1. Register

In order to place any bids on this site you need to first register. Just click on the link at the top of the left navigation column that says "User Registration" and this will take you to the registration form. You need to fill out all the required fields (marked by an asterisk) and we welcome you to fill out any of the optional ones as well. You will be asked to supply a valid credit card in this process. When doing this we will process a $1 charge on this card to validate its authenticity. Once this is done, you are free to elect any method of payment that we accept, including cash, check, bank wire and credit card. But validating via credit card protects both Arte Primitivo and you from bidders who might register but not be legitimate bidders and artificially inflate the price of bidding. One of the things you are asked when registering is for a "Handle". This is an online "nickname" that will identify you whenever you place a bid on an item. This way, you can tell when you are holding the winning position, or when you have been outbid by another bidder (his or her handle will then appear above yours reflecting the higher price). We recommend that you make this handle something that you like but that does not give away your identity (i.e. NOT johnbrownnycny) as it is probably in your best interest to keep your identity confidential.

2. Browse by Pages

When you bring up the main page of our online auction, you will immediately see a display page showing images of the items for sale in the current auction. At the right side of the grey bar that goes across the top of the display page is a link that says "Next Page". Click on this to go to the next page of images. Once you have left the home page, you will also see a link that says "Previous Page". This will take you to the page prior to the one you are now on.

You will also see an option to "Go To Page __ of __" (i.e. Go To Page 2 of 18). You can skip to a specific page in the sequence if you want to return to a page that had something you liked, quickly. Just change the number that is in the white box (i.e. 2) to the number of the page you want to go, and click on the yellow "Go" button.

3. Browse by Categories, Regions or Cultures

Another way for you to browse is by Categories, Regions or Cultures. The second box down on the left navigation column has the heading "Browse By" and then offers these three choices. Click on any one of them - lets say, Region, and the box below it will now display all the regions that have been entered into the system and that are available for browsing. If the main region that you want to explore is Africa, click on that and in the main display area of the site, only those lots that come from Africa will appear. Also, you will see that a sub directory of choices will appear underneath Africa, naming the different regions of Africa that are represented by these lots. The first one is Angola. If you click on Angola, the lots being displayed for all of Africa will now be replaced by just those from Angola, and so on.

4. Search

This is another way for you to find items. Lets say that you have received Arte Primitivo´s printed catalog and see a few items that you are interested in. For example, we will assume that the item of interest is Lot #10 in the book. This translates to Lot # 010 online. To find this item, you will go to the "Search Open Lot #" field at the top of the page and key in: 010, and click GO. This will bring up the Lot Detail Page for this Lot # 10.

5. Lot Details Page

When you come to an item that you are interested in, click on the image of the item and you will open up that item´s Lot Details Page, giving you all the information on that item and the ability to bid on it. From top to bottom, here is what is presented on the page: Auction Closes At: This is the exact time and date that the auction closes

Time Remaining: The days, hours, minutes and seconds left till closing

Lot # & Name: The lot number in 3 digit format (i.e. 3 is 003) and name of the lot as published in the catalog

Estimate: This reflects the price that Arte Primitivo estimates the item should fetch.

Reserve/Opening Bid: The price that must be bid in order for the item to be put into play.

Current High Bid: The highest bid currently in the system for the item.

Next Bid Needed: Based on Arte Primitivo´s published incremental bid escalation schedule, this reflects the next bid that is needed to advance the bidding and to win over the current high bidder.

Category: The main category that this item is classified under (as referenced in "3. Browse by Categories, Regions or cultures")

Sub Category: The sub category for this item, under the main category.

Period: An optional field. When filled, it reflects the chronological time period of the item (i.e. 8.C.)

Size: The items dimensions in inches (H = height, W = Width, L = Length.)

Description: A text description of what the item is.

Provenance: The collection from which the item comes.

Shipping Fee: The costs of shipping the item domestically and outside of the continental USA.

6. Bidding

To submit a bid you must be logged in first. To log in, you go to the fields at the bottom of the Lot Details page and enter the e-mail address that you used to register with in the field that says E-Mail. You enter the password that you selected where it says: Your Password. You are now logged in.

Once logged in, you may bid. You will see at the bottom of the page, a section that says Place Your Bid. Under that you will see a field that says: Next Bid Needed. this is the amount that you must bid in order to win over the current high bidder and take the top spot in the auction. Underneath this is a field that says: Your Max Bid Price: This is the maximum bid price that you are willing to pay for this item should the bidding escalate beyond what you have just entered. Everyone who enters a bid that is less than your Max Bid Price will be competing with your Max bid Price, and you will win. But the system will only register you as placing a bid that is the next increment of increase, as if you were sitting by your computer constantly watching and bidding. The system will continue to do this until someone exceeds your Max Bid Price, either by just placing a higher bid or by placing a higher Max Bid Price of their own.