Frequently Asked Questions

1. How does online bidding work?

With online bidding, once you register, you can place online absentee bids before the auction begins or wait until the auction starts and bid live online. Approximately fifteen minutes prior to the start of that day’s auction the online bidding platform will allow you to watch the live auction by clicking the red “Enter Auction” button on screen. With online live bidding, you can watch the live streaming video of the auction as we auction the items sequentially. The live streaming video is set to default mute, so if you would like to hear the audio, click the speaker icon on the video. There will be a large button of the current asking price, if you press the bid button during the live auction, you will have placed a bid at that amount.

2. How do I register to bid online?

Click “Buy” from the menu at the top of the page and click “Upcoming Auctions” from the drop-down menu. From there you can see our current auction catalogs. You will see a large green “Explore Auction” button next to the catalog and below that it will say “Register to bid.” Click the “Register to bid” link and sign-in if you already have an account or fill out the form to create a new account. Once you are registered and approved, you can begin placing bids in the auction.

3. How long does registration approval take?

Most registrations will be approved immediately, some registrations will need to be approved by our staff. We approve registrations several times a day, but if you haven’t heard anything, please contact us at 503-238-0202.

4. What is a bid limit and how do I increase my bid limit?

For bidders new to O’Gallerie, we enter a bid limit of $2,000. This is an accumulative bid limit that prevents you from bidding over $2,000 in an auction. If you would like to increase your bid limit please call us at 503-238-0202. To increase your bid limit we will request an approval on your credit card of 1/4 of your requested bid limit.

5. How do I make an absentee bid or telephone bid?

Call us at 503-238-0202 to place an absentee bid or schedule a telephone bid. You can also download the BID FORM and return it to us prior to the auction. With absentee bids, you tell us your maximum bid and we bid for you up to that point should the bidding reach that high. With telephone bids, we call you prior to your item coming up for auction and our staff will bid with you over the phone.

6. Can I inspect the auction items?

Yes. Each auction has preview times where you can come to our location and inspect and handle the auction items. If you can’t make it to a preview, you may request a condition report or more photographs by emailing [email protected] or calling 503-238-0202.

Preview times for the Premiere Auctions are the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday immediately prior to the auction days. The Friday preview is from 5pm-8pm; the Saturday and Sunday previews are from 12pm-5pm. You can also preview items on the night of the auctions from 5pm until the start of the auction at 6pm.

Preview times for the Day Sale Auctions are the Sunday immediately prior to the auction day from 12pm-5pm. You can also preview items for the Day Sale on the morning of the auction from 9am-10am.

7. What time of the day will my item come up for auction?

Premiere Auction During the Premiere Auctions (night auctions), we sell approximately 100 lots per hour. Lots 1-300 sell on Monday night and Lots 301-600 sell on Tuesday night with the first lot of each night starting at 6pm PDT. This means that if your item is Lot 250, it will sell on Monday at approximately 2.5 hours into the auction, or at approximately 8:30pm. If your item is Lot 400, it will sell on Tuesday at approximately 7pm.

Day Sale Auction During the Day Sale Auctions, we sell between 100 and 140 lots per hour and the auction begins at 10am PDT.

8. How will I know if I won?

For the Premiere Auctions, we call absentee bidders who won items in the auction on Wednesday morning following the auction. For Day Sale Auctions, we call absentee bidders on the Tuesday morning following the auction. If you didn’t receive a call, or would like to know the results sooner, feel free to call us at 503-238-0202.

If you bid online, we email invoices on the Wednesday following the Premiere Auctions and on the Tuesday following the Day Sale Auctions. For online bidders, you can also login to your online account and in the top right click the “My Account” icon. From your account page, on the left click the “My Purchases” link to see your wins.

9. How do I pay for the items I won?

You can pay for your purchases by calling 503-238-2020 or pay when you pick-up your items from our location. We accept cash, check, bank wire, Visa, MasterCard, or Discover.

