HiBid and LiveAuctioneers are the two bidding platforms estate auctioneers weigh most often, and they charge in different ways. HiBid charges a 2% auction fee on sales with online bidders plus $0.25 per unique bid capped at $150 an auction, on top of an Auction Flex 360 subscription from $95 a month, because HiBid auctions are built and uploaded from Auction Flex 360. LiveAuctioneers charges a 5% commission on sales, a per-event fee of $25 to $275 for timed auctions and $525 to $895 per day for live auctions depending on partner tier, and requires new clients to carry a $225-a-month EstateSales.NET Gold subscription. This guide compares the two on fees, audience, catalog import and seller requirements, from each platform's own pages accessed October 6, 2026.
Published October 2026 by Ben Cope, founder of Gavelist. Gavelist is not a bidding platform; it is the AI cataloging tool that exports a ready-made file for both HiBid and LiveAuctioneers, so it appears below only in that role. Every HiBid and LiveAuctioneers figure is quoted from the platform's own live page with the date it was read.
HiBid vs LiveAuctioneers at a glance
| HiBid (via Auction Flex 360) | LiveAuctioneers | |
|---|---|---|
| Software to list | Auction Flex 360: Solo $95, Team $145, Business $195, Enterprise $295 a month | None required; "Self-Service Upload" of catalogs and images |
| Fee on sales | 2% auction fee on sales with online bidders | 5% commission, all categories except real estate |
| Per-bid or per-event fee | $0.25 per unique bid, capped at $150 an auction | Timed: $275 Bronze, $225 Silver, $25 Gold per event. Live: $895, $675, $525 per event per day |
| Other required cost | None listed | $225 a month EstateSales.NET Gold subscription, "required for all new clients" |
| Payment processing | Credit card authentication $1.00 per auth, capped at $50 an auction (optional) | LivePayments 3.99% + $0.25 per card transaction (4.49% high risk); ACH 1% + $0.50 |
| Audience claim | "Thousands of auction companies worldwide use HiBid" | "millions of bidders" and "more than 1,600 of the world's trusted auction houses" |
| Catalog import | CSV through Auction Flex 360 (Lots > Import Lots), images named by lot number | XLSX, CSV or tab-delimited file with LotNum, Title, Description, LowEst, HighEst, StartPrice |
| Gavelist export | Ready-made HiBid file | Ready-made LiveAuctioneers file |
What HiBid costs
HiBid does not publish a seller fee page of its own; the fees sit on Auction Flex's pricing page, because, according to HiBid's about page (accessed October 6, 2026), "HiBid.com was built from the ground up to work alongside Auction Flex 360, a full-service auction management solution," and "Auctioneers can visit Auction Flex 360 to get started with a free trial."
According to Auction Flex's pricing page (accessed October 6, 2026), the software is $95 a month for Solo (1 user), $145 for Team (2 to 5 users), $195 for Business (6 to 9 users) and $295 for Enterprise (unlimited users). HiBid fees on top: an "Auction Fee" of "2%," "$0.25/bid" for unique bids with a "Cap: $150/auction," a "Webcast Setup" fee of "$75/auction," "$195/listing" for listing-only auctions with "No internet bidding," and credit card authentication at "$1.00/auth" capped at "$50/auction." The page defines a unique bid as "one bid placed by one bidder on one lot," so a bidder who bids ten times on one lot counts once. The 2% is a bidding-platform fee, not a cataloging fee, and it stays with HiBid whether you catalog by hand or with software.
What LiveAuctioneers costs
LiveAuctioneers publishes a master rate card. According to that page (accessed October 6, 2026), commission is "5%" across "Arts & Antiques," "Estate & Personal Property," "Firearms & Military Artifacts" and "All other categories (Excluding Real Estate)," with the condition that "75% of lots listed must come from approved items in this category to qualify for category commission rates." Event fees depend on partner tier: timed auctions are "$275 per event" for Bronze, "$225 per event" for Silver and "$25 per event" for Gold; live auctions are "$895 per event / day" for Bronze, "$675" for Silver and "$525" for Gold.
The tiers are earned, not chosen. The rate card defines Bronze as "LivePayments and LiveShipping enabled on all auctions," Silver as "Bronze requirements + Preferred Client Usage Model," and Gold as "Silver requirements + $50,000 lifetime sales on LiveAuctioneers + Exclusive use of LiveShipping as shipping solution on all auctions." A new estate auctioneer therefore starts at Bronze rates. Two further lines matter for a first-year budget: the "$225 per month Gold Subscription" to EstateSales.NET is "required for all new clients. Billed through LiveAuctioneers," and "Accounts with inactivity for 12 months are subject to Activation Fee" of "$500." LivePayments processing is "3.99% + $0.25 per transaction" on cards and "1% + $0.50 per transaction" by ACH.
A worked example: one 300-lot timed estate auction
Assume 300 lots, $30,000 in hammer, 900 unique bids, one timed auction in the month, and software fees only (no payment processing, no shipping). Figures use each platform's published rates above.
| Cost line | HiBid + Auction Flex 360 Solo | LiveAuctioneers, Bronze |
|---|---|---|
| Software or subscription | $95 | $225 (EstateSales.NET Gold, required for new clients) |
| Fee on sales | 2% of $30,000 = $600 | 5% of $30,000 = $1,500 |
| Per-bid or per-event | 900 x $0.25 = $225, capped at $150 | $275 timed event fee |
| Month total | $845 | $2,000 |
At Gold tier the LiveAuctioneers event fee drops to $25 and the total falls to $1,750, still above HiBid at this volume, because the 5% commission is the largest line. The gap narrows for high-value lots where LiveAuctioneers' collector audience lifts hammer prices; the rate card cannot tell you that, only your own sell-through can. Run both platforms on comparable sales for a quarter before committing an estate book to one.
