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Frequently asked questions

Contact us by telephone: +32 9 374 38 87 or +32 472 71 77 28 General

Bidding on a pigeon

Notificiations

After sales processing

 

General

 

Why ask permission to bid?

In order to ensure that every bid you place is legitimate, you need permission to bid. You only need to ask permission once to enable this.

It may take up to 24 hours before you receive permission to bid. This being the case we advise you to ask for permission well beforehand when wanting to bid on a certain pigeon.

 

Different ways to place a bid on PIPA:

There are 3 different ways in which you can bid:

  1. Bidding on our website.
    You have full control of the time and amount you wish to bid. Your bid will immediately be visible on the website. You can also request a list of all pigeons you’ve bid on in the past. You may also choose to be notified through SMS on your mobile phone when overbid.
  2. Bidding via e-mail: auctions@pipa.be
    As soon as your bid has been approved it will manually be placed on our website. This may take some time seen as we’re not always at our computer. Also, there may be some delay on your e-mail, so there’s no way we can possibly guarantee you always receive your e-mail on time. Bidding via e-mail is something we strongly advise against when an auction is nearing its end.
  3. Bidding via phone
    In case you want to make a bid by telephone please dial 0032 (0) 472 71 77 28 or 0032 (0) 9 374 38 87. Your bid will manually be placed online by one of our administrators.

 

Am I obligated to use this new auctioning system?

You’re not obligated to use the new auctioning system, however, it is highly recommended you do so. The new auctioning system will allow you to immediately place your bid yourself. Bidding by yourself online has many other advantages: at your disposal is an overview of all pigeons you’re bidding on and it’s possible to receive an e-mail or SMS when overbid by someone else. This is not possible when bidding by telephone or e-mail.

 

What does “automatic updates enabled” mean?

This means that the page you are visiting will automatically be updated when someone else, wherever in the world, makes a bid on a certain pigeon in the current auction. There’s no need to manually refresh the page each time you wish to see the newest biddings.

Every alteration to the biddings will shortly be highlighted in red. That way you can easily see which biddings have just been changed.

 

Can I get an overview of all pigeons that are for sale in an auction?

Yes. To receive an overview of all pigeons for sale in an auction you simply click on the title of the auction (on the right of the picture). 

 

Why do I have to ask for permission to bid again after I’ve changed my account details?

In order to see whether or not your details are correct, we make a routine check of all new data you’ve submitted to your profile. The bidding(s) and/or buying order(s) you’ve submitted will remain in place even after you change your account details.

 

Where can I see or modify my profile?

Your account details are listed in “my profile”, which you can find by clicking on “my auction” in the menu bar. There you will find the name under which your biddings are placed, as well as your contact details, that are never visible to other users.

 

When are auctions extended in time?

When a new bid is made for any given pigeon within the last 15 minutes of an auction, the auctioning of that particular pigeon will be extended by another 15 minutes.

For example:

  • The auction was set to end at 17:00
  • A bid is made for a certain pigeon at 16:47
  • The auctioning of that pigeon is automatically extended to 17:15; the auction for all other pigeons that did not receive a bid in the last 15 minutes will still end at 17:00.

 

Is it possible to guarantee the sex of young pigeons?

The sex of young pigeons is always a mere indication. It can never be fully guaranteed.

 

Bidding on a pigeon

 

How to place a bid in the new auctioning system?

When logged in you can place a bid by clicking on “place a bid”. You can submit your own bid and/or buying order and then click on “place your bid”.

As soon as you confirm your bid by clicking on “confirm your bid”, your bid will be saved to our database. You will be notified whether or not you have the highest bid, or when you’ve been overbid by a buying order.

Mind you: in order to bid you need to have registered an account on the PIPA-website and received permission to bid from our administrators.

In case you haven’t yet registered an account on our website, please follow the steps on this FAQ page.

In case you haven’t yet received permission to bid, you can ask for permission on this page.

 

What is a buying order?

You can submit a buying order in which case we will bid for you up to a certain maximum amount. Should we receive a bid that is lower than or equal to your standing buying order, you will automatically bid higher than your competitor’s bid and the highest bid will be in your name once again.

A buying order is always given priority to a regular bid. This means that a buying order of 2,000 EUR is technically higher than a regular bid of the same amount of 2,000 EUR.

When there are equally high buying orders, the buyer who placed his buying order first will have won the bid.

Your buying order is never visible to any other visitors/buyers. The buying order on our auction website is visible to you only.

 

How to be notified when overbid?

If you are overbid you may be notified by SMS or e-mail. You can change your settings to enable this on the “my profile”-page.

 

Where can I find an overview of my biddings?

An overview of all your biddings is found on the “my bids”-page. Be aware that these are only the biddings you’ve placed in one of the currently ongoing auctions.

 

What is the minimum bidding step?

  • If a price is lower than 500 EUR you must minimally bid 25 EUR
  • If a price is between 500 and 1,000 EUR you must minimally bid 50 EUR
  • If a price is between 1,000 EUR and 3,000 EUR you must minimally bid 100 EUR
  • If a price is higher than 3,000 EUR you must minimally bid 200 EUR

Bidding online will automatically take this into account.

 

Notificiations via SMS or e-mail

 

Where can I change my cell phone number?

You can change your cell phone number on the “my profile”-page. You will have to revalidate your cell phone number on our website by entering a code which we’ll send to your new cell phone number.

 

I did not receive a validation code through SMS. What do I do now?

First, check if you’ve entered the right cell phone number and/or correct country calling code.

If above information is correct, you may request a new validation code on the “my profile”-page. If you still do not receive an SMS on your cell phone, please contact us at asp e.ubtpoii@nca so we can personally take a look at the problem.

 

Why did I not receive an SMS after I was overbid?

Check to see if your cell phone number was validated on our website. If this is the case, please see to it that you’ve activated the necessary notifications. You can check this on your “my profile”-page.

 

Do I pay to receive an SMS?

No, you do not need to pay for our SMS-service. Receiving notifications by SMS is free of charge, anywhere in the world.

 

Where do I change the settings for receiving SMS’ or e-mails?

You can modify your personal settings on the “my profile”-page.

 

After sales processing

 

Are there any extra costs related to the purchase of a pigeon?

The amount you bid is the price you pay. There is no extra tax like there is in public sales. However, do notice that transport costs are not included.

 

How do I receive my pigeon after winning an auction?

As soon as you’ve paid for your pigeon, you can collect it at the PIPA lofts in Knesselare Belgium. We can also arrange for transport of your pigeon in various ways depending on the country you live in. Transport costs are always paid by the buyer.