WinningBidder.com Reviews

First time using an online auction platform, it was a great experience!

Pros:

Ease of set up and management. Can have the auction running for longer and bidders don't have to be present at the event. You can categorize your auction items. Also, Winning Bidder sends out the invoices and collects the payment, but you can also do it yourself.

Cons:

There wasn't anything I didn't like! It was easy to set up and to use!

Best choice for nonprofit online auctions

Comments: Outstanding experience with them... I'd use them again in a heartbeat when I next have the need for an auction, and I also would READILY recommend them to colleagues in the industry. They should be more widely known as I'm sure many non-profits would prefer to utilize a system that didn't cost them a percentage.

Pros:

Absolutely the thing I was looking for most was low-cost way of doing our online auction, that would hopefully not be too difficult to use. WinningBidder.com is free to use other than the credit card processing fees, and even those are optionally paid by your winning bidders when they pay...which 100% of our winners did, so it ended up being completely free for us as an organization. With that, I expected to encounter issues like it being difficult to use or having to navigate through 100 ads in order to get there... or that my auction bidders would, too. Instead, I found it easy to use and get set up for my items, and easy to set the features. I also really appreciated the ability to supplement the auction with items from winning bidder where we generated 40% or 80% of the sales price. While not everything we posted sold at that minimum price, the things that did still helped our bottom line.

Cons:

The "item value" line -- it isn't shown to the bidders, and yet it's mandatory to complete. I did a lot of research about the reasonable value of items that don't have a prescribed value (such as an autographed hockey puck), and then it was frustrating to feel like I did that for nothing... wish there was a way to opt out of using that line, but it's minor in the grand scheme of things. Also, DURING the auction, you cannot view the current bid on the back end of the site without hitting a separate bid report or going to the front end to look. It would be a nice addition to have a place you can go for an overview of your auction's current status. Recommendation for future change, but overall just a minor inconvenience.

First time with WinningBidder

Comments: Very good experience with WinningBidder.

Pros:

Very easy to use and helpful to have additional packages in our auction.

Cons:

The only thing I didn't like was that bidders had to enter their credit card information both in the beginning as they were bidding as well as the end after they had won an auction item.

Folds of Honor at Stoney Point

Comments: Once we straighten out the problem of establishing the account and having Travel Pledge to verify my checking account, no problems. They need to make it easier to set up the account.

Pros:

Easy to place bids. Easy to add or subtract items.

Cons:

Very difficult to set up the account. I was originally told that the account was set up and I had starting the LIVE AUCTION only to find that my authorization and account set up had not been approved and was not set up. Had to get my daughter (I am terrible with computers) to straighten everything out. Took more than 8 hours and several phone calls to resolve this problem/

WinningBidder is a winning platform for auctions!

Comments: The ease of setting up the auction was great. The printing poster feature could be changed a little bit - we had to re-create our own posters to include a QR code so that bidders could bid in person. The online auction platform was very user-friendly and easy to navigate. I enjoyed that I could pay directly through the emailed link (after winning) and it's nice that they offer for the winning bidder to pay the credit card fee. We're a non-profit so having the bidders pay their own fees is ideal! We really enjoyed that you could mark multiple winners for some of the items. Overall, I would say that we enjoyed this platform better than who we used last year (accelevents) and we will most likely be using this platform for next year's auction!

Pros:

User-friendly platform. Easy directions...simple format

Cons:

Some people who were bidding liked to see the names of people who they were bidding against; some people did not want to see the names. I enjoyed the fact that it sent me a simple message letting me know that I was outbid. The printing poster feature was a little off - we had to re-create our own posters - the image was cropped funny on some of the posters.

Winningbidder is a winner in my book!

Comments: Overall, I will use WinningBidder.com again for future auctions. The fact that it is "free" with the option for buyers to pay a % to help cover the cost is a game changer for a small event such as ours. Paying $1000 for an auction that brings in a total of $3000 is a steep cost for small fundraisers.

Pros:

The WinningBidder.com platform was simple to use. Set up for our event was easy and straightforward. Advertising the auction and getting bidders to the site was also simple. The check out after the event closed was simple with buyers easily being able to complete their purchases and our staff/volunteers were easily able to determine that their purchases had been paid.

