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
- From the Admin Navigation, click Auction.
- Choose Manage Silent Items or Manage Live Items.
- Click Create New Item.
- Complete the item form.
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.