Categories are how you'll organize your Auction, Store, and Fund-a-Need items. This article will walk you through the process of setting up a category, including setting item availability and bidding windows and adding items to a category.
Contents:
Getting Started
To add items for bidding, purchase, or Fund-a-Need, head to the Categories area under Auction Items in your control panel.
You'll see three overarching default category types under which you can create and classify new categories and then add items:
- Auction Items: Add any items that your guests will be able to bid on at your auction.
- Store Items: Add any items that can be immediately purchased at your auction, such as raffle and drink tickets or merchandise like t-shirts.
- Fund-a-Need Items: If you're hosting a Fund-a-Need appeal, this is where you'll add your appeal items.
You can edit or delete the default categories or add new categories, if desired.
Adding a Category
Click the Add Category button to create a new one. On the resulting screen, give your new category a name and select one of the three overarching category types: Auction, Store, or Fund-a-Need.
Item Availability Dates and Times
Next, set the Start and End Dates for when items in this category will be available to auction attendees.
The dates and times you choose will match the time zone you set in the Event Location section of the Auction Settings.
Please note: Attendees will not be able to see the items in this category outside of the times you set here, so double-check to make sure the dates and times are correct.
Setting Different Start Dates and Times
Beneath the Item Availability area is a toggle to Set a different bidding/purchase/fund-a-need start date/time. (The label of the toggle will change slightly depending on the category type you selected above.)
Setting a different time here allows you to create a preview window, during which attendees can view items but not purchase or bid on them. This is useful if you're setting different bidding times for certain groups of items, if you only want attendees to purchase store items at the event itself, or if you're hosting a live Fund-a-Need appeal during your auction.
If you'd like your category to only appear to admins in the Virtual Terminal, toggle on the Private Category option.
Adding Items to a Category
Finally, you can assign some items to your new category by clicking Assign Items. You'll need to already have some auction items created in order to do this.
Please note: You can only assign items that have not already been assigned to another category.
When you're done configuring your new category, make sure you click Save Category.
Editing and Organizing Items in a Category
To change the items associated with a category, click Edit in the Item Categories table.
You'll see a field containing all items assigned to the category.
To assign items to this category, click the Assign Items button. You'll then see all items available for reassignment.
Click the item you'd like to reassign to the category. A green check mark will appear and the image will become clear, indicating the item is now assigned to the category you're working with.
If you'd like to reorganize the items in the category so they're in a different order, click the Organize Category button. Your items can now be dragged and dropped into whatever order you'd like. When you're done assigning and reordering items, make sure you click Save Category.
You can configure a category's settings or delete a category you created (the three default category types cannot be deleted) at any time by visiting the main Item Categories listing.