With web-based bidding, auction attendees can place bids, buy store and fund-a-need items, use a bidder dashboard to manage bids and review purchases, and even check out directly on your auction event page. The best part? It's included automatically with Qgiv Auctions!
We've also created a brief handout, which you can send digitally to your auction guests or print out to have on-site at your auction!
Web-Based Bidding Handout Link
Contents:
- Entering the Auction
- Adding a Payment Method
- Viewing Items and Placing Bids
- Fund-a-Need and Store Items
- Reviewing Activity and Paying for Items
Entering the Auction
Once attendees have registered, they’ll receive an email of their auction ticket with a link to enter the auction.
They should look for an email with a subject line that includes, “Your [name of the auction] Ticket.”
They’ll then click Set Up Bidding to set up their auction account and bid on items.
On the next screen, they'll verify their registration details and then click Set Up Account to Bid.
They'll be prompted to set up a password, and then they'll enter the auction.
If they log out of their auction account for any reason, they can re-enter the auction by clicking Log In in the top right corner of the page and using the credentials they used to set up their account.
Adding a Payment Method
If the bidder checked the box to Save payment for future use during registration, they won’t need to add a payment method when they enter the auction.
If they didn’t check the box, they’ll need to add a payment method before they can bid on items.
If the bidder has a donor account, their previously used payment methods are displayed. If they’re new to Qgiv, they’ll be prompted to enter a payment method. There’s also a Maybe Later option, but bidders will not be able to participate in the auction until they’ve entered a valid payment method.
If users choose Add Payment Method, they’ll be asked to enter credit card or eCheck information.
Bidders should enter the Payment and Billing Information then click Add Payment Method to add that payment method as their primary auction payment method.
After adding the payment method, a modal will come up.
Viewing Items and Placing Bids
Clicking “Let’s go!” will take bidders to the Auction Items page.
Please note: By default, the Auction Items widget on this page will display all of your item categories, including store and fund-a-need items. You can remove item categories from the widget by opening Event Builder and adjusting the widget settings.
They’ll also be logged in to their bidder account. They can verify they’re logged in by looking for their name and bidder number in the upper righthand corner of the event page.
If the user clicks their name or bidder number, they’ll be taken to their Bidder Dashboard. There, they’ll see their auction activity. This is also where bidders can view and edit their ticket details, add a new payment method, or log out of the auction.
If the bidder hasn’t placed bids, the Items I’ve Bid On section will include a link to your auction items list page. Otherwise, bidders can navigate to your auction items via the event navigation bar at the top of the page.
To place a bid, bidders can find the item they want to bid on from the auction items list or the search bar in the left corner of every event page to search for a specific item.
When they click on an item from the Auction Items List or within their search results, they’ll be taken to the auction item details page for that item.
Like before, this page will provide additional details about the auction item. However, it also includes the Place a Bid button so bidders can place bids or choose to buy an item outright if a Buy It Now price was set for the item.
Clicking Place Bid will open a modal where users can confirm they want to place a bid on an item or Buy It Now if that option is available.
Please note: If you’re not using web or Givi app-based bidding, the Download Givi prompt will not be visible to attendees.
With web-based bidding, bidders don’t need to type in a bid amount. Instead, the bid is determined by the starting bid and bid increment automatically. Bidders just have to click the button. Once they’ve selected to bid, the button to place a bid is replaced with text that reads, Bid Placed and they’ll be unable to bid again unless they’ve been outbid.
The display will read the same if the Buy It Now price is selected. However, the price to buy the item at the Buy It Now price will now be displayed as part of the total the bidder owes on their Bidder Dashboard and is displayed in the upper right corner of the event page.
If an item has a Reserve Cost attached to it, the item cannot be won until the reserve is met. Bidders will see "Reserve Not Met" in the item listing until a bid is placed that is equal to or greater than the reserve amount.
Fund-a-Need and Store Items
Fund-a-Need and Store item purchases are also reflected in the Items Purchased total.
To purchase a store item, the bidder can look the item up the same way they do for auction items.
From the details page of the selected store item, bidders can click the Buy button to add that store item to their checkout total.
When bidders click the Buy button a modal will appear where they select the quantity of the item they’d like to purchase. If you’ve set a Max Per Attendee limit, bidders can only increase the quantity up to the limit you’ve set. Then, they’ll lose the ability to add more and can’t go back to purchase additional store items beyond the Max Per Attendee limit.
Once the quantity is selected, they select Buy to add it to their total.
Unlike auction items, the option to purchase store items will remain available after the successful store item purchase.
Like auction items, the store item purchase amount will be added to the total due from the bidder.
Bidders can also support your nonprofit by purchasing Fund-a-Need items. They search for these items the same way they do auction items or store items.
On the Fund-a-Need item’s details page you can see the progress toward a set goal via a thermometer. There will also be a button to contribute a Fund-a-Need item.
Clicking the Contribute button opens a modal that lets bidders confirm their desire to contribute the item. They can contribute to Fund-a-Need as many times as they like to help your organization reach its goal.
The amount of each Fund-a-Need item contributed to the nonprofit will be added in the total the bidder owes.
Reviewing Activity and Paying for Items
From the Bidder Dashboard, a bidder can view the items they’ve bid on and the items they’ve purchased.
The default view, Items I’ve Bid On, tracks bids they’ve placed on items and whether they’re winning or not. If they’re not winning, they can click the Place Bid button to return to the auction item’s details page to place another bid.
Clicking the Purchased Items tab provides a breakdown of auction, store, and fund-a-need items the bidder purchased.
From the Bidder Dashboard, the bidder can complete their purchase or change their payment information.
To change their payment information they can click the Change button to the right of their current payment method. If they have other stored payment methods, they can choose from a stored payment method or add a new credit card or eCheck payment method.
Bidders can click the Pay Balance button to pay for auction items they’ve won plus any store or Fund-a-Need items they purchased.
Clicking the Pay Balance button opens the Make a Payment Modal. This modal displays the total amount due and gives the bidder the option to offset processing fees with GiftAssist if GiftAssist was enabled. The GiftAssist amount is displayed alongside the prompt to use this feature.
To complete the transaction, the bidder selects the Pay Balance button. The amount in the Total Payment section will be charged to the payment method on file.
When the purchase is complete, a success message is displayed and bidders gain the option to view their receipts. Because bidders can purchase their store and Fund-a-Need options at any time during the auction bidders may have multiple receipts. They can also pay for Buy It Now auction items in their cart even if bidding hasn’t closed on other items they’re bidding on. They can purchase any additional won auction items or purchases when bidding ends and checkout opens.
The Pay Balance button will disappear, and the View Receipts button will appear. Clicking the View Receipts button opens the View Receipts modal, which will display the option to view a receipt for each separate purchase the bidder made.
If the bidder goes back and makes another purchase or wins an auction item, both the Pay Balance and View Receipts buttons will be displayed.
The View Receipts modal displays a View Receipt button for each individual transaction.
Clicking View Receipt to the right of the payment information will open the itemized receipt in a new tab.
The receipt displays any Covered Costs from GiftAssist plus what was paid for Won Auction Items, Purchased Items, and Fund-a-Need Items contributed by the bidder.