Sending a bidder a card request – Soapbox Support Center

With the Auctions app, you can send a bidder a secure link to add a payment card for an auction themselves. Use a card request before your event for any bidder whose Payment Card Status is Card Needed, so their card is ready to charge at checkout. The link works without signing in, and for bidders with or without a user account.

Important: Card requests are available only on sites that take payments through Stripe, and Stripe must be set up to tell your site when a card is saved. See Creating a webhook with Stripe for recurring donations and Auctions card requests and Updating an existing Stripe webhook for subscription cancellations and Auctions card requests. If Stripe isn't ready, the request window reads "Card requests are paused until it’s fixed.", explains what to fix, and offers Check again and Copy details for support.

Sending a request to one bidder

Open the Auctions Manager.
Click the title of the auction you want to manage.
Click the Bidders tab.
Select the bidder's checkbox.
Click Request Payment Method in the toolbar.
Under Send the link by, select Email, Text message, or both. What they'll get shows the message and the date the link works until.
Click Send request.

You can also click the bidder's name, then click Request payment method next to Add under Payment Methods. That button is offered only for a Card Needed bidder with no usable saved card.

A channel that can't be used is unavailable and shows why: "No email address", "No mobile number", or "Hasn't agreed to texts".

If a request isn't needed or can't go, the window says so and offers Close and Open bidder:

Message	What to do
"[Name] already has a card for this auction"	Nothing. To replace the card, open the bidder and add a card there.
"[Name] has a saved card"	Open the bidder and set that card as the card for this auction.
"[Name] can't be reached"	Add an email address or mobile number to the bidder, then request a card.
"Another bidder in this auction has this email"	Merge the two bidders first, then request a card.

Sending requests to several bidders

On the auction's Bidders tab, select the checkbox of each bidder.
Click Request Payment Method in the toolbar. The Review card requests window opens.
Under Send by, leave Email and Text selected, or clear one.
Uncheck any bidder you don't want to contact. The list shows each bidder's Contact details and Last requested date.
Click the send button, which reads, for example, Send 3 requests. Only checked bidders are sent a link.

Selected bidders who can't be sent a request are listed under Not included, each with a reason:

"Already has a card for this auction"
"Has a saved card — set it in the bidder pane"
"No email address or mobile number that can be used"
"Their email belongs to another bidder in this auction — merge them first"
"Not reachable by the selected channels"

The results

After a send, Card request results counts the requests sent, not selected, skipped, and failed. Each bidder's Outcome reads, for example, "Email sent" or "Text failed", and Detail gives the reason for anything that didn't go. Click Done.

In the list, each bidder who was sent a link then shows "Requested" and the date under Card Needed. The detail panel shows a line beginning "Payment method requested", with how it was sent and the date the link works until.

What the bidder receives

Channel	What arrives
Email	An email titled "Add a card for [auction]", with an Add a card button, the line "Your card will not be charged simply by adding it.", the date the link works until, and the link itself to copy.
Text	A single text message in the form "[auction]: add a card: [link] (expires [date])". A long auction name is shortened to fit. Texts go only to bidders who have agreed to receive them.

The link opens a page headed "Add a card for [auction]", with your organization's logo. It reads:

You will not be charged now.

After the event, [organization] will charge this card for your pledges and purchases at [auction] and email you a receipt.

Stored securely by Stripe. You can change it until the auction ends.

The bidder clicks Add a card and enters their card on Stripe's secure page. Then they see one of these:

"Saving your card…": shown briefly while the card arrives.
"Card saved": the card's brand and last four digits, with "Nothing has been charged."
"No card was saved": the bidder left Stripe's page before saving, or chose a payment method that can't be saved. Their link still works, and Add a card lets them try again.
The link opened again after saving: the saved card, with a Use a different card button.
"This link is no longer valid.": with "This link expired on [date]." or "A newer link was sent to you." where that is the reason. Send the bidder a new request.

How long a link lasts

A link works until the auction ends, or for 14 days after you send it, whichever is later.
Each bidder has one working link at a time. A new request stops the older link working once the new one has gone out. If the send fails, the previous link keeps working.
Until it expires, the bidder can open the same link as often as they like.

The resend cooldown

The auction's Resend Cooldown (Minutes) setting also applies to card requests. For one bidder inside the cooldown, the window shows "Requested [N] minutes ago" and the button reads Send again. In Review card requests, those bidders are marked Within cooldown and start unchecked. Check one to send anyway.

What changes for the bidder

When the bidder saves a card, it becomes their card for this auction, replacing any card already set, and their status changes to Auction Default Set.

A bidder with no user account is given one when the request is sent, using their email address. If an account with that email already exists, the bidder is linked to it.

Note: A bidder with no user account and no email address can't be sent a request, even by text. The result reads "This bidder has no email, so a user account cannot be created. Add an email to the bidder first."

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