Frequently Asked Questions
Have a question about our services, registering for an auction, making a payment, or something else? Check out our FAQ below!
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Our 5,700 sq ft warehouse is centrally located within Anchorage, Alaska:
Business Address:
1310 West International Airport Road
Anchorage, Alaska 99518
Phone: 907.570.7050
E-Mail: info@AlaskaPremierAuctions.com
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We are Your Auction Services Specialist. We are your one-stop-shop for all of your personal property and real estate needs. We specialize in Estate Sales, Real Estate Sales, Business Liquidations, Individual Consignments, Benefit Auctions, and more. Plus we offer Appraisals and In-House Shipping! We work with the "5 D's of Auctions": Whether dealing with death, divorce, downsizing, departing the state, or developing fundraising strategies, we would be honored to help you. Our Services >>
We always have new and interesting auctions and emails. Download Our App and Subscribe to Our E-Mail List!
Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals was founded January 4th, 2018. We're proud of how we've grown in 3 years!! About Us >>
We proudly employ 10 full-time Alaskans! Meet Our Team >>
We have rave reviews across Google My Business, Facebook, Better Business Bureau, Yelp, Nextdoor, and more. Our Testimonials >>
We've had millions of views on our website, we have tens of thousands of registered bidders and email subscribers around the globe, over 7,000 Facebook fans, plus thousands more across our other online platforms. We're worldwide with customers in 40+ countries:
The process is simple! Call us at 907.570.7050 to discuss your needs with one of our Auction Managers or email a few photos of your items to us at info@AlaskaPremierAuctions.com.
You name it, we can probably sell it! We specialize in Alaskana, Alaskan art & artifacts, coins & currency, gold & silver, antiques, collectibles, real estate, commercial & heavy equipment, vehicles, boats, planes, trailers, ATV's, firearms, estate jewelry, gems & fossils, furniture, taxidermy, historic artifacts & objects, rare & unusual items, and so much more. Visit our Auctions and Results tabs to see current and past auctions, plus a list of our categories and a handy search feature!
Our monthly consignment auctions consist of goods from several sellers and are conducted out of our warehouse facility in Anchorage, Alaska. Items can be dropped off with us or we can transport your items for you for a modest fee. Estate sales are off-site auctions conducted at your residence, business, dock, hangar, garage, storage facility, or other locale. Whether at our location or yours, our professionally trained team will sort, group, and catalog your items efficiently with high-quality photographs and vivid, accurate descriptions to highlight each item's value.
It's free if you bring your items to us! If you'd like us to transport your items, we can do so starting at $150/load in our transport van within Anchorage, paid from the gross proceeds of the sale.
It's typically 6 weeks from the time a contract is signed until you receive your Seller Settlement and check. This includes the time for us to assess your items and sort, group, catalog, photograph, write descriptions, edit the catalog, publish the auction online, run the auction for 10-14 days, collect payments, coordinate pick-ups, reconcile the auction, and mail payment checks.
Usually between 7-14 business days after an auction closes, but no more than 30 business days. We pride ourselves on our quick turnaround.
No, sorry – That's the beauty of the auction process! Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay on any given day. It only takes 2 people to create a bidding war and we have tens of thousands of registered bidders and email subscribers to better those odds.
We only set reserves by request on items with an estimated value exceeding $1,000. Reserves are not to exceed the low estimate unless the seller pays a $250 fee. There are additional fees if an item with a Reserve fails to sell. We may suggest a Minimum Opening Bid instead, keep reading and learn more.
A minimum opening bid is the first bid required to get the auction started.
We start almost all lots at $5 to encourage interest from bidders; we trust the auction process! We've sold items for tens of thousands of dollars, starting with only a $5 minimum opening bid.
Some items don't warrant having a hidden reserve, but may have a higher minimum opening bid instead of a reserve. Minimum Opening Bids are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Items which fail to sell with reserve are subject to a $150 fee per item or 5% of the highest final bid achieved, whichever is greater.
These items can be returned to the seller at no cost, or disposed/donated for $5/lot.
It depends. Items in our warehouse are covered by our insurance policy. Off-site items located at an estate, a residence, business, etc. are covered by your homeowner's, business, or other insurance policy.
