New Auction Setup
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      How to Change Your Auction Status

      Learn how to change your auction status. Including instructions for how to open and close an auction.

      The status of your auction determines who can see your auction and who can bid in your auction.  You will use the play, pause, and stop buttons at the top of the auction manager to change the status of your auction. The current auction status will be displayed in the upper right corner of the auction manager.  Each auction status has its own color signifier. 

       

      Article Index: 

      To skip ahead click on a link below

      1. Auction Status Indicator
        1. Play
        2. Pause
        3. Stop
      2. Auction Status Overview
      3. How to Open an Auction
      4. How to Close an Auction

       

       

      Auction Status Indicator

        • SETUP = Light Blue
        • PRESALE = Pink
        • PREVIEW = Orange
        • OPEN = Green
        • CLOSED = Grey

       

      Auction Status Overview

      PLAY BUTTON:

                                        Screen Shot 2020-10-29 at 3.48.54 PM

      • Set Up status keeps the auction hidden from users in the app and on the website.  When you are first setting up your auction, this is the status you will want to use.  
      • Presale allows you to sell tickets to your auction or publish information about your auction without revealing any of the items. Use this setting if you wish to sell tickets or if you want to send out a link to your auction page to encourage pre-registering. Once your auction is in presale mode, the auction will show up online at www.handbid.com and users can view your auction description and location. Your auction will also show up in the app, but your auction items will not be visible.  Note: "For Sale" items will show up online and in the app when your auction is in presale status if they are marked as "available for presale" . 

      • Preview will display your auction items just as they will be displayed when your auction is open, however, bidders will not be able to place bids. Your auction will be visible on the Handbid app, Handbid iPad App and the webpage. This is a great way to review your auction before opening for bidding and make sure everything is displaying as you wish and that you do not need to make any changes to descriptions or bid increments. This is also a great way to review your item images for accuracy. You can still sell tickets when your auction is in preview mode.

      • Open will allow bidders to start bidding on items. Please note that your auction does not automatically open. You WILL need to do this manually by selecting the PLAY button at top of the auction dashboard. 

       

      PAUSE BUTTON: 

                                            Screen Shot 2020-10-29 at 3.48.09 PM

       

      Pause will temporarily stop the ability for anyone to bid, donate or make purchases in your auction.  All of your auction items are still visible, but bidders are unable to place a bid, donate or make a purchase while your auction is in pause mode.  Change your auction to this status by selecting the PAUSE button at the top of the auction dashboard.  When you are ready to restart your auction select the PLAY button.  


      STOP BUTTON:
                                             Screen Shot 2020-10-29 at 3.47.30 PM

      Close (stop button) will close the auction for bidding. You can also close categories one at a time using the Stop (Close) button.  Make sure that the device that sets the timer does not sleep, turn off or exit out of the auction page.

      NOTE: We recommend closing your auction using the auction CLOSE TIMER so that bidders are given a warning message and a visual countdown timer before the auction closes. 

      The start and end time in your "EVENT" tab of your settings will NOT automatically open or close your auction. This is a time frame of when you expect your event to start and end. It does not have any functionality in your auction other than displaying the time your event starts and ends. 

      How to Open an Auction

      One of the most rewarding parts of all the hard work from putting together your auction is, finally launching your auction! You may have even considered opening your auction before your event to allow for Pre-bidding.  Learn more about the advantages of pre bidding!

      However, when you're ready to launch your auction and allow your guests to start bidding, there are a few steps you must take to officially launch:

      1. In your Auction Dashboard, click on the PLAY button on the tool bar.
      2. Once the dropdown opens, you can change the status to open by clicking on "Open the Auction" option. This will open up all items for bidding. 

        NOTE:         If you're not seeing items appear on the auction site, please make sure all your items are in a category. Items that are not placed in a category will not appear on the site for bidding.

      3. Once you select the "Open the Auction" option, the auction will change to open and the auction status indicator on the right will change to green and update to "OPEN".

        NOTE: If you do not see the status indicator change to        , then refresh your browser window to confirm that the change took place.

      4. Once your auction is open, any items you have in a pending status will be changed to "OPEN" and your guests will be able to start bidding.

        NOTE: If you add items to the auction after it's OPEN, they will need to be manually changed to an "OPEN" status before guests can bid on them.

      VIDEO:

       

      How to Close an Auction