Frequently Asked Questions

1. How does it work?
   Many construction companies accumulate building materials surplus as a result of daily operations. It cost to throw away and it cost even more money to keep . We provide an on-line market for such products. Building materials may be mis-measurements, salvage, overstock; it may be old equipment, tools or anything else construction. People whom are interested in reusable goods may bid for items on our site. If there are bids higher than item's reserve price, we will send the highest bidder an email with a link to make the payment. Once paid, we provide the necessary information for buyer to get a hold of goods he or she paid for. When the buyer is satisfied with the purchase and takes possession of it, we transfer money, minus our fee, to the seller.
   Listings which did not get high enough bids are restarted.
   
   Companies that are not interested in selling their product, but rather would like to advertise their services or work, may post listings to the "Service List". Business and contact information of these companies will be available to all visitors of our site at all times while the listing is running. We provide considerable discount for companies which offer volunteering or donating services to non-profit organizations. If you would like to become one of the partner organizations and have us collect volunteering information for you, contact us at information@americanbuildersurplus.com.
   
   This is it in a nutshell, see more detailed explanations on how to buy, sell or advertise below.



2. What are Product List and Service List?
   "Product List" displays usable building materials available for sale by different companies throughout the world. You can search for a specific product or browse through all available items.
   
   "Service List" displays building services advertisements. There are almost no limitations to what can be posted, as long as it is construction industry pertinent. It can be announcements of a company professional services, availability of a company workforce, special programs or initiatives of non-profit organizations and more.



3. How do I add or edit my listings?
   We have "My Listings" and "My Account" links to help you navigate to your postings and account information:
   
   Use "My Account" to add or change your profile information, such as company information, seller's accounts receivable, pickup location for items sold by your company.
   
   Use "My Listings" to navigate through postings you have made on our site: We have three categories of listings to help you navigate through our site's modules.
   • "Buy List" - shows all the items you are bidding on or you have purchased.
   • "Sell List" - manages your on-line store, shows all the items you have posted for sale on our site. (This category only available to company type accounts.)
   • "Service List" - shows all of your service announcements.
   You can click on any of the these lists to proceed to the selection or, if you would like "My Listings" link to bypass the list selection screen in the future, press "Make Default" link located underneath each selection. The website will take you straight to that page when you press "My Listings" next time. You will be able to remove your default selection at later time as well.



4. How do I add new Service Listing?
   After registering on our site, click "My Listings" link on top of the page and than click on "Services List". Once there click on "Create New Service Listing.." link and follow the instructions on the screen.
   "New Service Listing " wizard consists of five pages where you may add:
   • Your advertisement title and text, you can add your website URL, email address, phone, address or any other communication information.
   • Applicable BOL Occupation Codes.
   • Images.
   • Volunteer information, if you would like to volunteer your services.
   • Listing duration.
   Cost of the service advertisement is based on the listing's duration, however, to promote advertisement of services on our site all the listings created before September 1 2007 are FREE. After this promotional period, only partner organizations will have an ability to create postings at no cost. If you would like to become our partner send us email to information@americanbuildersurplus.com



5. How do I sell?
   You can sell your surplus building materials any way you want to:
   • If you would like to auction them off, set at least a reserve price. Bids below the reserve price will not be considered.
   • If you would like to sell only at a specific price, check "No Bid Item" and add "Closeout price".
   • If you would like to give it away for free, check "Free Item".
   • If you prefer people calling you directly about the material, open an online store.
   On-Line Store
   You may opt to open an on-line Store on our site. Having store means that all the visitors to our site can see your contact information. Your first month is FREE. We are sure that we help bring interested buyers to your building materials and surplus products. Before the store expiration we send an email reminder. If you selected to keep credit card on our site and selected to auto renew the store dates we attempt to charge your card automatically. If not, we send a link to renew.
   On-line Store works only in conjunction with posted items. Your contact information will be displayed on an individual item listing, above on-line bid screen! Your items will run regardless of whether or not the store feature is enabled. Without a store only bid screen is displayed.
   