Timed auction catalogs are available online and open for bidding for an average of 10-14 days before the scheduled close. Our auctions close at a rate of 3 lots per minute, with 1-minute auto-extend for any lots which receive a bid in the final minute. This means that beginning at 6:00pm, lots #1, #2, and #3 will all begin closing, with lots #4, #5, and #6 at 6:01pm. If anyone bids in the final 60 seconds, that lot's closing is extended 60 additional seconds to give other bidders an opportunity to respond. When in doubt, refer to each lot's individual countdown timer to know when it's scheduled to close. When the timer runs out, the lot will sell to the highest bidder!
2.29 – Why should I hire you instead of using Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, LetGo, Mercari, etc?
We're open to traditional house, condominium, and land listings! Whether you choose to go with a real estate auction or traditional method of sale, we'll clean up your property, list it on our website and Alaska MLS, market it online to our tens of thousands of registered bidders and email subscribers, plus develop and deliver paid digital & print advertising.
An appraisal is a professional estimate of value, to be determined by a number of factors depending on the reason you need the appraisal.
A valuation is an estimate of value using our years of experience in the buying/selling, resale, and trade industries.
A valuation is an estimate of value using our years of experience in the buying/selling, resale, and trade industries.
Yes, we'll tell you what we estimate your possessions to be worth when we meet for a complimentary consultation for our services.
Valuations are complimentary when you have an item you're looking to sell with us.
Our appraisal services start at $175/hour. Vehicle appraisals typically take 1-2 hours, other types of appraisals may be longer or shorter to fit your needs.
We offer appraisals for lost vehicle titles, insurance purposes, personal interest in value of an antique or other collectibles, and more.
We offer appraisals for lost vehicle titles, insurance purposes, personal interest in value of an antique or other collectibles, and more.
Yes, they are! Our appraisers are members of the Certified Appraisers Guild of America (CAGA), General Personal Property Appraisers (GPPA) through the National Auctioneers Association (NAA), and adhere to USPAP guidelines.
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In our app: Click on the three lines at the top right and select Sign In.
On our website: Visit the Auctions tab and click on one of our upcoming auctions. The right-hand pane contains our bidding platform, as it appears in our mobile app. Click the three lines at the top right and select Sign In.
If you would like to visit our bidding platform on your desktop computer without the rest of our website, go to bid.alaskapremierauctions.com.
From this screen, you can sign in or create your account. You’ll enter your first and last name, email address, billing address, phone number, and create a password. Confirm your email address, and you’ll be ready to register for an auction!
5.5 – What is the $100 soft hold on my card?
The first time you save a credit card on file with us, there will be a $100 soft hold to ensure there are funds available on the card. Similar to a hotel or a gas station, this transaction will disappear entirely or appear as a reversal depending on your banking institution.
The first time you save a credit card on file with us, there will be a $100 soft hold to ensure there are funds available on the card. Similar to a hotel or a gas station, this transaction will disappear entirely or appear as a reversal depending on your banking institution.
Each auction has its own Terms & Conditions for you to review and ensure you understand the pick-up location, pick-up timeframe, payment options, shipping restrictions, and more.
On our website: Visit the Auctions tab and click on one of our upcoming auctions. The right-hand pane contains our bidding platform, as it appears in our mobile app. Click the three lines at the top right and select My Account.
From this screen, click the gear icon to view your account settings. Here, you can update your address and credit card information.
Custom Bid: Manually place a bid for any dollar value higher than the next bidding increment.
Max Bid: Your maximum bid. You will be the high bidder at the next bidding increment and if out-bid, the system will auto-bid for you up to your maximum. This is a great option if you’ll be busy while the auction is closing, or you have internet connection instability.
Bidding increments are a pre-set dollar value by which a new bid must exceed a previous bid and meet the next bidding increments to be accepted. These predetermined dollar amounts for our online auctions are available within the Terms & Conditions for each auction. For live in-person auctions, our typical bidding increments apply but the Auctioneer reserves the right to change or alter the increments at any time in order to maximize the highest bid achieved.
