Creating and managing an Auction

With the Auctions app, you can create and configure individual auctions, including their name, dates, status, time zone, bidder numbering, 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. For Goal, enter the fundraising target for this auction. The Overview tab measures progress against this figure.
12. In the Manage Bidders section, for Starting Bidder Number, enter the number to count up from when bidders are numbered automatically. The default is 100.
13. For Reserved / Skip Numbers, enter any numbers to hold back for pre-printed paddles — individual numbers and ranges separated by commas, for example 1-99, 500. Automatic assignment and bulk number operations skip these.
14. 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.
15. For Enable Auto-Charge, select Yes to automatically charge winning bidders without requiring manual processing, or No to collect payments manually.
16. 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.

Associating the auction with an event

The Details tab also holds the event this auction belongs to. Setting it lets you build your bidder list from the event's attendee list, and enables automatic enrollment as people register.

Click Select next to the event field, choose the event, and click Save. For what the association enables and how to configure enrollment, see Associating an Auction with an Event.

Related articles:

• Viewing and managing Auctions in the administrator
• Managing Bidders
• Monitoring auction performance with the Overview tab