If you're running an in-person auction, you can collect item payments from auction participants using the Givebutter mobile app. You have the option of charging a registered bidder's saved payment information (entered at registration) or a new credit or debit card via Tap to Pay, or a card reader. Learn more about using the Givebutter mobile app →
There are two ways to collect payment for auction items. You can either charge specific bidders for items they've won/purchased or declare a winner and take payment for a manually entered price. Like all Givebutter transactions, the winner will receive an emailed receipt for their purchase.
Click the blue + (Quick Action) button, ensure you've selected a campaign with an auction, and select Auction.
The default view includes all items in your auction. Click a tab near the top of the screen to view other item statuses, including:
All – All items in this auction
Live – Items that are still available for bidding or purchase
Won – Items that have been won/purchased
Completed – Won/purchased items for which payment has been received
To quickly search for a specific item, use the search bar at the top of the screen.
To view details of the auction, click the Info button. This includes:
Total items sold
Transactions total
Auction start and end dates/times
Collect payment by bidder 💰
To view a list of bidders, click the Bidders button. This includes:
Needs payment – Bidder has won item(s) but is still pending payment
Active bidders – Bidders who have bid on at least one item in the auction
All – All registered bidders
The total dollar amount displayed for Needs payment bidders is a cumulative total for all items they still owe payment for.
Click on a specific bidder to view a list of items that require payment. You can either enter checkout for all items at once (default) or enter checkout for a single item.
To enter checkout for a single item, click Select, and unselect the items you wish to remove from this checkout process. To enter checkout for all items at once, click Select, then click Continue to payment.
On the Checkout screen, enter payment information and additional purchase details:
Opt in or out of covering processing fees (default is opted-in)
Opt in or out of showing the winner as anonymous (default is opted-out)
As applicable, enter shipping information for the item
Select a payment method (the supporter's saved payment method, or credit/debit card via Tap to Pay or card reader)
If you uncheck the box for Cover processing fees, the processing fees will be deducted from the total amount your organization receives for this auction item payment.
Click Pay to process payment. After payment is processed, the supporter will receive an emailed receipt sent to the email address they used to register for the auction.
Declare a winner 🏆
If an item (auction-style or buy now) remains unsold or has no activity, you can still manually declare a winner, enter a customized price, and either save the bid for later payment collection or continue to checkout.
To declare a winner for an item, locate a Live item by using the Search items function. To declare a winner, the item must still be available for bid or purchase.
At the bottom of the item page, click Declare winner.
Clicking Buy now will initiate the checkout process right away, but you cannot set a customized price unless you manually declare a winner.
Select a winner from the list of registered bidders and click Continue.
Enter the price you'd like to charge the winner, without including processing fees. If you enter a price lower than the buy now price (as applicable), you'll need to confirm your selection before proceeding.
Click Continue to payment to process payment right away. You can alternatively click Save for later to lock in the price and winner for this item and process payment at a later time.
Complete checkout information for the purchase:
Opt in or out of covering processing fees (default is opted-in)
Opt in or out of showing the winner as anonymous (default is opted-out)
As applicable, enter shipping information for the item
Select a payment method (the supporter's saved payment method or pay with a new card via a connected card reader)
After payment is processed, the supporter will receive an emailed receipt sent to the email address they used to register for the auction.
Fees 💸
The fees for processing auction item payments on the app are 5%, plus the standard processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.