After the sale, you'll receive a summary email with photos and lot numbers. We batch-process payments after the conclusion of the auction; you'll receive an invoice with the pick-up address of your items, a link to our pick-up signup, and an itemized list of all items you purchased with sale prices, buyer's premium, and any additional applicable fees. If you don't receive an email, you'll be able to see all items you won under the "My Items" section within our app or bidding platform.
No, sorry. All bids placed are considered final. There is a double-click confirmation in place to ensure no bids are placed accidentally. Bidding in our auctions is a legally binding agreement to purchase the item for the bid you entered, and confirmed.
We require our bidders to have a valid credit card on file so we can automatically process payments after the conclusion of each auction.
We like to save our customers on credit card processing fees and minimize our risk at the same time.
On our website: Visit the Auctions tab and click on one of our upcoming auctions. The right-hand pane contains our bidding platform, as it appears in our mobile app. Click the three lines at the top right and select My Account.
From this screen, click the gear icon to view your account settings. Here, you can update your address and credit card information.
We assess a $15 credit card declined fee to each customer whose payment method is not approved at the time we batch process credit card payments following the conclusion of the auction. This is to cover the fees charged by the merchant for declined cards, in addition to our time involved in collecting your payment.
Our Buyer's Premium follows auction industry standards. In order to lessen the commission we charge our sellers, we defer some of the cost to the buyer. Most of our auctions have a 15% Buyer's Premium, some single-lot auctions may have a 10% Buyer's Premium.
The credit card processing merchant charges 4% on each transaction, we do not retain these fees, they are passed on to the merchant.
We batch process payments after the conclusion of the auction using your credit card saved on file with our company. If your payment is not approved, we assess a $15 credit card declined fee to cover the fees charged by the merchant for declined cards, in addition to our time involved in collecting your payment.
We're a very busy Auction House; we constantly have new inventory coming in, and we have to move the old inventory out in order to operate efficiently. We allow 1-2 days for pick-up depending on the number of lots within the auction. If not picked up within the allotted time, you risk forfeiting the item or being assessed additional transportation, storage, and shipping fees.
8.5 – I can’t travel to the off-site estate location. How much will it cost to transport my items to
Transportation begins at $25 per 27-gallon tote and $100 for furniture.
For shipping estimates, please use the dimensions provided within the lot's description and an approximate weight with one of the online estimator services. We do not provide estimates.
We charge a $100 dealer title transfer fee and additional registration fees may apply.
We typically charge 5% of the gross sale or estimated sale value which covers our paid advertisements on Google, Facebook, and other advertising platforms.
9.3 – I need more information on an item. Can you provide additional description, photos, and measur
We established our pick-up sign-up to follow best practices for COVID-19. Our sign-up includes a COVID-19 waiver and allows us to safely socially distance by scheduling only 3 pick-ups per 15 minutes. This also allows us to have your items ready when you arrive, streamlining our process. If you show up without scheduling a pick-up, you will have to wait in the queue behind people who did sign-up.
Please use our pick-up sign-up registration. We established our pick-up sign-up to follow best practices for COVID-19. Our sign-up includes a COVID-19 waiver and allows us to safely socially distance by scheduling only 3 pick-ups per 15 minutes. This also allows us to have your items ready when you arrive, streamlining our process. If you show up without scheduling a pick-up, you will have to wait in the queue behind people who did sign-up.
Alaskan ivory, baleen, other animal products, and firearms will not be shipped outside of the United States. International buyers may bid on such items but must arrange pick-up or delivery within the United States. Ammunition cannot be shipped out of the state of Alaska. Firearms purchased out-of-state must be shipped to a Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder in the destination state; buyer is responsible for all FFL transfer fees. International buyers are responsible for any customs fees or duties on their purchases.
There may be additional restrictions set by USPS, UPS, Fedex, and may be additional restrictions with your local carriers. It is the buyer's responsibility to ensure they can receive their items through the mail. All shipping & handling fees are the sole responsibility of the buyer.
For shipping estimates, please use the dimensions provided within the lot's description and an approximate weight with one of the online estimator services. We do not provide estimates.
Yes, all shipments are insured unless at the express written request of the buyer.
Yes, all shipments containing coins & currency are delivered using USPS Registered Mail unless at the express written request of the buyer.
No, no exceptions. We adhere to all USPS, UPS, and Fedex shipping restrictions.
No, we do not.