You are told three times, in three places. If you missed all three, the last one is still there.
1. On screen, if you are watching
The item closes and the screen says you won it. In a live show it is immediate and unmistakable — the room sees it too.
2. A notification
Sent whether or not you are watching. This is the one that matters if you had put your phone down.
3. In your orders
The permanent record. My wins and your orders list carry it, with Pay next to it until it is paid for.
This is the one to trust. A notification can be missed; the order cannot disappear.
If you saw none of them
Open your orders and look. If the win is there, it is yours and the clock is running — see below. If it is not there, you did not win it, however close the bidding felt.
The clock, which is the part that matters
Two different windows, and which one you get depends on whether you saw it happen:
- Watching when you won: thirty minutes to pay.
- Not watching — it ended while you were away: twelve hours.
The second exists precisely because people cannot sit through every auction. The first is short because the seller is still at the table and the room is still there. How long do I have to pay.
What happens if you do nothing
The win lapses, the item is offered to the under-bidder, and it counts as a strike against your account. Three strikes inside ninety days and you cannot bid for a while. What happens if I don't pay.
That sounds harsh until you have been the seller who held an item for someone who never came back.
More: what happens when you win, how to pay.