Creating and managing an Auction

With the Auctions app, you can create and configure individual auctions, including their name, dates, status, time zone, and payment collection settings.

To create a new auction:

1. Open the Auctions Manager.
2. Click New Auction.
3. Click the Details tab.
4. In the General section, for Name, enter the publicly visible name of the auction.
5. For Description, enter an optional description of the auction that will appear on the front end.
6. For Start, select the date and time the auction begins.
7. For End, select the date and time the auction ends.
8. For Time Zone, select the time zone used to display all dates and times to front-end visitors.
9. For Status, select one of the following options to control how the auction appears on the front end:
   • Hidden — The auction is only viewable by administrators. This is the default.
   • Preview — Auction items are visible to anyone, but no bidding or purchasing is available. Items display a "Preview" status indicator.
   • Open — Auction items are available to anyone and follow each item's individual status.
   • Closed — Auction items are visible to anyone, but no bidding or purchasing is available. Items display a "Closed" status indicator.
10. If Status is set to Open and you need to temporarily halt all bidding and purchasing, for Paused, select Yes. When paused, all items display a "Paused" status and all bid and order buttons are hidden. Select No to resume normal bidding.
11. In the Collecting Payments section, for Timing, select one of the following options:
    • After each item is won — Charges are processed as individual items are won.
    • After entire auction closes — All charges are collected after the auction ends. This is the default.
12. For Enable Auto-Charge, select Yes to automatically charge winning bidders without requiring manual processing, or No to collect payments manually.
13. Click Save.

Note: Changing the Status field from Open to Closed or Hidden does not delete any bidding data. It only affects what front-end visitors can see and do.

Related articles:

• Viewing and managing Auctions in the administrator