Create an Auction Item

Auction Items are things such as products, tickets, vacation destinations, and gift certificates. Items can be available for online bidding or auctioned off by an auctioneer or emcee. An item can be offered individually or combined into a package 

Visit Auction Settings to set your auction items for success.

Create your auction items

  1. From the Admin Navigation, click Auction.
  2. Choose Manage Silent Items or Manage Live Items.
  3. Click Create New Item.
  4. Complete the item form.
  5. When you've finished, click Save.

Enter item details

Item number: Use numbers ranging from 1 to 9999. Items appear in numeric order to visitors. Items without a number are hidden from users until a number is assigned.

Tip: Use a hundred groups to keep items within a category together. For example, 100's are Sports, and 200's are Experiences.

Name: Add an abbreviated Item Name.  Max of 30 characters.

Description: Provide details as well as restrictions, dates, inclusions, and exclusions. Create an emphasis on key points. Max of 4000 characters.

Note: Item Sheets accommodate a total of 15 lines of copy. We recommend no more than 900 characters when using the Item Sheets.

Categories: Assists in searching for items within a particular area of interest. One or more categories can be added to a single item. Max of 200 characters.

Age Restriction: This field requires a user to enter a date of birth before bidding or buying this item.  Choose between: No Restriction, 18+ or 21+.  This is highly encouraged for the sale of age restricted items such as tobacco, firearms or alcohol.  

Procurement state: Select between In Hand or Pledged to track if the item is received or needs to be obtained.

Status: Set status to Open or Closed. Bidding can't begin or end on closed items.

Visibility: Hidden limits view to admins only. Preview allows users to view, but not make a bid or purchase. Live allows users to view, bid, or purchase an item.

Note: Visit Auction Settings to set Items page view and add a "Go Live" date and time.

Enter donor and solicitor information

Donors: Track and recognize individuals or companies who donate items. Send an email that the donation was received.

Solicitors: Track who solicited this item by linking it to an existing user or company. Solicitors can be considered the contact responsible for reaching out to the donor OR the main point of contact associated with the donor for future acquisition. 

Note: Mobile numbers are unique identifiers. The same phone number cannot be used for both an individual and a company. If the phone number is duplicated, the item will not save.

Enter pricing, cost, and value information

FMV: Enter a fair market value (FMV) for all items. From Auction Settings, choose to show or hide from users. Visit Items FAQs for more information.

Starting Bid: Silent items starting bid auto-populates with an amount based on the percentage of the FMV, but can be edited by clicking the 'More' button ("···") from the Item tab and selecting Auction Settings.

Bid Increments: Silent items bid increments auto-populates with an amount based on the Starting Bid Price and the Default Bid Increment percentage but can be edited by clicking the 'More' button ("···") from the Item tab and selecting Auction Settings.

Acquisition Cost: Enter the cost associated with acquiring the item. Leave it blank if it does not apply.

Buy Now Price: Allows supporters to purchase the item immediately at a fixed price and close the bidding for the item at that time. When the field is greater than zero, the auto-bid feature is not available on the item.

Note: If the bidding exceeds the set buy it now amount, the buy it now option is removed from the item, and the auto-bid option becomes available. 
Tip: GiveSmart recommends leaving this field blank.

Surcharge: If a state-mandated sales tax is required, adjust the default tax rate to 0.0%. Decimals are allowed. The feature is available when the surcharge is enabled in Global Settings.

Item Certificate Notes: Include information to inform the winner of the arrangements needed to redeem. Max of 2000 characters.  This information will not be visible to Users on the campaign. 


Include images and a video

Include main and additional images as well as a YouTube video. Visit Upload Multiple Item Images to learn about uploading item images through a zip file or drag and drop.  There is no limit to the number of images you can add to an item, however we recommend not having more than 6 per item, as it will begin to push the bidding box lower in the field of view.

Tip: If taking the picture with an iPad, make sure it's horizontal with the button to the right. Avoid vertical images, as they scale to fit the area. Preferred image size of 1088 X 816 pixels.