Frequently asked questions

Enter the highest amount you are willing to pay and select Place bid. We bid for you, using only as much as we need to keep you in the lead, and we never bid above your maximum. You will often win for less than the amount you entered.

For example, if the current bid is $500 and you enter $550, your bid is placed at $510. The rest of your maximum is only used if somebody bids against you.

Your maximum is not shown to other bidders or the seller. We let you know if someone bids more than your maximum, and you can decide whether to raise it.

Yes. Selecting Place bid opens a confirmation showing the maximum you entered. Nothing is placed until you confirm it, and you can cancel and change the amount. Bids are binding once placed, which is why the step is there.

The amount you enter must be at least one bid increment above the current bid. The increment is set by the current bid, and it gets larger as the price rises.

For example, if the current bid is $500, the next bid must be at least $510. You can bid any higher amount. Every listing shows the minimum bid under the bid box.

Your bid is not placed, and the current bid stays where it is. Enter at least the minimum bid shown on the listing, then place your bid again. If someone bids while you are typing, the minimum goes up and the listing shows the new amount.

The first bid on a listing can be the starting bid the seller set. Every bid you place after that must be at least one increment higher than the current bid.

No. There is one bid box, and the amount you enter in it is your maximum. We bid for you from there, so setting a maximum and placing a bid are the same act.

No. We bid only as much as we need to keep you in the lead. If nobody bids against you, you win at the minimum bid rather than at your maximum. You pay your full maximum only if another bidder pushes the price that high.

We let you know. Nothing happens automatically once your maximum is passed, so the animal is only still yours to win if you enter a higher maximum. A bid you have already placed cannot be taken back, so enter the most you are willing to pay and no more.

At the time shown on the listing, unless a bid arrives in the final two minutes. A bid in the last two minutes moves the end two minutes later, and there is no limit on how often that happens, so an auction does not close while people are still bidding. Check the listing for the time it is working to now.

This happens when a bidder's max is higher than the new bid, but by less than one increment. We bid their full max, so the bidder who offered more stays in the lead. For example, if you bid $510 and another bidder's max is $515, their bid of $515 takes the lead.

The bidder who offered that amount first stays in the lead. If your bid matches another bidder's max, their bid stays ahead, and the minimum bid goes up by one increment.

A reserve price is the lowest price the seller is willing to accept. It sits above the starting bid, so bidding can open below the price that will actually buy the animal.

A reserve is what lets a seller open low. Without one, a breeder with a $10,000 bull has to start at $10,000, and listings that open at their full price rarely attract an early bid.

No. You will see that a listing has a reserve. You will not see the amount, and you will not see whether the bidding has reached it.

A live indicator would give the amount away within one increment, and it invites people to bid at the indicator rather than at what the animal is worth to them. Enter the most you are willing to pay. If that clears the reserve, you win.

The auction ends with no sale and no winner. Nothing is charged and every hold is released, including the highest bidder's. The highest bidder then gets the first chance at the animal and can offer the seller a price. The seller can accept it, counter once, or pass, and each of you has 48 hours to respond.

A Buy It Now price lets you buy the animal immediately, at a price the seller has set, instead of waiting for the auction to end. It is the seller's option, so not every auction has one.

The button is available until the first bid. The price itself still stands: if the bidding reaches it, the auction ends there and the animal sells at that price. You can also enter an amount at or above the Buy It Now price at any time, which buys the animal outright rather than placing a bid.

On a listing with a set price, yes. Those listings show an asking price rather than a clock and stay up until they sell, and you can either buy at the asking price or select Make an offer and name a lower one.

Offers cannot be made on an auction. There the bidding decides the price.

The seller can accept it, counter once, or decline. A counter is the seller naming a price between your offer and the asking price, and you can accept it or decline it. Each of you has 48 hours to answer. If nobody answers in time the offer closes, and the animal stays for sale.

Yes. Offers are binding: if the seller accepts, you have bought the animal. Making one places a hold on your credit card for our closing fee, the same hold a bid places and on the same terms. If the seller declines, or the offer runs out of time, the hold is released.

Up to 3. After a seller declines one, your next offer has to be higher than the one they turned down. You can buy at the asking price at any point, including after your last offer.

No. A listing can have offers from several buyers at once, and nobody is shown anybody else's. If the seller accepts another offer, or the animal is bought at the asking price, every open offer closes and its hold is released.

We notify the buyer and the seller, and the buyer's closing fee is charged automatically. Once it has been paid, a private conversation opens so you can agree on the pickup date, the bill of sale and payment. Our guide, Completing your sale, walks buyers and sellers through each step, including how to protect yourself. Sign in to read it.

You and the seller do, directly. HoofnHorn does not ship animals or handle the purchase payment: once your auction closes, you settle the sale price with the seller and arrange pickup or delivery between you. Before the auction ends, ask the seller in the comments on the listing, where every bidder can read the answer. Once you have won and paid your closing fee, a private conversation opens between you and the seller for payment and pickup. It is worth writing early: many breeders will meet a buyer part way or hold an animal briefly while a hauler is booked.

Start with the seller: breeders move animals all the time and usually know reliable haulers on the routes out of their area. Breed associations, local sale barns, and large-animal vets keep names too. Whoever you book, agree on the rate, the route, and the timing in writing, and confirm the hauler carries insurance that covers livestock in transit.

Most states require a certificate of veterinary inspection, issued by an accredited vet shortly before travel, and some add tests, permits, or official ID on top. Requirements are set by the destination state and they change, so look them up for your specific move: InterstateLivestock.com is a lookup run on behalf of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture and the United States Animal Health Association. Pick the origin and destination states and the species, and it reports what that movement currently requires. Confirm the final details with the destination state's animal health office before the trailer rolls.

When you join HoofnHorn through an affiliate's link or referral code, you get a one-time reduction in our closing fee. It applies to your first sale, or to your first purchase that meets the offer's minimum, whichever comes first. Your account shows the amount, any minimum, and the last day to use it. The full conditions are in the welcome offer terms.

A limited time, starting on the day you create your account. The sale has to be made by the end of the last day shown in your account, Eastern time. An auction that closes after that day does not use the offer, even if it started before.

If the buyer never pays and the sale is canceled, or we refund the closing fee, your welcome offer comes back to your account, as long as its last day has not passed.