Boost recurring donations this giving season with the upsell prompt!Most of the Auctions app can be set up as you go. A few things cannot, because they depend on how your site is configured or on decisions that are awkward to reverse once bidding has started. Check these first.
If you intend to charge cards
Three things have to be true before a winning bidder can be charged. Any one missing and the charge is unavailable rather than failing at settlement.
Your site must take payments through Stripe. Saved payment methods in the Auctions app are Stripe-only. On any other payment processor the feature is unavailable and no configuration will enable it. Confirm this well before the event.
Each bidder must be linked to a Soapbox user account. A payment method belongs to an account, so a bidder without one cannot save a card.
Each bidder needs a phone number.
Important: Bidders added at a registration desk as a standalone person, and attendees enrolled automatically from an event, arrive without a user account. Those are exactly the bidders you are most likely to be charging on the night. Link or create accounts for them before the event — see Linking and unlinking user accounts.
If your auction belongs to an event
Associate the auction with the event before registration opens. The association is what lets you build bidders from your attendee list, and automatic enrollment only applies to registrations completed after you turn it on — it does not go back over people who already registered.
See Associating an Auction with an Event and Auto-enrolling event attendees as bidders.
If you are using pre-printed paddles
Reserve those numbers on the auction's Details tab before any bidder is created, so automatic numbering does not hand them out. See Managing bidder numbers.
Decisions worth making early
| Decision | Why early |
|---|---|
| Time zone | Every date shown to bidders uses the auction's time zone. Getting it wrong shifts your closing time. |
| Payment timing | Whether cards are charged after each item is won, or after the whole auction closes. |
| Auto-charge | Whether winners are charged automatically or you collect manually. |
| Fundraising goal | Drives the progress shown on the Overview tab and on a Live Display. |
All four are on the auction's Details tab — see Creating and managing an Auction.
What you can safely leave until later
Categories, sponsors, branding, and the pages in your auction's navigation can all be added or changed once the auction exists — including while it is in Preview. Do not let them hold up creating the auction record.
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