There are many benefits of purchasing a CommuniBee subscription that fundraisers can take advantage of:

• Receive a lower platform fee that applies to your auctions and all eCommerce transactions that flow throughout your CommuniBee organization.
• Unlock alternate online payment options to accept payments using Stripe, Square, or PayPal.
• Optionally let your guests pay offline if you prefer to collect funds outside of Bid Beacon via cash, check, e-Transfer, Venmo, or however you prefer to receive payment.
• Take advantage of unparalleled pricing certainty with a platform fee cap that applies to all your silent auctions. This allows you to know the absolute maximum you may ever pay in fees to Bid Beacon. Purchase a CommuniBee subscription to unlock a lower platform fee cap.

There are many benefits of purchasing a CommuniBee subscription that fundraisers can take advantage of:

• Receive a lower platform fee that applies to your auctions and all eCommerce transactions that flow throughout your CommuniBee organization.
• Unlock alternate online payment options to accept payments using Stripe, Square, or PayPal.
• Optionally let your guests pay offline if you prefer to collect funds outside of Bid Beacon via cash, check, e-Transfer, Venmo, or however you prefer to receive payment.
• Take advantage of unparalleled pricing certainty with a platform fee cap that applies to all your silent auctions. This allows you to know the absolute maximum you may ever pay in fees to Bid Beacon. Purchase a CommuniBee subscription to unlock a lower platform fee cap.

Absolutely! You have full control and can cancel your subscription at any time. Please note that your current subscription will remain active until the end of your billing period. At the time your subscription expires, you will automatically revert back to CommuniBee’s Starter plan. If you ever change your mind, you can resubscribe to continue receiving the benefits that come with a paid subscription.

With Bid Beacon’s pricing, we take a platform fee off each transaction that takes place within your auction up to your platform fee cap. For example, let’s say an auction has a Bid Beacon platform fee of 4.9% and a platform fee cap of $999. This means that the auction would need to raise $20,387.76 to reach its fee cap, and anything raised beyond that total would be exempt from our platform fee.

Using the example above, if an auction raises:

1. $5,000: Bid Beacon’s platform fee would equal $245 ($5,000 x 4.9%)
2. $15,000: Bid Beacon’s platform fee would equal $735 ($15,000 x 4.9%)
3. $30,000: Bid Beacon’s platform fee would equal $999 ($30,000 x 4.9%) 

In scenario 3., the fee cap comes into effect as the total platform fee of $1,470 exceeds the auction’s $999 fee cap. This results in the auction host saving $471 in platform fees! Please note that if you are located in Canada, platform fees are subject to applicable taxes.

Absolutely not! If you simply want to only use Bid Beacon, you can do just that. The great thing with CommuniBee is that all of its features are just a click away. Ultimately, you have full control over how you use our platform. 

Bid Beacon’s Full Auction plan uses Express Banking through Stripe Connect to collect online payments. With Express Banking setup, guests enter their credit card prior to bidding and are charged automatically once the auction ends. Payments are then processed through Stripe Connect and are distributed to your bank account.

With a paid CommuniBee subscription, the following alternate payment methods can be used in Bid Beacon: Express Banking through Stripe Connect, Square, PayPal, Stripe (non-Connect version), offline payment acceptance (e.g. cash, check, e-Transfer), or a mix of both if you want to give guests the option to pay either online or offline!