This article describes what are high-risk and prohibited items and how to utilize atgPay when selling these items.
This article contains the following sections:
- What Items are Considered High-Risk?
- What Items are Considered Prohibited?
- Selling High-Risk Items
- High-Risk Merchant Application
- Payment Processing for High-Risk Items
- Disbursements
What Items are Considered High-Risk?
High-risk merchandise consists of but it not limited to government-regulated goods that require additional underwriting by credit card processors or potentially brand-damaging products.
High-risk merchandise may include, but is not limited to:
- Firearms (including airsoft guns)
- Ammunition
High Risk items can be sold via atgPay as long as:
- The merchandise is allowable under Proxibid's Unified User Agreement
- The Auction House selling the merchandise also has their own FFL following the atgPay: Federal Firearms Licensing Policy
Antique firearms are not considered High-Risk. See Antique, Curio or Relics Firearm Definition for more information.
What Items are Considered Prohibited?
There are additional items that are prohibited and cannot be sold via atgPay:
- Alcohol/Tobacco
- Pornographic/mature content
- Offensive or discriminatory items (including authentic or replica nazi memoriabilia)
See attached Processor Restricted & Prohibited List for more details.
Selling High-Risk Items
Auction houses that sell high-risk items (whether it's part of their core business or an ad hoc consignment of just one lot) will need to complete a High-Risk Merchant Application. Auction houses will need to provide a higher level of information to Proxibid to meet the high-risk assessment criteria.
Once approved, auction houses will be given two merchant IDs- one for processing regular transactions, and one for high-risk transactions (High-Risk Merchant ID).
atgPay enabled events with high-risk lots present must have a High-Risk Merchant ID. If invoices containing high-risk items are sent to bidders without a High-Risk Merchant ID on file, the bidder will not have a Pay Now button nor will the auctioneer initiated payment feature be available to process payment via atgPay. Instead, winning bidders will need to contact the auction company directly to arrange payment outside of atgPay.
High-Risk Merchant Application
The High-Risk Merchant application process includes two steps:
- Complete the High-Risk Merchant Application here.
- Complete the CNP Firearms & Ammunition Questionnaire.
- The questionnaire is linked on the last page of the application. It can also be accessed directly here.
- Owner’s Personal ID
- Auctioneer license or business license
- W9
- A copy of your FFL
- A document with your policies and procedures for storage, sale, transfer, return, and destruction of weapons and ammunition, associated record keeping and record filing, compliance with the National Firearms Act and ATF regulations (27 CFR Parts 447, 478 & 479), and rulings, and responding to and recordkeeping concerning National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)
At this time, atgPay is not able to accept merchants who are not US citizens, or businesses that are not a registered entity.
For additional questions, please contact payments@proxibid.com.
Payment Processing for High-Risk Items
atgPay high-risk payment processing accepts almost every kind of credit and debit card can process hundreds of currencies from anywhere in the world.
The cost to process high-risk transactions are slightly higher than regular transactions. This additional fee can be absorbed by the auction house or passed on to the bidder.
To learn more about high-risk payment processing, email Proxibid support at payments@proxibid.com.
High-Risk Invoices
The Invoices page in AuctionBuilder will display a High-Risk indicator column to help auction houses track which invoices contain high-risk lots in order to apply any additional fees. This column will only be visible for events that have atgPay enabled and contain high-risk lots.
Bidder Impact
Bidders who purchase high-risk items will see the notification below on their invoice and on the checkout page:
"Due to the regulated nature of items in this order, the auctioneer may contact you for additional documentation in order to finalize the sale. By paying for this invoice, you agree to all shipping policies and terms of sale set by the auctioneer."
If invoices containing high-risk items are sent to bidders without a High-Risk Merchant ID on file, the bidder will not have a Pay Now button available to them. Instead, they will need to contact the auction company directly to arrange payment.
Disbursements
Auction houses will get two disbursements, one for each merchant ID. These disbursements will appear as two separate deposit entries, but they would happen simultaneously. For more information on disbursements, see atgPay: Refunds and Disbursements.