From the Virtual Terminal, you can monitor the progress of an auction live at the event. You can view bidding activity and place bids for guests who are not using the app. You can also use the Virtual Terminal to purchase store and fund-a-need items for guests after those categories have ended in the app. This is a great option if you have closed out your categories for the evening and a guest wants to make a last-minute fund-a-need purchase as they're picking up their items.
Using the Virtual Terminal on a mobile device? Check out this article!
Contents:
If your volunteers are using the web Virtual Terminal for managing your auction on a computer, feel free to share this video with them:
Accessing the Items Tab
To manage your items or place bids on behalf of attendees, navigate to the Virtual Terminal.
Select your auction form from the Virtual Terminal drop-down menu. The auction title will be displayed to make it easy to identify which auction event you're working in.
Next, select the Items tab. The default view is All Categories. In the drop-down, you can select to view just Auction Items, Store Items, or Fund-A-Need Items.
In table, you can view each item's:
- Item Number
-
Name
- Beneath the item's name, you'll see its Category and any Tags you've associated with the item.
- Start/End times for when items can be purchased or bid on (this will show a countdown if the auction is active)
-
Raised amount
- If you’ve set an amount in the item’s Procurement Cost field, the amount you see in the Raised column will be the total raised by the item’s sale minus the procurement cost.
-
Activity, which displays the number of bids, purchases, or contributions for the item
- For auction items, you'll see the name of the winning bidder beneath the activity.
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Status, where you can track bids for auction items, fundraising progress for fund-a-need goals, and remaining inventory for store items
- You'll also see a green, orange, or grey circle to indicate the item's status at a quick glance. Hovering over an orange or grey circle will display more details. For example, an orange circle in an auction item's status column indicates the item's reserve is not yet met.
The last column of the table, the Action column, links to the item's details in the auction-level control panel so that you can Manage the item and make any changes you need to.
Auction Items
Auction items can be sorted by item number, item name, highest bid (the Raised column), or number of bids (the Activity column).
To see details for an item from the Virtual Terminal, click the item's Name. A modal will appear that displays the item information, including when the item ends, the current winner, and the number of bids that have been placed.
If you click the Attendees tab in this modal, you'll see a list of your bidders with a tag next to the bidder who is currently winning.
If your event has a large number of bidders, you can use the search bar above the list of bidders to search for a guest by name, email or bidder number.
Please note: As the auction progresses, table data may become out of date. We recommend you periodically refresh the table to ensure you are looking at the most current data.
To place a bid on an item on behalf of a bidder, click the Place a Bid button. You can also scan a bidder's QR code to place a bid if you click the QR Scanner button next to the search bar.
Clicking Place a Bid opens a modal. The option to adjust and place a bid is present at the top, as well as the additional option to purchase the item for the Buy Now price if one is set.
Pro tip: You can also place a bid for an attendee from the Attendee Details page. Check out this article to learn how!
If you click the Activity tab, you'll see a list of all bidding activity for the item. You can see when each bid was placed and how much the bids were for.
Click the down-arrow next to each guest to see all of their bidding activity associated with the item.
To cancel an attendee's bid, click Cancel Bid.
If a bid has been cancelled, it will be displayed highlighted in orange in the auction item's bid history.
When checkout is opened, a Fulfill option will appear next to the winning bidder for the item so you can mark the item as fulfilled when they pick it up. You can also manage fulfillment from the Checkout tab.
Store Items
For Store Items, the table will display the number of purchases of the item in the Activity column, and if you have limited inventory of an item, you can see the total quantity and quantity remaining the Status column.
To purchase a store item for a guest, select Store Items in the drop-down and then click the item's Name.
A window will appear with a list of bidders.
Click Buy next to the guest you'd like to purchase an item for. Select the desired quantity, keeping in mind there may be limits on item quantities configured in your control panel. Once the quantity is set, click Buy Item to purchase.
If you'd like to purchase an item for multiple guests at once, click Bulk Purchase at the top of the screen.
You'll be prompted to select the bidders who would like to purchase the item. Type bidders' names into the box or select them from the drop-down menu before clicking Purchase.
Pro tip: You can also purchase an item on behalf of an attendee from the Attendee Details page. Check out this article to learn how!
When items are sold out, the status of that item will indicate the item is sold out.
Guests can pay for these items at checkout, or they can pay their balance during the event if they need to leave early. Just head to the checkout tab and click the guest's name to view their unpaid balance and process payment.
If the attendee is winning an auction item in an open category but wants to go ahead and pay for store items, you can click Pay Balance on the Attendee Details page and then run the payment again if the attendee wins the item that is pending.
You can also quickly pay a bidder's balance from the checkout tab at any time by clicking Pay Now.
If you’d like to give bidders the option to pay later, click the down arrow and select Pay Later instead.
You’ll be prompted to leave a note before confirming the bidder’s status.
Fund-a-Need
The Virtual Terminal makes it easy to accept fund-a-need donations. These are donations attendees make in the form of a purchased item. If no amount is specified, attendees can input their own desired donation amount. If a price is set, donors cannot set their own donation amount for the fund-a-need item.
Fund-a-need items can be sorted by item number, item name, amount Raised, and number or contributions (Activity).
Bidders purchase fund-a-need items one at a time rather than specifying a quantity like store items.
To make a fund-a-need purchase for a bidder, click the fund-a-need item's Name. A pop-up will appear showing the item's details and activity.
Click the Attendees tab to see a list of eligible purchasers in a table below the item description. Click the Contribute button next to the bidder's name.
Please note: You can also click QR Scanner to open your device's camera and scan a bidder's QR code to quickly locate them on this page.
When you click Contribute, the button turns into a green Confirm button. If the bidder chooses not to complete the donation, click the red x to the left of the button to cancel.
Clicking Confirm purchases one fund-a-need item. If the donor wishes to buy more than one, repeat the process the desired number of times. As fund-a-need purchases are made, the Total Raised amount increases in the Item Details view.
If you'd like to contribute to a fund-a-need for multiple guests at once, click Bulk Contribution at the top of the screen.
You'll be prompted to select the bidders who would like to contribute the item. Type bidders' names into the box or select them from the drop-down menu before clicking Contribution.
Pro tip: You can also contribute to a fund-a-need on behalf of an attendee from the Attendee Details page. Check out this article to learn how!
Fund-a-need items can also be paid for in the Virtual Terminal at any time during the auction or after your event ends. Similar to store items and auction items, you can click the Activity tab to view bidder activity on a fund-a-need item. Click the down arrow to expand activity details.
If a bidder decides they no longer want to contribute a fund-a-need item, you can also remove the item by clicking the red Remove link in this view.
Private Items
In addition to publicly viewable auction items, the Virtual Terminal can also display items from categories marked Private. These items don’t appear in the app and are exclusively listed in the Virtual Terminal. Within the Virtual Terminal, private items appear the same way auction, store, and fund-a-need items do.
Because you must mark an entire item category as private, name the category something that indicates the items within it are private items. This makes finding those items easy!