Mobile bidding makes silent auctions easier. That’s pretty plain and simple. While traditional silent auctions have long served as a great fundraising tool, the introduction of mobile bidding has worked wonders for organizations looking to run online silent auctions.
Forget hovering around an item at an in-person silent auction, hoping nobody outbids you. With mobile bidding, participants can log into an app and place bids easily and conveniently while monitoring the items they want to acquire in real time.
Working with online silent auction platforms like Bid Beacon has proven results. As of writing this blog, our company has supported over 2,300 causes, helping raise $30,056,434 in funds while selling 135,732 through online silent auctions on Bid Beacon.
The numbers speak for themselves, but let’s take a look at why mobile bidding is so effective at driving silent auction success.
The Appeal of Mobile Bidding
Mobile bidding makes silent auctions easier to organize, more convenient for bidders, and drives more revenue. Bid Beacon’s users report an average increase of 25% in revenue from their online fundraisers. Here’s why:
Convenience & Accessibility
In years past, silent auctions needed guests and bidders to be in the same room, line up around bid sheets, and then wait to see if they’d won before paying.
Not anymore. Not with mobile bidding.
With mobile bidding, participants in online silent auctions can place bids from anywhere. That convenience means silent auctions online can last longer and appeal to a wider audience.
Bid Beacon’s mobile bidding platform also allows organizations to extend auction times dynamically. Unsurprisingly, the competitive environment of a mobile silent auction often leads to significant last-minute bids when the time is increased—even if it’s only for a couple of minutes.
In one silent auction held with Bid Beacon, the auction raised $13,000 before its normal end time and an additional $1,500 in a single five-minute extension.
The real-time nature of auctions on Bid Beacon’s mobile platform has increased bid activity in the final hours by simplifying the bidding process, allowing participants to bid from anywhere, and receiving notifications when they’ve been outbid.
Real-Time Engagement
Whether your online silent auction lasts a month, a week, a day, or even just a couple hours, mobile bidding allows participants to monitor their bids in real-time, which can seriously activate a competitive spirit. On top of this, when a bidder wants to make sure they win a specific item, they’ll know exactly when it’s time to make a winning bid.
That ability to react to bids in real-time can drive revenue, and the proof is in the pudding, with Bid Beacon helping sell more than 135,00 auction items and raise over $30 million.
When the Ottawa Art Gallery worked with Bid Beacon, guests could walk around the gallery and scan an item’s QR code to start bidding. The online silent auction continued throughout the weekend, and participants responded to notifications by increasing their bids from home. The results were staggering, as the auction ended up selling 92 items and raising over $62,000.
Anonymity & Comfort
Not everyone is comfortable placing bids for items in a traditional silent auction. Maybe they’re competing with a friend or colleague for an item, and it’s uncomfortable to outbid them. Mobile bidding reduces the many social pressures that can come with a traditional silent or live auction environment.
Having supported over 2,300 causes and raising over $30 million, Bid Beacon has seen how our mobile bidding platform encourages participants of all sorts to bid on the items they want.
Strategies for Success with Mobile Silent Auctions
1. Have A User-Friendly Interface
One of the advantages of successful online silent auctions is the ease of bidding, so you don’t want to mess that up by using a clunky or counterintuitive interface.
If you’re holding a silent auction, Bid Beacon makes it easy with custom branding, staggered end times for items (and the ability to extend end times, too), receipt and invoice generation, and live event promotion, among many other benefits.
For guests, mobile bidding is as easy as downloading the app before your online silent auction begins. The items, with photos and descriptions, are right there for them to scroll through and bid on. They’ll get notifications if someone outbids them, and they can jump right back to the item and increase their offer.
Check out Bid Beacon’s demo auction to experience the bidding process as an auction guest. Once you have registered for a Bid Beacon account, you can also create your very own demo auction for a completely different experience.
2. Engaging Marketing & Communications
This seems obvious, but it’s important to make sure that potential bidders are aware not only that your online silent auction is happening but also what items will be available.
You’ll want bidders signed up as early as possible so they will be ready to start bidding as soon as your auction begins. Great ways to keep participants engaged, informed, and ready to bid include:
- Using social media to advertise your silent auction
- Providing a countdown to when your online silent auction will open
- Giving bidders a sneak peek at available items
Bid Beacon will also provide your online silent auction with a link for social media that can be used to drive excitement and promote your event.
This can work during online silent auctions, too. At a silent auction in Edmonton, the Breast Friends Dragon Boat Racing Team created and promoted a “Hidden Gems” category for items with no bids in the final hour. Every item sold. The event had 282 items and raised over $24,000.
3. Keep the Competitive Juices Flowing
One of the great things about silent online auctions is that bidders can be immediately informed when they’ve been outbid. With a traditional silent auction, participants need to keep an eye on the items they want to win and check to see if their bid is the highest.
That’s not the case with online silent auctions. Mobile bidding allows for auctions to send out immediate notifications when someone’s been outbid through mobile notifications.
The psychology of that is pretty simple. If a bidder really wants an item, they’ll feel competitive about it—who doesn’t want to win? Time constraints and social competition fuel bidding. It’s called auction fever by some, and getting notified when it’s time to increase your bid gets the competitive instincts going.
Mobile Bidding Drives Success for Silent Auctions
If you’re looking to host a silent auction for your next fundraiser, Bid Beacon can help. Our mobile bidding platform is easy to set up and use and will help your online silent auction meet its goals.
For more information on how Bid Beacon can help your next successful silent auction, e-mail us at [email protected] or fill out our contact form.
Mobile Bidding FAQ
Should I use mobile bidding for my silent auction?
The answer is an easy yes. Mobile bidding is a game-changer for silent auctions, as it allows guests to place bids conveniently, track their bids in real-time, and get in the competitive spirit as they receive notifications when they’ve been outbid.
Online silent auctions are easy to set up with Bid Beacon, too, and it’s easy to process payment and adapt on the go by extending bidding windows and allowing maximum bids.
What is mobile bidding?
When running a silent auction online, mobile bidding allows participants to review items and place bids directly from their phones, tablets, or computers. No more waiting around in lines to write your name on a bid sheet and then hoping for the best. Mobile bidding with Bid Beacon means everything can be done from the palm of your hand.
How many silent auction items should I have?
This depends entirely on how many people attend your silent auction or how many bidders you expect to participate. Check out our detailed breakdown of what to consider when determining the number of silent auction items you should have, but as a general rule, take your number of guests and divide it by two, then repeat once more. Why is that?
The reason is simple, it’s because couples often bid together as a pair, sometimes referred to as a bidding unit. To break things down with an example: If you expect 100 guests, divide by two to get 50. This is the number of individuals or couples who will be actively bidding. Divide by two once more to get the number of items suitable for your auction’s size.
The key here is to avoid having one item per bidding guest as that can result in items not receiving nearly enough bids, and ultimately lowering your total funds raised. Keep in mind that every auction is different so there isn’t a one size fits all approach. However, this calculation offers organizations a great starting point when it comes to planning their online silent auction.
