New Features and More
Bid Beacon has been helping event planners, fundraisers, charities, schools, art galleries and non-profit organizations run silent auctions since 2018. Hundreds of bidders converge on any given auction at any given time, and many leave us valuable feedback that our team later implements.
We are thrilled to announce new features and upgrades that we think you’ll love!
What’s New?
Check out the list of awesome new things you can do with Bid Beacon effective immediately:
Downloadable Item Sheets
A feature that was on the wish list for many of our regular clients has arrived! Now, you can host a truly hybrid auction – with items set out on tables, Bid Beacon’s item sheets provide individual QR codes with a description of the item. Guests can then scan the QR code to open that item’s page and start bidding.
Bid sheets are downloadable as a PDF and available for all bundles or as an add on to the free auction.
Downloadable Invoices and Receipts
Need to mass download all your receipts, or maybe you just need a copy of one winner’s receipts? Now you can easily access and download invoices and receipts for better tracking and administration of the auction closeout process.
Waitlisted Guest Communication
Our team knows the importance of proper communication. Therefore, we had to improve the “you’re in a waitlist” experience for auction guests. Now, when the auction is full of registered guests, waitlisted guests will see a banner at the top of the auction browse screen and when previewing an item’s page.
Guests who are waitlisted can message admins in-app to request addition registered guest spaces be purchased.
With these changes, a lot of confusion can be avoided!
Category Improvements
We have many more large auctions running and this really highlights the importance of properly categorizing items to make browsing easier for guests.
By popular request, categories are now sortable!
Prize Claim Instructions
Admins can now enter prize claim instructions and those instructions are presented to winners in the email and on their results page. This has been a bone of contention that winners don’t know how to claim their winnings, especially with the emergence of virtual and hybrid auctions where some winners may not be physically present in the building! Communication is critical in these instances.
Additional Updates
While we were at it, we made some further adjustments to make the lives of Bid admins and guests easier!
- Auction Closeout Report now records Donations & Buy Now items as paid
- Images now expand when clicked
- Links on Items now populate on Item screen
- Auction Descriptions, About Organization, and Item Description now have proper text wrapping
- Notifications now link to items properly
The best part – all features are available across all paid auction bundles, so no need to worry about upgrading your upcoming event.