Cons:

The only major complaint or change that I would suggest is that there be a way to download all the flyers for all the items into one document to print them. I had to click on each individual flyer and print it, which initially resulted in me missing a few of the flyers and having to fly back to the office during set up to print them.

Perfect for our needs

Comments: Over all I am very happy and I would choose to use WinningBidder again. We had plenty of our own auction items so we did not need any of the extra that they were offering. I don't think I would have liked the outcome as much if we had needed to use their items because the consignment is high and then they take a large percentage. For what we needed this site was perfect.

Pros:

We have used a very cumbersome software in the past. Winning Bidder was very easy for my team and me to navigate. The cost is very minimal and it is very easy to use and understand.

Cons:

I needed to add my live auction items to the site but I didn't want anyone to bid on them. There was no option for that so even though I made it clear that they were live auction items, I have to go through and void bids that were made during the silent auction. Also, I don't love that they have to go in and check out completely at the end. Most people think that their credit card will be charged automatically. It would be nice for them to receive a text message with a link to the invoice instead of just an email.

Winning Bidder Won in our book!

Comments: We tried out and tested two different sites after completing a paper auction at our event last year. We decided on winning bidder and it did not disappoint! What drew us to winning bidder is of course that there were no platform fees, but also that it had many features other free products did not. We loved that people could enter an automatic max bid, that we could have categories, and acknowledge sponsors. We also love that bidders were sent text updates. The closing process was smooth, and reporting was quick and easy to pull. We wish it would have had a “sign out” or “pickup” reporting option, but searching the list and handing them out was easy enough!

Pros:

It was simple, but had so many features like allowing the user to max bid and text updates.

Cons:

People assumed that since they entered their card at the beginning, they would be automatically charged.

Auction Platform Made Easy and Affordable!

Comments: Loved this platform. Seamless with TravelPledge and very easy to use for other items.

Pros:

Transferring of TravelPledge items was a breeze. This used to take so long with uploading all the pictures, information, starting bid requirements, etc.

Cons:

It was hard to log into without first logging into our TravelPledge account.

Great site but should include option for bidders to name themselves

Comments: My experience was excellent. This is an easy platform to use that helped us run a great successful auction!

Pros:

Ease of adding auction items, making edits, and generally reviewing our auction.

Cons:

Bidder names do not appear. This is desirable b/c it motivates bidders to know who they are bidding against, even if those names are fake pseudonyms.

It's not bad

Pros:

Easy to use. Inexpensive auction platform.

Cons:

Sending invoices to "Buy it Now" winners BEFORE your auction closes doesn't work. The platform WON'T send invoices until the overall auction ends. We SHOULD be able to send a "Buy it Now" winner an invoice BEFORE the overall auction closes.

Winning Bidder Makes Me Feel Like A Winner

Comments: Overall my experience was very positive and if I were to run another fundraiser via online auction I would consider using this platform again.

Pros:

I liked how accessible this was and very user friendly.

Cons:

What I liked least was that the view of the bidding page from the admin perspective and the buyer perspective were different. I liked the graphics and set up from the admin perspective, but they seemed to take a hit when it came to what the buyers saw.

First time user is impressed

Comments: Very positive; this was just the app we needed to fill a niche need, and I'm glad it'll be in our toolbox going forward. I could see it integrating with other fundraising efforts for our non-profit in the future.

Pros:

It's very easy to set up and manage.The fee schedule is great.It ties into Stripe, which we use.

Cons:

Don't have anything to say yet, as this is our first time using it. But I suspect we'll use it again.

Great for first time Silent Auctions

Comments: Overall, It helped us solve the issue of not getting enough silent auction donations. We were looking for some big ticket items to draw attention and TravelPledge did that, and provided an auction platform all rolled into one.

Pros:

This made creating a silent auction really easy. This was our first silent auction event, and while it didn't quite go as we had hoped, it was easy, intuitive and provided a lot of great items for guests to view and select from.

Cons:

The closing time was disappointing as we had set a 9:40 time and it closed at 9:40. We had guests that wanted to submit some last minute bids and they were not able to.

