The York Ghost Merchants Auction

Bedern Hall, York
Bartle Garth, St Andrewgate, York YO1 7AL 

Sunday 25th October, 6pm – 9pm

Ticketed event. Capacity: 100
ALL TICKETS NOW SOLD OUT

This event is for those aged 18 and over only.

Join us for our first public auction, held in the medieval splendour of Bedern Hall. 

Doors open at 6pm, with a bar serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, alongside a public viewing of all the auction lots. 

The auction itself will commence at 6.45pm and will be hosted by the Ghost Merchants, with the assistance of a professional auctioneer. 

The Auction

A digital auction catalogue is now available to view further down this page, but we are also producing a souvenir printed version of the catalogue for those attending the event. 

The auction will feature 30 lots, with an additional 6 Ghosts to be won through Merchants Bingo directly following the auction. Bingo cards and pens will be distributed upon entry, along with the auction catalogue. 

The lots and bingo prizes will comprise an eclectic mix of highly desirable Ghosts and ephemera, selected from our archive of prototypes, Black Box Editions, rarities and oddities from the past seven years of making. 

Alongside the Ghosts will be a small number of lots from our collections of artefacts.

There will be no reserve on most lots, although several lots will have specified starting bids.

We are limiting the number of lots any one person can win to a total of 3 so please bear this in mind when deciding on which lot(s) to bid on.

Standard Bid Increment during live bidding on the night

Bids of £0 – £100 - £5 increments Eg. £60 → £65

Bids of £100 – £500 - £10 increments Eg. £160 → £170

Bids of Above £500 – £25 increments Eg £650 → £675

Charity Lots 

There will be five charity lots included in the auction (Lots 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25).
100% of the money from all five winning bids be pooled and divided equally amongst the five nominated charities. 

Payment & Collection

Payment will be taken immediately after the auction finishes, by card only. 

It is important that you have sufficient funds available to make payment if you are the highest bidder. There will be no auctioneer’s commission, so the amount you bid is the amount you will pay. 

Ghosts will be boxed and made available for collection immediately after the auction. 

Accessibility

Bedern Hall has excellent single-level accessibility, making it one of York’s most wheelchair- and mobility-friendly historic properties.

Absentee Bidding

While all tickets for the event have sold out, we are giving those unable to attend a chance to bid on the five Charity lots.

These five lots can also be viewed in more detail in the digital auction catalogue. 100% of the proceeds from these five Ghosts will be split between five charities, the details of which can also be found in the catalogue.

It will also be possible to bid on these lots in person at the auction. 

How to submit an absentee bid

To submit an absentee bid for any of the five charity lots, fill out the brief form below, being careful to ensure all fields are completed. Shortly after submitting you should receive an email confirming your bid. We will not ask for any bank or credit card details at this time.

If you wish to increase your maximum bid please complete the form out once again with your revised offer.
If you wish to cancel any bid(s) please email office@yorkghostmerchants.com

We will be accepting absentee bids up until 12pm BST on Wednesday 21st October 2026.

On Thursday 22nd October 2026 we will contact the five highest bidders to confirm your details and these bids will be on the books when the auction takes place on Sunday 25th October.

What is an absentee bid and how does that work 

Absentee Bids are a form of silent bidding in which the bidder does not bid live. Instead we will execute bids on your behalf.

Submit your highest bid via the form below for each lot you wish to bid on. At Bedern Hall on Sunday 25th October, the lead auctioneer will then act on your behalf, bidding against any other bids submitted in the room on that specific lot. The winning bid will be at the amount that exceeds all other competing in-room bids and may not necessarily reach the top limit of you maximum bid.

In the event of duplicate maximum bids, the bid that was submitted first will take precedent.

Example

You submit a maximum bid of £150 on one of the charity auction Ghosts via the form below. On Sunday 25th October that lot will be open to bidding to anyone in the room at Bedern Hall.

The auctioneer will bid on your behalf only as high as needed to beat other bids. If bids were increasing in £10 increments and the highest bid in the room on the night is £60,  you would pay £70 (£60 plus one further increment of £10, rather than the full £150 maximum bid you submitted).

Standard Bid Increment during live bidding on the night

Bids of £0 – £100 - £5 increments Eg. £60 → £65

Bids of £100 – £500 - £10 increments Eg. £160 → £170

Bids of Above £500 – £25 increments Eg £650 → £675

Your maximum limit is always kept confidential from other bidders.

Absentee bidding terms

Unfortunately, we cannot accept absentee bids from outside the UK, due to the difficulties associated with additional tariffs and ensuring a reliable postal service for valuable parcels. 

If an absentee bidder wins a lot, we will make contact by email following the auction to arrange payment via a digital payment link. Postage will be charged to ensure the safe delivery of the Ghost. Alternatively, winning bidders are welcome to make arrangements to collect their Ghost from us in York if that happens to be more convenient.  

Any absentee winning bidder is obligated to pay the full invoice amount within 7 days of being contacted by The York Ghost Merchants.

Any delivery cost will need to be calculated following the end of the auction and will be added to the final invoice.

Delivery name and address must match that of the winning bidder.

Full payment must be received before any goods are shipped or collected.