Linking and unlinking user accounts

With the Auctions app, a bidder can be connected to a Soapbox user account. The connection matters for more than tidiness: it is what lets a bidder sign in to the auction themselves, and it is required before a payment method can be saved against them.

A bidder created at a registration desk has no account until you give it one. A bidder who registered online already has one.

Why the connection matters

	With a linked account	Without
	Can sign in and bid online	Bids recorded on their behalf in the administrator only
	Can have a saved payment method	Cannot — the option is unavailable
	Manages their own preferences and shipping address	An administrator maintains their details
Paying their balance	Signs in and pays from My Checkout, or uses a checkout link	Uses a checkout link you send, or pays your team in person

Important: A bidder must be connected to a user account before a payment method can be added, and needs a phone number as well. Until both are in place, the bidder's detail panel doesn't offer the button.

Creating an account for an existing bidder

1. On the auction's Bidders tab, select the bidder's checkbox and click Edit in the toolbar.
2. Click Create user from bidder.
3. Click Create user to confirm.

The account is created from the name and email already on the bidder record, and the two are linked. If an account already uses that email, the bidder is linked to that account instead. The outcome is shown on screen.

Linking a bidder to an existing account

1. On the auction's Bidders tab, select the bidder's checkbox and click Edit in the toolbar.
2. Click Link a user.
3. Search by name or email, select the account, and click Link selected user.

From then on the bidder's name and email come from that account, and are shown as managed by it rather than being editable on the bidder.

If the account you pick is already a bidder in this auction, you are told so. Merge the two records instead. See Merging duplicate bidders.

Unlinking

1. On the auction's Bidders tab, select the bidder's checkbox and click Edit in the toolbar.
2. Click Unlink user.
3. Click Continue to confirm.

The bidder keeps the name and email it had, and those fields become editable again. The bidder itself is not deleted, and its bids and wins are untouched — but it can no longer sign in, and its saved payment methods are no longer available to it. On the Checkouts tab, Saved card can no longer be chosen for this bidder. Collect payment another way, or send a checkout link. The bidder's Payment Card Status on the Bidders tab becomes Card Needed, because a bidder with no linked account can't be charged in a batch. See Understanding a bidder's Payment Card Status.

Opening the linked account

Click the open icon next to the User badge in the list, or View User in the bidder's detail panel. Either opens that account in the User Manager. The button is hidden for bidders with no linked account.

Connections versus origin

Two different things are shown on a bidder, and they answer different questions:

• Connections — the Attendee and User badges. What the bidder is linked to right now. These change as you link and unlink.
• Origin — how the record was first created, for example Admin — from event attendee or Self-registered online. Recorded once and never changed, so it still tells you where a bidder came from long after its connections have moved on. It is shown in the Edit bidder form.

Related articles:

• Managing Bidders
• Adding a bidder to an auction
• Merging duplicate bidders
• Sending a bidder a checkout link