Do guests need to download an app to bid?

No. Guests point their phone camera at the QR code on a bid sheet, which opens the lot in their browser. They register once with their name, email, phone, and a card, then bid from any lot page. There is nothing to install and no password to remember.

How much does a silent auction cost to run?

Silent auctions are included in the $99 per year Ticket Committee subscription, with a 50% discount for registered nonprofits. On top of that, the platform fee is 1.2% of each winning bid, capped at $15 per item, plus Stripe's processing fee. You can pass those costs to the winning bidder or absorb them. There is no per-event fee and nothing to pay before the night.

When do winning bidders get charged?

Every bidder puts a card on file when they register, and it is only charged if they win. When the auction closes, winners are emailed and their cards are charged automatically. You choose the delay, anywhere from immediately at close to a full day later, which leaves room to withdraw a lot or fix a mistake before any money moves.

What do I put on the tables?

Every lot gets a printable bid sheet carrying your organization's logo, the lot number, its photos and description, the starting bid, the minimum increment, when bidding closes, the donor credit, and a QR code that opens that exact lot. Print them all at once and set them out.

Can the room see the bidding as it happens?

Yes. The display board runs on any TV, laptop, or tablet by opening one address, with no sign in required. It rotates through the lots, favours the ones closing soon, and updates the moment a bid lands. A ticker along the bottom carries lots closing soon, the running total, your donors, and any messages you want the room to see.

Features

Silent auctions

Bidders use their phones.
The room watches the board.

Print a sheet for every lot, put a screen at the front of the room, and let guests bid from wherever they are standing. When bidding closes, every winning card is charged for you.

Start an auction See what it costs

No app for your guests to download. No setup fee for the night.

The silent auction display board showing lot #1 at a $450 high bid, the countdown to close, and a QR code to scan and bid

A guest's phone showing the current bid, an outbid notice, and a Place Bid button

How it works

Set up in an afternoon, settled by morning

Four steps from a table of donated items to money in the account.

Step 1

Load the lots

Add items with photos, categories, starting bids, and minimum increments, or import a spreadsheet. Record which donor gave what, including lots donated jointly by two businesses.

Step 2

Print the sheets

Every lot gets a printable bid sheet with your logo and its own QR code. Print them all at once, set them on the tables, and setup is done.

Step 3

Guests bid by phone

Scan, register with a card on file, bid. Nothing to download, and nothing charged unless they win. Outbid alerts go out by text and email so nobody loses a lot they wanted.

Step 4

It closes and settles

The whole auction closes at once. Winners get an email, cards are charged on the delay you set, and you get a report you can hand to the treasurer.

On the table

The only thing you have to print

One sheet per lot, generated from what you already entered. Guests point a camera at the QR code and land on that exact item, ready to bid.

Your organization's logo at the top, not ours
Lot number, photos, description, and estimated value
Starting bid, minimum increment, and when bidding ends
The donor credited by name, with their logo where you have it
Print every sheet in one go, or reprint a single lot after an edit

The display board

A screen at the front that does the selling for you

Open one address on any TV, laptop, or tablet. No sign in, so a borrowed laptop works. Lots rotate on the interval you pick, the ones closing soon come around more often, and bids appear the moment they land.

Live bids pushed to the screen, with no refresh and no volunteer minding it
A scannable QR code for whichever lot is on screen
A ticker with lots closing soon, the running total, and your donors
Your own messages in the rotation: dinner is at 7, bidding closes at 8:30
Flips to a results screen the second bidding ends

The display board after close, reading Bidding Closed above a total of $1,290 raised across 4 lots from 23 bids

The same board, seconds after bidding ends

The organizer's display board settings: seconds per lot, toggles for the scrolling ticker and donor credits, and custom ticker messages

What you control, all on one screen

On the guest's phone

Scan, register, bid. That is the whole thing.

No download, no account to remember, and no volunteer explaining how it works at every table.

The public auction page on a phone, with a note from the organizer and a Register to Bid button

They scan the sheet and land on your auction, in your words.

The auction registration screen asking for name, email, phone, and a card that is only charged on a win

Name, email, phone, card. The card is only charged if they win.

A lot page on a phone showing the current bid, the minimum next bid, and a Place Bid button

The current bid, the minimum next bid, and one button.

The bidder portal on a phone: two active bids, one winning and one outbid, each with a link back to the lot

Everything they are winning, plus a text the moment they are not.

Bidders appear on the board under a generated handle, so the room can follow the bidding without anyone's name on a screen.

After the last bid

Nobody chases a check on Monday

The auction closes as a whole, winners are emailed, and the cards on file are charged on the delay you set, from immediately at close to a full day later.

The end of auction report: summary totals, payment status, and a per lot table with value, winning bid, amount charged, platform fee, processing fee, and net columns

A real report from a demo auction: every lot, every fee, every winner

Both fees, broken out

The platform fee and Stripe's cut are separate columns on every lot, so net to the organization is a number you can defend rather than one you have to work out.

What was actually taken

Where a card has already been charged, the report uses the real amounts from that charge, not an estimate. Anything still uncharged is labelled as projected.

Built for the follow-up

Winners, donors, and the amount each winning bid exceeded stated fair market value, all in one place. Export CSV for the bookkeeper or PDF for the board meeting.

Behind the scenes

One screen for the whole catalogue

Lot numbers, categories, starting bids, and where the bidding stands, in the order the room will see them.

The auction items screen: a table of lots with photos, donors, categories, starting bid, current bid, bid count, and status

Pricing

1.2% per item, and never more than $15

Three numbers, all of them public. Nothing to pay before the night, and nothing that scales without a ceiling.

The subscription

$99/year

Covers ticketing, auctions, and waivers together. Registered nonprofits pay half.

The auction fee

1.2%, max $15

Per winning item, on the winning bid. Only on lots that actually sell.

Card processing

Stripe's rate

Paid to Stripe, not to us. You can pass it to the bidder or absorb it.

A lot that sells for $1,850 The cap doing its job

Winning bid: $1,850
Platform fee (1.2% would be $22.20, so the cap applies): $15
That is 0.81% of the lot: $15

Platforms that charge per event want money before you know whether the night worked. This is charged per item that actually sold, and it stops climbing at $15 no matter how big the lot gets.

Your next auction could run itself

Set up the lots, print the sheets, and put a screen at the front of the room. We will handle the bidding and the money.

Start an auction Talk to us first

Bidders use their phones. The room watches the board.