Perfect auction site!

Comments: This was our first online auction and we had no idea whether it would be a success. We were pleased with how easy it was to share the link with our audience and how easy it was for them to use it. We will definitely use it again.

Pros:

It was extremely easy to use from setting up the auction items to the registration. We didn't receive a single query about registering or bidding. The reports were also very helpful in managing our auction. We will definitely use it again.

Cons:

We had some videos about our items that we would have liked to be able to embed in the descriptions but that wasn't possible. It would also have been nice to be able to label the photos to explain what they were.

Executive Director

Pros:

The convenience and Accessibility of displaying the items.

Cons:

We did not experience any problems with the service.

Handy Tool

Comments: Helped us do our auction to raise money for someone who needed it most. Was a great tool and we will use again.

Pros:

I loved the ease of using it and getting it shared on social media platforms. Seeing the items and the bids in real time was great!

Cons:

Nothing that we came across to leave negatively.

Super Helpful for Nonprofit

Pros:

We loved hosting our auction via the Internet for our annual silent auction.

Cons:

We had to put in more info than was actually listed on the auction listings.

Easy Online Auction

Pros:

WinningBidder was easy to set up and use. I liked the opportunity to use my own donated items in addition to using items I procured through their partner site.

Cons:

Was a little challenging going from TravelPledge to WinningBidder. But customer service walked me through the issue and from there it was smooth sailing!

Great free online auction platform for non-profits

Pros:

This was simple to use and very effective. We have just completed a small auction to test out the product and our membership has decided to move forward with a larger community auction as a major fundraiser for ours Kiwanis club.

Cons:

Can keep it simple. Can add premium items.

Very happy with TravelPledge!

Comments: The customer service was very responsive and the software was easy to use. I would like to thank TravelPledge for making our online auction very successful.

Pros:

TravelPledge was very easy to use. When I had questions, their team messaged me right away via the online chat. They were very helpful and kind.

Cons:

I wish our small non profit was not limited on the number of TravelPledge auction items to list with our own auction items. Many of TravelPledge items were purchased, which helped our non profit raise much needed money to fund our program.

Silent Auction Software

Comments: We will definitely use Travel Pledge in the future. It was easy, quick, and did what it promised.

Pros:

When you are stressed over many other details of a fundraiser, to find a software that not only was easy to use but offered travel packages that we could run and enhance our auction

Cons:

The only con I encountered was uploading the pictures. Being a non-tech person presented the problem but I read the instructions and figured out that I had to resize the pictures. From then on it went very smoothly.

A great option for nonprofits!

Comments: This software is super user friendly while offering features that would cost additionally elsewhere. It streamlines the entire auction process

Pros:

The ease of use, as well as the trip options. Not having a middle man involved for the trips and items Travel Pledge offers compared to other auction software saves time and stress!

Cons:

After using this software twice now, I truly can't think of any cons

TravelPledge Review

Comments: [SENSITIVE CONTENT] was incredibly helpful and easy to access via email or phone. He really helped my experience be fairly seamless and answered all my questions. Learning the backend was fairly easy; there are a few things I would change, but overall, I'd rate my experience with TravelPledge a solid 9/10.

Pros:

For taking the silent auction online for the first time, this software was great for the basics. It was easy to understand and learn the backend. For being a free option, I felt like it hit all the marks.

Cons:

The text/notification features would like more flexibility/ownership there as the admin. Wish we could receive an email notification each time a payment was made. I didn't realize there would be so much activity from others outside of our event, which was encouraging, but now I know to make a note about shipping items in the details.

It was great working with TravelPledge!

Comments: Fantastic. We plan to work with TravelPledge again on similar events.

Pros:

TravelPledge's platform was quite user-friendly for our online silent auction. Uploading images and creating item descriptions was a simple and intuitive process, and TravelPledge's customer service team was readily available to help when needed.

Cons:

The only issue we encountered was the time-consuming process of having to re-number items according to dollar amount value in the dashboard when new items were donated. What would have made this process much easier is if we could simply click on the item that needed to be re-ordered, and drag it to the proper new place.