Boost recurring donations this giving season with the upsell prompt!A working order for building an auction from nothing. Each step links to the detail; the order matters because several steps depend on earlier ones.
Before starting, check What you need before you launch an auction — a few things are much harder to change later.
1. Create the auction
Set the name, description, start and end, and time zone. Add your goal, and set Starting Bidder Number and any Reserved / Skip Numbers.
Under What's in this auction, set to No anything this auction won't use: People Bid on Items, Items Sold at a Set Price, Paddle Raise or Sponsors. The auction then shows only the tabs and auction-site pages it needs. Decide now, because once a part is in use you can't turn it off.
Leave Status on Hidden while you build.
→ Creating and managing an Auction · Choosing what's in an auction
2. Associate the event, if there is one
Do this before registration opens, so attendees can be enrolled as they register.
→ Associating an Auction with an Event
3. Create your categories
Items are grouped by category on the auction home page, and every item is assigned one. Setting them up first saves reassigning items later.
If the auction includes neither People Bid on Items nor Items Sold at a Set Price, it has no Categories or Items tab, and its home page shows a landing page instead of an item grid. Skip this step and the next.
4. Add your items
For a handful, add them one at a time. For a donated-item spreadsheet, import them. If you ran an auction before, copy items across — that is the only route that brings photos with them.
→ Managing Auction Items · Importing auction items · Copying items from a previous Auction
5. Add sponsors, if the auction includes them
Create your levels first, then the sponsors — every sponsor belongs to a level. The Sponsor Levels and Sponsors tabs appear when Sponsors is set to Yes.
→ Creating Sponsor Levels · Adding and managing Sponsors
6. Choose what appears in the auction's navigation
Turn on the pages you want, and write the Event Info and Help pages while the details are fresh.
→ Choosing which pages appear in your auction's navigation
7. Set your branding
Fonts and colors apply to every auction on your site, so this is usually a one-off.
→ Setting fonts · Setting colors
8. Link to the auction from your site
Create the menu item that takes visitors to the auction home page.
→ Linking to Auctions on the front end
9. Preview it
Set Status to Preview. Items become visible and nobody can bid — the safest way to check photos, descriptions, prices and categories as a supporter will see them.
Walk the site as a visitor, not just as an administrator. An item that looks right in the admin can still be set to Private or left unpublished.
→ Why isn't my item appearing on the auction home page?
10. Open it
Set Status to Open. Bidding is live, and each item follows its own status from there.
During and after
- Watch progress on the Overview tab
- Run a paddle raise from the Paddle Raise tab, if the auction includes one → Setting up and running a Paddle Raise
- Collect payment from the Checkouts tab → Understanding the Checkouts tab
- Hand items over from the Fulfillments tab, which appears when the auction includes bidding or tracks items for pickup → Understanding the Fulfillments tab
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