   Create Item Listing
   Only items that can be bought over the internet may be posted. Such items should have technical specifications, determined quantities and pricing. More detailed information leads to more interested potential buyers. Tell people about the product you are selling. You have to have a Company Account to sell an item on this site. After registering as a company, click "My Listings" link on top of the page and than click on "Sell List". Once there click on "Create New Listing.." link.
   "New Item Listing" wizard consists of four pages where you may add:
   • Basic item info - division and subdivision codes, title, description, starting, reserved and closeout price. Any self-identifying information in the body of the post is not allowed, it will be removed.
     There are several options to consider when creating a new posting.
     • If you would like to give item away for free, check "FREE Item" checkbox. No bidding will be required and the item's pickup address and instructions are displayed to all the visitors when the post becomes active.
     • If you would like just to sell at a predetermined price, check "No Bid Item". No bidding will be required and item will only be sold at the price you specify.
     • If you leave the above checkboxes unchecked, the item will be sold to the highest bidder, providing that the reserve price was met.
   • Item images, if you have any.
   • Pickup address and pickup instructions.
   • Auction duration.
   The post will be activated within a few minutes after you click "Start Listing" button. Your post will be running until sold, unless you disable "auto-retstart" option, in this case the listing will run for a specified period of days only.


What does it cost to put item for sale? What are the fees?
One month of an on-line store cost $29.95, however your first month is FREE.
There is no posting fee. We collect the fee after successful sale of an item.
Current fee is 5% - 6.75% of the final sale price. The fee is deducted before it is transferred to seller's accounts receivable. There are no other fees. No fee is applied when posting FREE items.
See fee structure below:
• If the price of the item sold exceed $10,000.00 then the fee for this listing is 5%.
• If the amount of sales in a month exceeds $10,000 than the fee is 6.25% plus 30¢ per transaction (your accounts receivable is credited at the beginning of next month).
• Current standard fee is 6.75% plus 30¢ per transaction.
• Shipping charges fee is 6.25% plus 30¢ per transaction.



6. How do I get paid for my items?
   When the auction is over, the highest bidder pays the amount specified in his or her bid, providing that this bid is higher that your reserved price. Buyer then has 3 days grace period to examine the item and pick it up or ask for a refund.
   
   When buyer is satisfied with the purchase and has picked it up, or the grace period ended, AmericanBuilderSurplus.com transfers the amount collected from the buyer, minus the auction fee, to your Paypal® account.
   
   Payment is processed in the same way as for an auction post when the item is sold at the closeout price.
   
   You may also post a FREE item. In this case no bidding is needed, the item location and the pickup instructions are available for all viewers.
   
   If you do not have Paypal® account we send you a check at the beginning of a month for all the items sold during the previous month.
   
   We can process up to $10,000 electronically, when an item's price exceeds this amount, we charge 5% auction fee. The rest is due directly to seller at or prior to pickup.



7. How do I buy?
   There are two ways to buy a product on AmericanBuilderSurplus.com.
   • First is to place a bid on an auction. When an auction ends and if your bid is the highest and if the auction reserve price was met, we send you an email which tells you that you won the auction. The email contains a link to the payment screen. Once paid, you will be provided with the pickup address and the pickup instructions created by the seller. You have 24 hours to respond to this notification and pay for the item.
   • Second is to buy at Closeout Price. Closeout Price is a special amount posted by an item's seller. Not all listings have Closeout Price available. Clicking Closeout Price button will take you to the payment screen with the item price equal to the Closeout Price. Once paid, you will be provided with the pickup address and the pickup instructions created by the seller. The listing is stopped.
   
   Both buyer and seller are notified by email upon an item's purchase.
   
   We are offering three day inspection period to make sure the buyer is satisfied with the purchase. During this time the buyer can examine the item and confirm that it is as advertised. If it is not to the buyer's expectations, the buyer may request a refund and money will be refunded in full. If the purchased product is being shipped, the buyer, in agreement with the seller, may request us to monitor the transaction. We will hold the paid amount until we get a confirmation that the product has arrived satisfactory, or the buyer asks for the refund. The silence from the buyer is interpreted as a sign that the purchase was successful. If you would like a special handling of your transaction send us email at information@americanbuildersurplus.com
   
   It will be considered unethical if a buyer finds an item on our site and pays privately, directly to a seller. We only make our money when transactions are completed on this site. Please pay for items on AmericanBuilderSurplus.com.
   
   We electronically process amounts up to $10,000, when an item's price exceeds this amount we charge 5% auction fee only. The buyer is responsible for the rest of the amount due to the seller at or prior to pickup. Payment verification and release of the item/s in this case are completely determined by the seller's payment practices and policies.
   
   You may elect to have us save your card information for future transactions. In most cases it is a convinience of not typing the numbers again. In case of an online store, if you checked "auto renew" option and checked "Store credit card information", we will attempt to renew store subscription automatically. In either case of success or failure we will send you a confirmation email.
   