If you bid online, you can pay with the link in your emailed invoice. *If you purchased firearms, the emailed invoice will not let you pay online so you will need to either call 503-238-0202 or pay when you pick-up your items.

10. Can you ship my item?

We can ship most small items in-house to U.S. locations. Shipping costs keep rising so please contact us for a shipping estimate (503-238-0202 or CONTACT) or refer to our Shipping Page for more information and shipping options.

11. Can I pick-up my item at your location? What are the pick-up times?

You can pick-up your purchases from our location: 228 NE 7th Avenue, Portland, OR 97232.

The pick-up times for the premiere night auctions are the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday immediately following the auction from 9am to 5pm and also the Saturday immediately following the auction from 9am to 12pm.

The pick-up times for the Day Sale auctions are the Tuesday and Wednesday immediately following the auction from 9am to 5pm.

12. How much did something sell for?

Our auction archives are located here: Past Auctions

13. How did someone else win the item at my maximum bid?

This is a somewhat common occurrence because of the multiple ways that people can bid and sometimes multiple people have the same maximum bid. With an absentee bid, we do not start the bidding at your maximum bid and the auctioneer has final discretion as to who is the final high bidder.

Scenario 1: You place an absentee bid of $1000. The auctioneer recognized a bid of $900 from someone else, then recognizes your absentee bid at $950. The auctioneer asks for a bid of $1000 and if there are no more bids you would win the item at $950, but there is another bid for $1000 by another bidder and the auctioneer recognizes their bid. The auctioneer then asks for a bid of $1100, but since no one else bids, the item is sold to a bidder other than yourself for $1000.

Scenario 2: You place an absentee bid of $1000. The auctioneer recognizes several bids in quick succession from telephone bidders, live bidders in our audience, absentee bidders, and online bidders. The last bid was by an audience member for $1000 and the auctioneer asks for a bid of $1100. Since there are no other bidders, the item is sold to the audience member for $1000. Even though you also bid $1000, the auctioneer recognized the audience member’s bid first before they saw your absentee bid.

If you really want an item in the auction, consider raising your absentee bid amount or bid in-person, or by telephone, or use the live online bidding platform.

14. Why did the computer say my bid was not accepted?

Occasionally this will happen because by the time you placed your online bid, the bidding has already passed the amount you bid and the auctioneer is looking for a higher bid.

15. What is the buyer premium?

Buyers pay a commission, also known as a buyer premium, in addition to the hammer price.  The buyer premium is 23% for online purchases and 20% for all other purchases.

Buying Firearms

1. I won a firearm in the auction, now what?

a. If the lot description says, “No FFL or background check required,” you can simply pay for and pick-up your firearm or have it shipped to you within the U.S.A. (call 503-238-0202 to arrange payment and shipping).

b. If the lot description says, “Lot requires FFL or background check,” you will need to either have your firearm shipped to an FFL (Federal Firearms License) or come in to our location to do a $15 background check. We can do background checks for Oregon residents on all firearms. We can do background checks on Washington residents who are purchasing long guns. We cannot do background checks on Washington residents who are purchasing handguns, those will need to be shipped to an FFL. Residents of all other states will need to have their firearms shipped to an FFL.

2. How long does a background check take?

Background checks usually take between one day and two weeks, depending on the State backlog. This means that you usually can’t pick up your firearm on the same day you do your background check paperwork.

3. How can I find an FFL in my area?

Many gun dealers will accept shipments and can do background checks for a fee. Here is a website that lists gun dealers by zip code: www.gunbroker.com/ffl

4. I have a C&R license, can I use that instead of doing a background check?

It might qualify. Call us at 503-238-0202 and we can check if the C&R qualifies for a particular firearm.

5. What does my gun dealer (FFL) need to give you to ship my firearms?

Your gun dealer will fax (503-236-8211) or email ([email protected]) their FFL paperwork and your name. We will then mail the firearm to their FFL address.