An absentee bid (sometimes called a “commission bid” in legacy auction houses) is a bid submitted before the live auction starts, with the auctioneer or clerk authorized to bid up to that amount on the bidder’s behalf during the sale. The maximum is kept confidential — the auctioneer only bids as much as needed to win, in line with the standard bid increment.
Absentee bids let buyers participate without attending in person or watching online. They’re treated as “in the room” for tie-breaking purposes — if a floor bidder and an absentee bid land at the same number, the absentee bid (received first) typically wins. On modern platforms, absentee bids are usually entered as proxy bids in the bidder’s account.
Absentee bidding originated in 18th-century Britain, where collectors who couldn’t attend major art sales would mail in bids on commission to a representative attending in person. The mechanic survives today in nearly every auction format — though the “commission bid” nomenclature has largely been replaced by “maximum bid” or “proxy bid” in online platforms. For high-value auctions, absentee bidders should still confirm receipt of their bid with the auction house before the sale — bid forms occasionally get lost or processed incorrectly, and there’s no recovery if the error is discovered after the hammer falls.