   We are accepting VISA, Master Card, American Express and Discover credit cards. We are also accepting Paypal® Express Checkout. Members registered on AmericanBuilderSurplus.com and Paypal® may use both methods for online payments.



8. Is it safe to conduct business on AmericanBuilderSurplus.com?
   We are in business of connecting legitimate buyers and sellers. We will investigate any suspicious activity on our site. We will remove any posts that do not have complete and clear information. We developed following guidelines to help protect both, a seller and a buyer:
   • If you have concerns about a product or its seller do not bid. Please notify us about your concerns.
   • If you do not intend to buy - do not bid. First failure to pay after winning an auction will result in the suspension of the bidder's account. Second failure to pay will result in the permanent block of the account.
   • The buyer and the seller can post feedback about each other.
   • The buyer can request us to hold the money until he or she makes sure that the product he or she paid for exists and is ready to be picked up or to be shipped. The seller will be notified of such request. The funds will be transferred to the seller, providing that the seller has valid paypal® account on file with us, as soon as we receive the "go-ahead" confirmation from the buyer, however, the buyer should not unreasonably stall the transaction.
   • The seller can expect the funds to be transferred when purchased goods are arranged to be shipped and a valid shipping tracking number for is created and the buyer confirms receiving this tracking code. The buyer may need an additional confirmation from a freight company.
   • We can assist you in making the transaction safer in other situations as well. Please consider all parties of the transaction: buyers are entitled to feel safe about their payments and sellers are entitled to receive funds for goods they sold as soon as possible.
   
   Contact us at information@americanbuildersurplus.com, if you would like our assistance.



9. How do I make my posting more attractive to potential buyers?
   
   • Create detailed title and description for your item. Things that are obvious to you may not be so clear for others. The more information you provide, the better chance you have to sell it.
   • Establish clear selling lot size. Potential buyers may be turned away by the large quantity and price as well as low price and insufficient amounts. For example if you have five hundered items and you do not mind selling in lots of one hundred, set the starting, reserve and closeout prices based on lots of one hundred.
   • Set reasonable prices. There are many ways to buy. As a seller think about what would you do as a buyer. Make people an offer they can't refuse! Remember how much money you might spend keeping this product and how long you can store it before it falls apart.
   • Upload pictures for your product. "A picture is worth a thousand words."



10. How do I set my item's prices?
    We have several prices a seller can set for his/hers items
    • Starting Price. This is the amount to start bidding from. Sometimes you do not want to begin bidding from $0.00, so this is a price of a first minimum bid. We recommend this price to be lower than your reserve price. Potential buyers can be intimidated by a high upfront price.
      Starting price is multiplied by the quantity in order to display the closeout price for the entire posted lot.
    • Reserve Price. This is the most important amount you can set, it establishes a minimum you will accept for this posting. The Reserve Price is not displayed to buyers. If the Reserve is not met, the item is not considered sold even if bids were placed against it. Please consider full retail price for similar items, our experience shows that items that priced close to full retail price do not sell well. If you are serious about selling your product we recommend setting a price attractive to potential buyers.
      • If you are selling in bulk, this is the price for the entire bulk.
      • If you are selling in lots, this is the price for an individual lot.
      • If you are selling one item at the time, this is the price for one item.
      Reserve price is multiplied by the quantity in order to calculate winning bids for the entire posted lot.
    • Closeout Price. This is the amount you are willing to sell your product for immediately. This is a "Sticker Price". We recommend this price to be slightly higher or equal to reserve price.
      Closeout price is multiplied by the quantity in order to calculate the closeout price for the entire posted lot.
    • Quantity or Lot Size. This is a minimum amount of items you are wishing to sell. There are several way to determine pricing for your item. For example:
      • If you would like to sell 500 units at the price of $1.75 per unit, you can set reserve price to 1.75 and quantity to 500. The actual reserve price in this case is recalculated to $1.75 X 500 = $875.00.
      • The same posting can also be created with $875.00 as a reserve price with quantity set to 1.
      We calculate Starting Price and Closeout Price using this rule as well.
    • Shipping Price. This is the amount for shipping in addition to the item's sale price. Shipping amount can be added or changed after the item sale is complete.
    • Salvaged Item - check the box if this is a salvaged item.
    • Free Item - check this box if you want to give the item away for free.
      If this is checked, Starting Price, Reserve Price and Closeout Price cannot be set.
    • No Bid Item - check this box if you do not want any bidding for this item. Item will be on sale only at the closeout price.
      If this is checked, Closeout Price has to be set. Starting Price and Reserve Price become equal to Closeout Price.



