You can’t underquote a price that starts at the top.
From 2026, Victoria will force agents to reveal the reserve seven days before auction. Our reverse auction reveals it from day one, then starts the price above it and only moves down.
The argument
Underquoting is the oldest trick in Australian real estate. Advertise a price below what the seller will actually take, pull a bigger crowd, and let buyers fall for a home they were never going to win. Victoria is finally moving on it. The fix still leaves the door open.
Under laws the Allan Government announced in November 2025 and plans to introduce in 2026, Victorian agents will have to publish the vendor’s reserve at least seven days before auction. Miss that deadline and the sale can’t go ahead. It is a real step. It also still lets an agent run a low quote through the weeks of a campaign, right up to the seven-day mark.
We took a different route. In a reverse auction the reserve is public from day one, and the price starts above it and ticks down. The advertised number is never below the reserve, so there is nothing to underquote. Not by enforcement. By design.
The short version
Four numbers behind the reform.
7 days
Under laws due in 2026, Victorian agents will have to publish the vendor’s reserve at least seven days before auction, or the sale can’t proceed.
5,000+
Underquoting complaints made to Consumer Affairs Victoria since 2022. Common enough that the state built a dedicated taskforce.
$2.3M
Issued by the Victorian underquoting taskforce across more than 200 infringements, before the new disclosure law has even started.
Day one
When the reserve goes public in an Unreserved reverse auction. Weeks before any legal deadline, and visible for the whole campaign.
What the law does
What the reform fixes, and what it leaves open.
The seven-day rule attacks the symptom at the last minute. A reverse auction removes the cause for the whole campaign. Line them up against the four things buyers actually complain about.
| The problem | The 7-day reserve rule | A reverse auction |
|---|---|---|
| Advertised price below the real reserve | Stops seven days out | Impossible from day one |
| Buyers spending time and money chasing homes out of reach | Reduced near auction day | Removed from the start |
| Where the reserve sits | Hidden until seven days before | Public for the whole campaign |
| Which way the price moves | Bids climb from a low quote | Starts high, steps down |
Read across the right-hand column. There is no seven-day window to police, because the number was never hidden and the price never started low.
The mechanic
How a reverse auction works.
A normal auction hides the reserve and lets bids climb from a tempting low quote. A reverse auction does the opposite. Three steps, all in the open.
01
The reserve goes public
Seller and platform set the reserve up front and publish it from day one, not at the last legal minute. Every buyer knows the floor before they inspect.
02
The price starts above it
Bidding opens above the reserve, at a level the whole market can see, and the clock starts. There is no low quote to lure a crowd that can’t compete.
03
It steps down to a buyer
The price moves down until a buyer commits. First to act wins, at a number everyone watched arrive. No phantom range, no guessing the reserve.
“Victoria is forcing the reserve into the open a week before auction. We put it there on day one, and start the price at the top. You cannot underquote a number everyone can already see.“
Ben Williams · Founder, Unreserved
What this means
Transparent pricing is a feature, not a warning label.
For buyers, the change is simple. You never inspect a home priced to bait you, and you never lose a Saturday to a campaign you were shut out of from the start. The number you see is the number that matters.
For sellers, an open process draws the buyers who can actually pay, and keeps you clear of the reputational and legal risk the taskforce is now enforcing. Honest pricing was treated as a compliance cost. We built it into how the sale runs, and it brings better buyers, not fewer.
Notes & sources
The seven-day reserve-disclosure requirement was announced by the Victorian Government on 20 November 2025 and is planned for introduction in 2026. It is proposed, not yet passed; final detail may change as the legislation is drafted. Complaint and enforcement figures are from Consumer Affairs Victoria and the state’s underquoting taskforce as reported at announcement.
This briefing is general information about auction practice and is not legal advice. Unreserved’s reverse auction operates Australia-wide; Victoria is the focus here because of the proposed reform. Background and interviews available to media on request.
For journalists
Ben Williams is available for interview on underquoting, auction transparency, and how a reverse auction changes the economics of a sale. We can walk through a live example and the mechanic behind it.
Media enquiries: ben@unreservedrealestate.com.au · Press centre: Press & Media
See how a reverse auction works.
The reserve in the open, the price starting at the top, and underquoting off the table by design.
See the reverse auction