Information and help centre

If you have already registered on Sportbilia then you can move to Step Two. 

During the registration process you will be asked to provide a valid email address. You also need to create a Username, which will be become your identity on Sportbilia.com, and a password. We recommend that both your username and password are not ones that you may be using on any other internet sites such as Ebay.

We will also seek to verify you are who you say you are. Verification helps us to keep buying and selling on Sportbilia as pleasurable and safe experience as possible for everyone. During the registration process we ask if you are:

1. A member of a sports memorabilia or collectors society recognised by Sportbilia; or
2. If you have, at the time of registering,  over 20+ feedbacks of which 99+% are positive with another online auction site; or
3. You are recommended by an existing Sportbilia registered user who has been registered for a minimum of three months.

During the registration process, you will be asked to give details of either membership, feedback history or the username of the member recommending you.

Even if you are unable to make use of one of the ways of verifying outlined above, you are still very welcome to register with Sportbilia. If this is the case, you will be asked during the registration process to make a payment of £4.95 to enable us to provide verification. The £4.95 will be credited to your Sportbilia account and should you also choose to sell any items your seller’s fees will be taken from this credit until it is exhausted. So, even if you pay the £4.95 verification fee, if you list a few items for sale, it should still cost nothing to join! We hope that this demonstrates that we are not interested in generating income through this payment rather we are trying to ensure we have a safe and friendly site for all to use. 

Once you've completed the process you will receive a confirmation email from Sportbilia to the email address you submitted during the registration process. Simply follow the instructions contained in the email to complete your registration.

Please allow at least 24 hours between registering and bidding or buying items. We aim to complete your registration within 24 hours but can’t guarantee this. So if you’re interested in bidding on an item register as soon as possible, leave it late and you could miss out.

1. Browsing;
2. Searching; and,
3. Auction and The Marketplace Watch  

1. Browsing
If you want to see what sporting memorabilia Sportbilia has to offer you can simply browse the items listed on the auction pages or in The Marketplace

2. Searching
If you're looking for some specific sporting memorabilia the simplest way to find it is to use the search facility found towards at the top of every page.      

3. Auction and The Market Place Watch
Auction and The Marketplace Watch is your personal assistant that will keep an eye open for auctions and items listed in an auction and in The Market Place using keywords you have selected such as World Cup 1966.

To use this great feature, login and click the “Auction Watch” link in My Sportbilia.  

One of the main ways is to check the seller’s reputation by clicking on the Feedback rating besides the Sellers Username. Read what other buyers have said about the seller's reliability, product quality and level of service.

If the item you are interested in is listed in the auction you can place a bid. Towards the bottom of the auction description page you will see a “bidding box”. Enter in your bid in the box, 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 yours is currently the highest bid you will receive a message confirming this. If your bid fails to outbid the current high bidder you will be offered the option to place a higher bid.
 
You can enter the highest price you are prepared to pay for the item and the Sportbilia proxy bidding system will bid on your behalf, but only as much as is needed for you to stay the highest bidder up to your maximum bid.

Reserve price
Some auctions may have reserve prices. The reserve price is the lowest price at which a seller is willing to sell an item. The seller sets a “Starting Price” and allows bidders to drive up the price by placing bids. If at the close of the auction bidders have not met the reserve price, the seller is not obligated to sell.

Outbid and end of auction
When you’re outbid, it means that another bidder has placed a higher bid than yours. After being outbid, you are not the current high bidder. You will receive notification via your email if you are outbid. If there is time remaining you can return to the auction and enter a higher bid. You will also receive an email when the auction has ended stating whether you have won the item or not.

Sometimes you’ll be outbid immediately when you enter your bid. This happens because another bidder had a higher maximum proxy bid than yours. Your bid prompted the Sportbilia proxy bidding system to automatically raise the other bidder’s bid above yours.

Fixed Price
If the item you are interested in is listed at a fixed price stated by the seller you can buy it immediatley. If you want to buy the item, you can click on the “Buy Now” button which is displayed on the item page. After clicking on the button you will be re-directed to a confirmation page. Once you confirm your purchase the sale will end instantly. You will also receive notification via your email of items you have purchased the item.

You will also find items being offered as swaps and items that are wanted.

How to pay
You will have seen what the preferred payment methods are from the item listing. You can see what the payment methods again when you receive the confirmation email from Sportbilia.

Won or bought more than one item? 
If you are a winning bidder and/or have purchased items from different sellers you will receive email invoices for each of the items. If you have more than one item coming from the same seller check with them to see if they offer a discount on postage and packaging for multiple items. Arrange the payment for the items. 

Postage and packaging
Unless the seller states otherwise all items sold or bought will have an amount for postage and packaging added onto the final bid or fixed price amount. All sellers are encouraged to clearly state postage and packaging costs in the description of each item so you will know exactly how much it will cost for you to receive your item.  

Fees
All items that are sold in the auction or for a fixed price are subject to a 10% buyers fee on top of the final bid or the fixed price. The buyer's fee will be included in the invoice you and the seller receive from Sportbilia seller. You pay the buyer's fee to the seller who passes it on to Sportbilia.

An example showing costs
If you have won an item in the auction the invoice emailed to you from Sportbilia will include a breakdown of the cost for you to pay, for example;

Item number 1234567 1970 Wisden Almanack
Final bid £15
Buyer's fee £1.50
Total £17.45  
Please refer to the item description for any postage and packaging costs to be added. 

Receive your item(s)
The seller will only send the item to you once they have received payment and it has cleared in their account. The faster the seller receives payment, the faster you should receive your item! All sellers should aim to post your item to you within 3 days of your payment clearing in their account.

Feedback
Once the item arrives, check it thoroughly to make sure it fits the item description and has arrived in good condition. If you are pleased with your purchase, leave the seller feedback and if they have not already, encourage them to do the same for you.

It’s that simple!