No. All we need from you at that time is a valid e-mail address. There is only one account issued per e-mail address. Once you register, we'll send you confirmation e-mail with a link that you will need to click in order to activate your account. If you are the winning bidder, you can pay online through the checkout.

In order to retrieve your password, you will have to complete three challenges, each more daunting than the last…just kidding. There is an automated "Forgot Password" functionality that you can use to get your password e-mailed to you. You can find this under Account on the top right hand corner.

Any time you want, just go to the Account in the top right-hand corner of the page.

No. The only information that will be posted publicly is your display name. So feel free to bid vehemently against your mother-in-law, she'll never know it was you.

We do not store your credit card information. All transactions are conducted via a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encrypted channel and only after you've won an item. Your credit card information and other personally identifiable information (PII) is never sent in plain unencrypted text; in addition, transaction information is stored in a secure and encrypted manner. From a physical security standpoint, our servers are maintained in a secured, limited-access data center.

We've made it an easy, three step process to get the auction item of your dreams:

1. Sign Up as A Bidder
   You don't need to give us your credit card information, just a valid e-mail address and a display name of your choice. Choose wisely – this will be your user/bidding name that other bidders will see.
2. Activate your Account.
   You will receive an email from us. Click the button to activate and you are set to get bidding. Don't see the email? Check your junk mail.
3. View Auction of choice
4. Find something you like, enter the amount and click BID NOW.
   You'll get an e-mail confirming your bid along with a pop up telling you are the high bidder.

You'll get an e-mail confirming you have been "outbid" meaning you need to click the button in the email and get bidding again.

Choosing a Max Bid is a good way to indicate the maximum amount you are willing to bid, without necessarily spending the maximum, or having to monitor the auction and increasing your bid. Auctioning without effort, if you will.

You indicate the highest bid you are willing to pay for an item by placing a Max Bid. Your Max Bid will automatically increase in the minimum bid increments, up to the maximum that you have indicated, but only if and when you have been outbid -- so your winning bid may end up less than your designated maximum. Which is exciting, everyone likes a deal. The use of a Max Bid means not having to check your e-mail or watch the auction to see if your bid needs to be raised

In order to place a max bid, please check off the "Max bid" checkbox when you are submitting a bid on the item that you would like.

Absolutely. We call it the "stalker strategy." Click the "Add to watch list" button on the item that you would like to add. Items will automatically be added to your watch list. See below for more on Watch list.

A watch list displays items you wish to monitor. Watching an item helps you keep track of it without having to bid or buy it immediately. If you decide to bid or buy it, you can do it quickly by clicking the watched listing in my Watch list under account menu.

To watch an item from an Elevate Auction:

1. Go to the item you are interested in.
2. Click on the Button.

To View your Watch list:

1. Go to My Account.
2. Then go to My Watch list.

* The Watch list can span over multiple auctions

Bids placed within the final 3 minutes before an auction's designated close time, will be extended by an additional 3 minutes from when the last bid was placed. This gives all bidders an opportunity to place a competing bid. All items will close when there have been no bids placed within the last remaining 3 minutes. Think of it as sudden death overtime in the auction world.

A reserve price is the minimum price the organizer is willing to accept for the item. It usually means that it's a pretty amazing item and you should bid.

Items marked as "Live" mean the item will be carrying on to the physical auction event most likely with the assistance of a professional auctioneer. The highest online bidder will begin the live event bidding.

We're working on having sparkles shoot out of your computer but until technology catches up with us, A pop up will appear saying "Congrats - You are the High Bidder". Your display name will also be shown underneath the "Bid Increment" on the Item page.

Yes. You will receive an e-mail once you have been outbid.

Once you "win" an item, payment is due within 24 hours of purchase. We accept payment through Visa or Mastercard online. When you would like to pay, login to the system and under the Account header, click the "Checkout" Tab and follow instructions from there. Again, we don't store your credit card information and our checkout process is secure.

Shipping is at the discretion of the nonprofit hosting the auction. It should be posted under the shipping tab on the item. If you have any questions about the status of your item, please contact the cause you are supporting directly for questions regarding this.

At the request of a significant number of our donors and winners, we do not disclose the final auction price of closed items.

There are no "take backs." All bids placed on our website are legally binding. If you are the successful bidder, you enter into a legal contract to purchase the item and will be considered the buyer of the item. Please consider your bids carefully before placing them.