Audience and fit
Neither platform publishes bidder counts by category. HiBid's about page says "Thousands of auction companies worldwide use HiBid to conduct live webcast, online-only, and absentee bidding auctions," and HiBid lists 18 browse categories from Antiques & Collectibles to Real Estate. LiveAuctioneers' advertising page describes "connecting millions of bidders with upcoming auctions hosted by more than 1,600 of the world's trusted auction houses," and its commission table is organized around Arts & Antiques and Estate & Personal Property. The practical reading: HiBid is the general-purpose marketplace for mixed estate, equipment and household lots; LiveAuctioneers is built for art, antiques and collectibles, and prices itself accordingly. Hybrid selling is now common: according to the EstateSales.NET 2024 Industry Survey, 22% of estate sale companies combine traditional estate sales with online auction formats.
Getting a catalog onto each platform
HiBid. Lots are entered in Auction Flex 360, then sent to HiBid. According to Auction Flex 360's help article on mass import (accessed October 6, 2026), the lot import needs a ".csv file," reached at "Lots > Import Lots > Choose File," with a template at "Lots > Import Lots > CSV Template"; the mapping screen matches your columns to fields such as Lot #, Title, Description, Start Bid and Consignor. Images follow separately: "Lots must be in Auction Flex 360 before you mass upload images," and files named 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 attach to lot 1. According to Auction Flex 360's help article on the HiBid relationship, once the sale is set up, "The upload happens within seconds."
LiveAuctioneers. According to LiveAuctioneers' "Guide to your Catalog Text Format" (V3.3, read October 6, 2026), the mandatory columns are LotNum, Title, Description, LowEst, HighEst and StartPrice; "Lot numbers can consist of up to 10 characters maximum," the title "must not exceed 49 characters," "The start price cannot be greater than your low estimate," and "If this field is left empty, Start Price will be automatically set at 50% of your low estimate." The guide recommends saving "as a .csv or text-tab delimited file" to preserve special characters, and notes that auction software can "export it as a .CSV file for direct upload into LiveAuctioneers."
Gavelist exports ready-made files for both. The LiveAuctioneers file writes the start price as the lower of the lot's start bid and low estimate, so it never trips the "cannot be greater than your low estimate" rule, and the HiBid file carries hosted photo links. Two out of three Gavelist customer accounts that exported a catalog from June to September 2026 exported a HiBid file. Gavelist charges $0.15 per lot pay-as-you-go and takes 0% of auction sales, a cataloging fee that sits alongside, not instead of, either platform's fees. Step-by-step guides: HiBid imports through Auction Flex and exporting auction lots to LiveAuctioneers.
Which to choose
- Mixed estate contents, equipment, household lots, local pickup: HiBid. Lower fee on sales, no required third-party subscription, and the 2% applies only to sales with online bidders.
- Art, antiques, jewelry and collectibles with national or international bidders: LiveAuctioneers. Higher fees, but the audience is built for those categories, and the Gold tier cuts timed event fees to $25 once you pass $50,000 in lifetime sales.
- Both: catalog once and export two files. The lot data is the same; only the bidding venue changes. See listing one auction on multiple platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does HiBid charge a percentage of sales? Yes, a 2% auction fee on sales with online bidders, plus $0.25 per unique bid capped at $150 an auction, according to Auction Flex's pricing page on October 6, 2026. It also requires Auction Flex 360 software from $95 a month. More in does HiBid charge a percentage of sales.
What does LiveAuctioneers charge sellers? A 5% commission in all categories except real estate, plus a per-event fee ($25 to $275 for timed auctions, $525 to $895 per day for live auctions, by partner tier), plus a $225-a-month EstateSales.NET subscription for new clients, according to its master rate card on October 6, 2026.
Can I sell on HiBid without Auction Flex 360? HiBid's own page says the marketplace "was built from the ground up to work alongside Auction Flex 360" and directs auctioneers to Auction Flex 360 to get started; HiBid publishes no separate seller signup.
Which is cheaper for a 300-lot estate auction? On published rates, HiBid: about $845 against about $2,000 on LiveAuctioneers at Bronze tier for $30,000 in hammer, before payment processing. One Gavelist catalog exports a ready-made file for each.
Sources
- Auction Flex, "Auction Flex 360 Pricing," accessed October 6, 2026. trial.auctionflex.com
- HiBid, "About Us," accessed October 6, 2026. hibid.com
- Auction Flex 360 Help, "Mass Import Lots & Images" and "Understanding Auction Flex 360 and HiBid," accessed October 6, 2026. help.auctionflex360.com; help.auctionflex360.com
- LiveAuctioneers, "Master Rate Card," accessed October 6, 2026. liveauctioneers.com
- LiveAuctioneers, "Guide to your Catalog Text Format" (V3.3), read October 6, 2026. p1.liveauctioneers.com
- LiveAuctioneers, "Features & Services for Auctioneers" and "Advertising Opportunities," accessed October 6, 2026. liveauctioneers.com/features; liveauctioneers.com
- EstateSales.NET, "2024 Estate Sale Industry Survey." estatesales.net
- Gavelist production data: export logs June to September 2026 (first-party).
- Gavelist, "Pricing." gavelist.com/pricing