What's happening
Bid and registration approvals on HiBid are controlled by you, the auctioneer — not by HiBid. A bidder who is declined, restricted, or blocked on your auctions is not banned from HiBid; they can still bid with other auction companies. HiBid support will not lift or reverse a restriction on your behalf, and they tell bidders the same thing: the decision rests with the auction company.
That means when a bidder calls you about being declined, you are the right person to handle it — and you have the tools to.
What to check first
Look at the registration. Check the bidder's request on the auction — their bidder score, feedback history, and any notes will usually show why they were declined or held for review.
Check your auto-approval settings. Your bid permission controls and default permission limits determine which registrations are auto-approved, held for review, or declined. A bidder with a low or negative score may be held even if you never manually declined them. See Bid Permission Controls and Default Permission Limits.
Check Permanent Bid Permissions. If you (or a staff member) previously blocked this bidder across all your auctions, that block will apply to every new registration. See Permanent Bid Permissions to review or remove it.
What to tell your bidder
If you declined them and are comfortable explaining why (unpaid invoice, missed pickup, feedback), tell them directly and let them know what would change your decision.
If they were declined by another auction company, explain that each auctioneer controls their own approvals — being blocked elsewhere doesn't affect your auctions, and HiBid support cannot lift another company's block. You can share HiBid's bidder-facing explanation: Why are bids or registrations declined on HiBid auctions?
If their bidder score is low, tell them the score improves by fulfilling obligations — paying invoices and completing pickups on time. Resolving an outstanding invoice with the auctioneer who reported it is the fastest path back.
When to contact support — and what we check
Contact us if a registration seems stuck in a state you didn't set, if you aren't receiving bid permission requests to approve or decline, or if a bidder's score looks wrong given their history with you. Send us the bidder's email address and the auction number, and we can review the registration record and permission settings on our end.