Boost recurring donations this giving season with the upsell prompt!With the Auctions app, you can charge every bidder's saved card in one step once your auction is over. Batch charging shows you exactly who will be charged and how much before anything happens. It also lists the bidders it can't charge, so you can follow up with them another way.
Before you start
- Batch charging needs the auction's Settlement Mode set to Batch review, which is the default. When it is set to Manual, the review shows "Batch charging is disabled for this auction (settlement mode: manual)". You can still take payments from one bidder at a time. See Configuring checkout and settlement settings.
- Only bidders who have a user account and a usable saved card can be charged in a batch.
Note: On a large auction, the tab updates up to 50 bidders each time it loads. Reload until the Bidder checkouts count stops changing — and before you charge a batch, reload until the figures stop changing.
Charging the batch
- Open the Auctions Manager.
- Click the title of the auction you want to manage.
- Click the Checkouts tab.
- Click Charge cards on file….
- Review the list in Review batch charge. Every bidder who can be charged is listed and checked.
- Uncheck any bidder you don't want to charge. The footer shows how many are selected, for example "12 of 14 selected", with the totals.
- If the auction charges a processing fee, decide whether to add it. See Processing fees below.
- Click Charge N bidders · $X.
- Keep the window open until charging finishes. The window reads "Keep this window open until charging finishes." while it works.
Nothing is charged until you click Charge N bidders · $X. If no bidder can be charged, the review reads "No open checkouts have a usable card on file." Unchecked bidders are not charged.
What gets charged
Each checked bidder is charged their full balance on the card they chose for this auction. If they didn't choose one, their account's default card is charged.
The review lists:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Bidder # | The bidder's number. |
| Bidder | The bidder's name. |
| Card on file | The card that will be charged. |
| Balance | What the bidder owes. |
| Processing fee | The fee for this bidder. Shown only when the auction charges a fee. |
| Total charged | The balance plus any fee. |
Bidders who can't be charged
Bidders who owe money but can't be charged in a batch are listed under Not included (N) at the bottom of the review, with their Balance and a Reason:
| Reason | What to do |
|---|---|
| "No linked user account" | Link the bidder to a user account, take a payment by New card, cash or check, or send a checkout link. |
| "User has no default payment method" | Take a payment by New card, or send a checkout link. |
| "This card has expired. Please choose another payment method or add a new card." | Send a checkout link so the bidder can pay with another card. |
| "This saved card can't be charged. Ask the bidder to add the card again." | Ask the bidder to add the card again, or send a checkout link. |
| "Payment method not found" | Send a checkout link, or take a payment by New card. |
See Taking a payment from a bidder and Sending a bidder a checkout link.
Processing fees
When the auction's Cover Transaction Fees is Opt-in or Mandatory and Fee Percent is above 0, the review's footer has a toggle: Add N% processing fee.
- On a Mandatory auction, it reads "Required for this auction — turn off to waive it for this batch".
- On an Opt-in auction, it reads "Optional for this auction".
The toggle starts on for both. Switch it off to charge the batch without the fee. The Processing fee and Total charged columns update as you do.
Reading the results
When charging finishes, Batch charge results shows how many bidders were charged and the total, then lists each bidder with an Outcome and a Detail:
| Outcome | What it means |
|---|---|
| Charged | The card was charged, for example "Charged $120.00 to Visa ••4242". "(fee waived)" is added when you switched the fee off. |
| Needs authentication | The bidder's bank wants them to confirm the charge themselves. Send them a checkout link. |
| Declined | The card was declined. The detail shows the reason from your payment processor. |
| Charged, not recorded | The card was charged, but the payment could not be recorded. |
If any bidders were declined or need authentication, the results show "Declined bidders still owe their balance. Send them a checkout link so they can pay with another card." Click Email checkout link to N bidders to email each of them a checkout link straight away. These links go out even to bidders you contacted recently.
Important: If a bidder shows Charged, not recorded, the batch stops there: "Stopped at [bidder]. … No bidders after them were charged." Their card has been charged, so do not charge them again. Contact Soapbox support with the payment reference shown, then run a new batch for the remaining bidders.
Click Done to close the results and reload the list with the new balances.
If the window shows "The batch charge stopped with a server error. Some cards may already have been charged. Check each bidder's balance before charging again.", click Done and check each bidder's balance before you run another batch.
Good to know
- Only one batch can run for an auction at a time. Starting a second shows "A batch charge is already running for this auction".
- If a bidder is being charged from their own checkout pane at the same moment, the batch waits and charges only what is still owed.
- Each bidder whose balance reaches $0.00 is emailed a receipt automatically.
- Every payment appears in the bidder's Payments and Adjustments.
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