How an auction works

The short version

1. An organizer creates an auction for an event or a campaign, adds items, and publishes it.
2. A guest buys a ticket. The card they pay with is saved, and they get a paddle number.
3. Guests bid from their phones. In the room, an auctioneer can also sell items live and run a paddle raise.
4. Bidding closes. Nobody is charged yet. Each winner gets an email with their bill and the time their card will be charged.
5. At that time, each guest’s card is charged once, for everything they won and gave.
6. Guests collect their items, that night or later.

Two kinds of item

One auction can hold both kinds at the same time.

	Silent item	Live item
How people bid	On their phones	By raising a paddle in the room, or from a phone
When it closes	At its close time	When the auctioneer sells it
Who records bids	Nobody. The bidder places them	A spotter

Words you will see

Paddle number. The number that identifies a bidder. A guest gets one when they buy a ticket. They never get a second one.

Bidder. Anyone with a paddle number. Most have a card on file. A guest without one can still bid, and is asked for a card if they win.

Section. A group of silent items that close together. Every auction has at least one, and a small auction never needs a second. Live items are not in a section.

Category. What an item is: travel, dining, experiences. Bidders browse by category. A category says what an item is. A section says when it closes.

Close time. When bidding on an item ends. An item closes with its section unless you give it a time of its own.

Late-bid extension. A bid in the last two minutes keeps that one item open two minutes longer, so a last-second bid cannot win with no chance to answer it. It can add up to ten minutes. The organizer can change these numbers or turn the extension off.

Max bid. The most a bidder is willing to pay for an item. The auction bids for them, one step at a time, up to that amount. Other bidders cannot see it.

Buy now. A set price that ends bidding on an item at once.

Last chance. An item nobody bid on, offered at a lower price for a short time after its section closes.

Paddle raise. The moment the auctioneer asks for gifts at set levels and guests raise their paddles. Also called fund-a-need. Each gift goes on the guest’s bill.

Bill. Everything one guest won and gave. It is paid in one charge.

Charge time. When cards are charged. The organizer chooses it, and guests are told it when they win.

Spotter. The volunteer who records paddles during the live program.

Who does what

Person	Uses	Guide
Organizer	A laptop	Organizers
Door, floor, spotter and pick-up volunteers	A tablet or phone	Volunteers
Bidder	Their own phone	Bidders