In this post we will explain you how you can add a “make an offer” functionality to your online auction website. In this example we are using wordpress, and a theme called WordPress Auction Theme. The theme is offered as part of our membership or as an individual theme (see pricing here). Note this feature is available in the PRO version and up.
What is an online auction?
An online auction is an auction type that is over the internet, usually in a website or an app. In order to host your online auction, you need a website at the very least. For that website you will install a piece of software which will give you the auction capability. Through our themes, we offer the wordpress auction theme, which can give you online auction functionality for your website within minutes from purhcase.
You will be able to list items for auction. After that, customers interested in that product, will bid against each other in trying to win the goods. The person that pays the most, and bids last, wins the goods. Its like a mini version of eBay, or just a plain auction website. More information here about auction sites.
What is the “Make an offer” functionality ?
When you put up an item for an auction, you usually set a start price, and a buy now price, plus in some cases a reserve price. The reserve price will not let the goods sell below that value. That ensures you will not sell your item for less than you expect to be worth it. But the big auction websites, have another way to further negotiate the price with the buyer. That is, the “make an offer” functionality , which will allow the buyer to send out an offer for that product.
If the seller (possibly you as the site owner) accepts the offer, you will hit the accept option, and the products automatically sells for that offered price to the person that offered the price. Usually this functionality allows the potential buyer , make 3 offers that can be refused by the seller. If that happens , then that buyer will not be able to do anymore offers.
How it works in the auction theme ?
As discussed above, the auction theme pro version comes with the make an offer functionality, and that can be activated like any other plugin. When posting the item, the seller has the choice to set an automated rejection (below what value should the system reject the offer automatically) and an automatic accept (above what value, should the system automatically accept the seller’s offer). This could be useful for the b2b systems, or b2b type of setups. See below the sequence of screenshots we have taken to show this functionality:
So, if you want to find out more about the auction theme, you can try this link, and if you want to find out about the pricing, see here.
Also if you ever need custom changes on top of what its existent in our systems, we can do. You can request a price quote here.