11. How do I ship purchased items?
    AmericanBuilderSurplus.com can only be a facilitator for paying shipping charges. We provide a secure and safe way to exchange shipping funds between the buyer and the seller. We do not know where and how purchased items are to be shipped, therefore, shipping charge can be added or changed after the sale is complete.
    
    For example:
    • The buyer pays for an item.
    • The buyer contacts the seller. Both parties come to agreement on freight and insurance cost.
    • The seller updates his/her listing by adding new shipping charges.
    • We notify the buyer that shipping amount has been added to the posting.
    • The buyer pays specified amount.
    • AmericanBuilderSurplus.com transfers money to the seller.
    • The seller ships the purchase.
    The shipping itself is between the seller, the buyer and any carrier. If you want your shipment insured, please make those arrangements with the seller or the carrier. The seller cannot change shipping charges after the buyer has paid for shipping.
    
    The parties must decide at what point of the transaction, responsibility for damage to the product changes. AmericanBuilderSurplus.com suggests the following terms: If a third party ships the purchase, responsibility for damage generally shifts at the seller's location. If the seller delivers the purchase, responsibility for damage generally shifts to the buyer at the destination.
    
    AmericanBuilderSurplus.com can only offer refunds for shipping or products before it transfers funds to the seller, which may occur before delivery. Therefore, the buyer should confirm all pertinent details before the item is shipped.
    
    If a buyer and a seller want to make a specific arrangement for shipping funds transfer, AmericanBuilderSurplus.com can hold the money in an escrow. In this case money will be transferred to the seller's account only after the delivery is complete. Both parties have to agree to hold the payment. Please send such requests to information@americanbuildersurplus.com. If a request is overly burdensome or not technically possible, however, AmericanBuilderSurplus.com does reserve the right to refuse it. If you have any questions, contact us directly at information@americanbuildersurplus.com.



12. What are divisions and subdivision on the Advanced Search screen?
    In the construction industry, materials are normally classified into divisions and subdivisions. For example, Division 04 - Masonry can be further subdivided into 04720 - Cast stone. Consumers can search for items by name. You don't have to know the industry codes to search for and bid on items at AmericanBuilderSuplus.com.



13. Is it safe to enter my credit card online?
    Your credit card information is stored encrypted and is not accessible outside of this site. You may elect to store credit card for future transactions.



14. How do I log-in?
    Enter the email you registered with us into "Email" box. Enter your password into "Password" box. If you check "Remember me on this computer" box, we will store your log-in information for two months (after two months we will ask you to log-in again). Press "Submit" button.
    
    If you do not remember your password, click "Forgot Password" button. You will be prompted with the screen where you can enter the email you registered on AmericanBuilderSurplus.com. The password will be emailed to you.



15. Can I contact the seller to ask a question?
    There is a link to Send Email on the item description page so you can contact the seller with any questions.



16. What are salvaged items?
    Salvaged items were removed from another structure. Some items are salvaged when a business closes, such as a restaurant that goes out of business. The restaurant equipment (stoves, exhausts, sinks, etc) can be salvaged and sold. Other salvaged items could be rare or hard to find items such as door knobs from 1904, or hardwood floors lifted from an old house.



17. Is everything sold on the site new?
    No. You can find both unused and salvaged items for sale at AmericanBuilderSurplus.com.



18. What if I go to pickup the item I bought and it isn't as advertised?
    The AmericanBuilderSurplus.com offers a 3 day grace period when an auction winner may ask for a refund if the item is not as advertised.
    All companies selling equipment and materials through AmericanBuilderSurplus.com are required to approve our Terms of Use agreement before listing an item for sale, which specifies that they are responsible for refunding your entire purchase amount in the event an item is misrepresented. You agree that a purchaser has a three day grace period to request a refund if items are not as advertised.



19. Can I return an item I buy through the auction?
    You have a three day grace period after the auction has closed to inspect the items and request a refund if they are not as advertised. After this grace period has ended or upon delivery or upon pickup, as is customary with most auctions, all sales are considered final.



20. How do I rate a seller?
    After the winning bid is finalized you are encouraged to post comments about the seller. There is a link to Post Comment on the Bid History page on each item you have won.



21. What time zone are the times listed in?
    All auction times are in Eastern Standard Time (EST).