Since this is a transaction, buyers will not be provided a charitable tax receipt. A charitable tax receipt from the charity may be requested if the buyer is submitting a cash donation only. Please contact your local charity for this information

Elevate welcomes all types of fundraising groups. We assist over 300 charities, schools, sports and nonprofit groups every year. We provide fundraising ideas, live auctioneering services, online charity auctions, unique vacation packages and charity auction items to help exceed your fundraising goals.

We do everything auction related. Depending on what kind of event you are hosting, we welcome you to visit or call us, we can review your event and provide a free consultation. Check out our showroom and get an idea first hand of all the no-risk items we are able to offer for your fundraising event. You can register online as a nonprofit organization, which will allow you to browse our no-risk catalogue of items. This is also where you can host an online auction (see below for online auction FAQs). Check out our services section on the website for further information.

When selecting items from our catalogue, there are no upfront costs. This means if any of your items do not sell, we take them back at no cost. We supply you with a minimum price on all of our items so you know what to start bidding on and you offer at your event (live, silent or online). When your reserve price is met, you keep all the funds above our cost. It is zero risk but high reward for your group.

GST is not included in the price of the no-risk items, and will be calculated on your invoice at time of billing.

Simple. Create an online account as a Charity Administrator to view our catalogue of items. Make note of which items you wish to consign and contact us to confirm the items are in-stock. If we are out of something, chances are they can be ordered or a suitable replacement will be suggested.

Elevate scours the United States and Canada to find truly unique and one-of-a-kind items to make your auction the talk of the town. Our vast inventory of no-risk items includes sports & celebrity memorabilia, fashion items, jewellery, travel experiences and so much more. Our autographed items are 100% authentic and come with a Certificate of Authenticity. We pride ourselves in working with only the best suppliers.

YES. All of our trip experiences can be sold multiple times. If you are looking to sell multiples of a memorabilia item - touch base with your event manager to ensure that we have extras in-stock.

To create an Online Auction you will need:

1. Banner graphic (2160px x 890px) jpg,png or gif
2. Thumbnail graphic (468px x 350px) jpg,png or gif
3. Items to auction and sell
4. Someone to market and promote
5. Supporters

Easy. First, contact us to get everything set up. From there you will create your banner and thumbnail graphics that will match your Live Event theme. Find 6-8 items you want to showcase or showoff. These would be one-of-a-kind and special items. Visitors should be able to view your online site at least 1 week prior to your live event. Pre-bidding offers your guests to get a sneak peek before the event and to get the bidding started. This gives your items better exposure and higher bids. All winning bids will be taken to the event and the bidding will begin at that amount.

Each auction is featured on our home page and a link is sent out to our registered Elevate bidders/followers. Elevate will promote your online auction on Facebook and Twitter to drive additional traffic. You will be in charge of promoting and marketing to your donor base.

1. Reach out to your supporters and current donor base. Find out what donations you can acquire.
2. Select some of Elevate's no-risk items to compliment your donations. For example, if you have no wine tastings or chef dinners, add some from our catalogue.

This is up to you. If you only want the items to be available for pick up then include that in your shipping information when creating your auction. Otherwise, include info that the winner will be responsible for cost of shipping. If the default shipping costs you set on the Shipping info section are not correct for an item, you can set item-specific shipping costs when adding or editing an item. Simply click the edit link next and change the shipping costs for that location. The new shipping costs you enter will only be applied to that item.

Providing a secure, no-risk auction is our commitment. Your auction is hosted in a secure data centre in downtown Calgary and we guarantee 99.9% uptime for your auction.

• Unlimited Items & Bidders
• Unlimited Images for Item
• Auction Analytics
• Secure Cashout & Collection (we accept payments)
• Email Support
• Mobile Optimized
• Funds Raised Goal Tracking
• Donate Now Feature
• Extending Bidding
• Max Bidding
• Sales Summary
• Access to Elevate Catalogue

You can run your auction for as long as you wish. From our experience, it is best to run your auction anywhere from 7-14 days. The best days to start your auction are Mondays and the best day to end you auction are Sunday's. The best time to start is 9am and the best time to end is between 8-10pm. Remember not to have your auction start or end on a holiday.

Your uploading image file must be a jpg, png or gif.

We're available anytime to answer your questions. Our general e-mail is info@elevateauctions.com or you can call (403) 287-8439.