How to Participate
01
Register and Apply
Sign in or create a site member account. Open a lot on Live Auctions, get invited to the private test, and submit that auction registration. OnlyCows independently verifies contact details and approves each registration.
02
Submit Application and Await Approval
After registration is submitted, OnlyCows independently verifies contact details and approves or declines access to the private test. Test bids and premiums are simulated. If you win, you pay the recorded final animal sale price directly to the seller by e-transfer or wire, plus a mandatory additional 4% buyer commission directly to OnlyCows. The commission is separate from the animal price. The buyer arranges and pays for pickup or shipping directly with the seller. OnlyCows does not arrange, book or coordinate transport as the auction platform.
03
Place Bids
When a lot is open, it publishes its minimum or starting bid and its minimum increment. Each lot may use a different increment; $50 CAD remains the default only when no other increment is published. The final winning bid is the closing animal price, subject to the seller's private reserve and sale confirmation. It is separate from any bidder's confidential maximum bid. Invited, approved members can place simulated bids in the private test.
Auction Rules
Bid Increments
Each lot publishes its own minimum increment. Bids must follow that published increment. $50 CAD remains the default only where no other increment is published; there is no single all-bids-must-be-multiples-of-$50 rule.
Automatic Maximum Bidding
A confidential maximum bid is the highest animal price a bidder is willing to pay. If proxy bidding is used for a lot, the system may place only the bids needed under the lot's published increment, without exceeding that maximum. The maximum remains confidential and is separate from the final winning bid. Any maximum bid covers the animal price only; the mandatory 4% buyer premium is additional. Test bids and premiums are simulated.
Anti-Sniping
The owner confirms the approved 3-, 5- or 7-day auction length before a lot opens. The final winning bid is the closing animal price subject to reserve and sale confirmation. Test auction activity is simulated.
Private Reserve
Every lot may have a private reserve price set by the seller. The reserve amount is not displayed publicly. The final winning bid is the closing animal price, but a sale is confirmed only subject to the private reserve and the seller's sale confirmation.
After the Auction
The buyer pays the recorded final animal sale price directly to the seller by e-transfer or wire. The buyer also pays the mandatory additional 4% commission directly to OnlyCows. OnlyCows does not collect the purchase balance. The buyer is responsible for arranging and paying for pickup or shipping directly with the seller. OnlyCows does not arrange, book or coordinate transport as the auction platform. Shipping, carrier, insurance, storage and export costs are settled directly by buyer, seller or service providers. These platform limits do not change legal duties that cannot be waived or OnlyCows responsibilities when it is the named seller.
Seller & Consignment
Lots may be owned by OnlyCows or offered by approved independent consignors. The seller is identified on each lot and sets that lot's private reserve.
Buy Now
Where a lot offers an active Buy Now option, the stated fixed amount covers the animal sale price only. The mandatory additional 4% buyer commission is paid directly to OnlyCows. Any tax or disclosed OnlyCows fee is shown separately. Pickup or shipping is arranged and paid for directly by the buyer with the seller; transport, carrier, insurance, storage and export costs are not quoted, collected or administered by OnlyCows as the auction platform. A sale is confirmed only after the live system accepts the purchase and closes the lot.
Mandatory 4% Buyer Premium
The buyer must pay a mandatory 4% buyer premium on the final animal sale price directly to OnlyCows, in addition to the full animal price paid directly to the seller. The premium is not deducted from the seller. Example: a $10,000 CAD sale means $10,000 to the seller plus $400 to OnlyCows, for a total of $10,400 before applicable taxes and transport. The premium is earned on every confirmed auction or Buy Now sale and remains payable if the buyer changes their mind, requests cancellation, refuses to pay or fails to collect, subject to any remedy or refund required by applicable law. This premium is mandatory and cannot be waived.