchase less than there are available in total, the auction will
remain open with the number of items left available after you have purchased the amount
you want.