Closing Your Auction
The auction is over, the event is wrapping up. As an auction admin, you’re likely wondering, what happens now?
Communications
At the end of an auction, a series of emails and push notifications are triggered out to all guests and admins.
- A push notification and text message declaring the auction over and linking them to View Results
- Email declaring the auction over and providing next steps
- A new Auction Closeout Report becomes available on the Reports screen, you can export it as often as you want, and it will update each time with new info as people pay and pick up their items.
- A push notification and text message declaring the auction over and linking them to View Results
- Email listing what they’ve won and sharing the payment and pickup information you provided on the Guest Instructions screen in your dashboard.
- A push notification and text message declaring the auction over and linking them to View Results
- Email thanking them for participating and letting them know they did not win any items.
View Results
From the Auction Dashboard, find the auction you want to enter and click Manage.
When managing the auction, navigate to the side menu on the left side of your screen and click Payment/Pickup.
View Results Pages
The results page has three views. Details on each specific tab are below.
Auction Guests will only see the Your Winnings tab, but admins will see all three tabs.
- Items the user won and totals after any taxes, fees or surcharges set by admins.
- Prize claim instructions as written by auction admins on the Guest Information screen in the admin dashboard
- Payment instructions as written by auction admins on the Guest Information screen in the admin dashboard.
- A Pay button if Alternate Online Payments was set up for this auction
- An option to download their Invoice or Receipt. Invoice if unpaid, receipt once paid in full.
- A Pay for Guest button that opens the results on behalf of a guest in case you need to assist them with making their payment in the app.
- A list of every winner and what they won, how much they owe and their contact email. *excluding those already listed in Completed.
- Filters by: View All, Paid or Unpaid
- A search bar to search for someone by name, email, or phone number
- A download all receipts link to download PDF copies of every invoice and receipt in the list. Invoices if unpaid and receipts if paid.
- An option to Save Offline Payment if you aren’t using Express Banking and the guest pays you outside of the app (cash, cheque, e-transfer, Venmo, etc.)
- A button to Mark As Picked Up when the winner claims their prize.
- Any winner who has paid and picked up their item.
- An option to mark as “not picked up” if you made a mistake.
From Auction Dashboard
Reports
Admins can download exportable reports to track the success and completion of the auction.
- Category, Type, Item ID, Item Name, Winner Name, Display Name, Email Address, Phone Number, Bid Amount, Bid Count, Last Bid Date, Approx Value, Starting Bid, Paid (Y or N), Picked Up (Y or N)
- Guest Name, Display Name, Email Address, Phone Number
- Category, Item ID, Item Name, Guest Name, Display Name, Email Address, Phone Number, Bid Amount, Bid Date, Bidder Won (Y or N)
- Product Name, Item ID, Category, Item Type, Bid Count, Approx Value, Starting Bid, Total Bid Amount, Paid (Y or N), Picked Up (Y or N)
- Product Name, Item ID, Category, Item Type, Bid Count, Approx Value, Starting Bid, Paid (Y or N), Picked Up (Y or N)
*If a guest uses Apple’s “hide my email” service the email will be protected. Those emails appear like this: xspz5x88sn@privaterelay.appleid.com
In this case, you will not be able to email those users outside of the app. You can reach them using Notifications within the app only.
*Phone numbers are optional
Tracking Payments
As an admin, if your auction used the Ultimate Risk-Free plan, you’ll be accepting payments via the Express Banking Setup method.
If you ran an auction using the Free or Build Your Auction plan, you may choose to take payments offline or integrate with one of our Alternate Online Payment options (Stripe, Square or PayPal).
Using Express Banking
Since guests are required to provide a credit card before being able to bid, once the auction closes, all guests with winning bids will be automatically charged. Payments will be held in your Stripe account for 7 days before being deposited to your connected bank account
- If paid within the app, the guest’s name will show Download Receipt below the Mark as Picked Up button.
- If not yet paid within the app, the guest’s payment may have failed. In this case, that guest can re-enter their credit card information to pay for their winnings.
- If the guest cannot pay with credit card, above the guest’s name will show Save Offline Payment.
- Only use Save Offline Payment if you have collected funds outside of the app as it will disable the winner’s ability to pay through the app.
- If the guest’s credit card fails, and they don’t wish to pay offline, you can remove their bid to trigger a new winner.
- You can view and manage payments from two areas within the auction:
- From the Auction Overview screen
- Navigate to Payouts in left side menu
- View the Available Soon, Next Payout and Total Paid to date info for a summary
- From the Auction Overview screen
- Navigate to Payment Settings in left side menu
- Click View Account
- Enter the verification code sent to your mobile device.
- The Express dashboard shares more details about each transaction and expected timelines for your payouts.
Admins can also view a full list of payments made within their profile:
- In the top right header bar, click your name
- Click Payments
- Click Admin
- View list of all payments made by others, separated by auction name
Using Alternate Online Payments
As guests complete their payments in the app, admins will see results changing in real time.
- If paid within the app, the guests name will show Download Receipt above Mark as Picked Up
- If not yet paid within the app, the guests name will show Save Offline Payment
- Only use Save Offline Payment if you have collected funds outside of the app as it will disable the winner’s ability to pay through the app
- You can view and manage payments in your payment processor’s dashboard (Stripe, Square or PayPal)
Admins can also view a full list of payments made within their profile:
- In the top right header bar, click your name
- Click Payments
- Click Admin
- View list of all payments made by others, separated by auction name
Collecting Payment Offline
Your winners are sent an email outlining what they won, how much they owe, and are presented the information you wrote in the Payment Instructions and Pickup Instructions fields upon auction setup.
When they click View Results in the auction, they will see all of the items they won, your payment instructions, and their grand total owed.
Make sure your payment information is detailed enough for winners to understand what to do next!
You can edit payment instructions anytime before the auction ends here:
- Click Manage Auction
- In the left side menu, click Payment Settings
- Provide details into the Payment Instructions and Pickup Instructions fields
- Click Save at the bottom of the screen
As payments are collected outside of our app, admins can mark users as paid in the Guest Results screen.
Simplify Auction Close
Under the Manage Items section, you can toggle on Hide Items After Auction Ends to help guests easily find the View Results button.
If a guest is having trouble paying for their winnings, you can assist them by selecting the Bid as Guest option. Select the guest you want to act as, then proceed to pay for their winnings.
Curious about all the transactions made, from all guest payments, your own payments, and all add-on purchases you’ve made? Visit My Transactions from the Bid Beacon dashboard to view these details.
