Setting Starting Bid, Bid Raise and Buy Now pricing

It is important that all of these fields are filled out and do not include a $0 dollar value.  Each one has an important role in the auction and if left black can cause bidding problems for your supporters.    

• If you are unsure how to set these numbers, a good starting point can be to base these numbers on the fair market value for the item.  The industry standard is a starting bid at 30% of fair market value, bid raise at 20% of fair market value, and buy now at 150% of fair market value.

To set or update these amounts:

To Set Bid Percentages automatically:

1. Go to Dashboard
2. Auction Items
3. Set Bid Percentages
4. Enter the percentages you wish and click on Set Percentages.

Visit the Dashboard using your admin login.  Select the Auction Items page from the menu.  All fields displayed on the main view table are editable directly on the page.  In order to register changes, you will need to click tab when moving between fields or click anywhere else on the page.  As you complete each field, you will see the Green Update Successful Notification in the upper right-hand corner and this will signal your change has been saved. **These changes can also be made from the edit page for each individual item.

1. Starting Bid:  This is the amount the first bidder will be asked to pay to start the bidding.  **If this field is left blank the first bid on this item will be for $0.
2. Bid Raise:  This is the amount each single bid will be raised.  **If this field is left blank only the first bid will be taken, and bidding will be unable to continue for the item.
3. Buy Now:  This is the amount that you are willing to allow a bidder to purchase the item.  It is the guaranteed bid and once this is selected by a bidder, bidding will be closed and the item will be sold.   If it is left at a $0 value the first guest to click the buy it now button would get the item for $0. **If you DO NOT wish to have a Buy Now price on an item, enter $100,000 into the Buy Now field and this will remove the Buy Now button as an option for the item.

Auction Tracker Users Only:

If you are using Auction Tracker to enter and upload your items to the online platform, make sure you have completed these fields before you run the upload (see photo below).  For help with setting up Automatic Bid Percentages in Auction Tracker click here: https://maxgiving.helpscoutdocs.com/article/121-customizing-auction-event-preferences

If these fields are completed in Auction Tracker before the transfer, your items will be ready for bidding.  If you did not fill out the needed fields before uploading, or would like to make a change to any of the fields,  you can do so in the online platform by following the above instructions.