The idea of an auction is very old, and these days people will hold auctions online in a website. We are going to detail the most important features in an online auction website. The auctions have been in our world even since 500 BC, but the online auction website era is very recent (kinda since internet started mainstream). And the online space facilitates the participants on the auctions way more than physical presence.
You might be interested in other articles, like how to create an auction website for real estate or a more general article about setting up an auction website with wordpress.
Keep on reading if you want to learn how to create an auction website, what script to use, and specially what kind of features you can find in each type of auction. You can also read about launching an auction site like ebay.
Try our online auction software and get the best auction software and build your auction website with one time payment.
1. English Auction
The English auction is the most common type of auction for online and offline events. This type of auction uses open-cry ascending price protocol. An english auction starts with the lowest price (set by an auctioneer), which gradually increases as each bidder will place a bid.
The highest bid in the end, or the person bidding the last time, will win the goods. They just pay the bid they bided last, plus some commission fees on the platform. The auction software we have for this type, is called the wordpress auction theme. The theme contains all the features needed for this type of auction and others.
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Where can this be used ?
- antiques auction
- charity items auction
- garage sale auction
- real estate type of auction
- automobiles car auction
- luxury goods auction
- pre-owned items
Main features of an english auction:
- the item is posted by one person
- auction starts at the lowest possible price
- the auctioneer sets the initial price
- can set a buy now price
- can set a reserve price
- the highest bidder wins the goods
- the initial bid is gradually increased by the bidders
2. Reverse Auction
A reverse auction is just a type of auction where its buyer dependant type of auction. That means the roles are switched over, and usually the person bidding, for the item, will get paid by the customer that is posting the auction. This is used in the freelancing bidding type of websites: upwork, fiverr, bark.com , mybuilder and others. We do have a theme that fits this behaviour, and the name of it is Project Freelancer Theme.
In the reverse auction, the auction winner is actually the seller who offers the lowest price for their products or services. But the buyer is doesnt have to choose the lowest price offer. They can go with any offer they see fit for their project/task. He is taking the decision on additional factors, like buyer reputation, shipping estimation cost, seller feedback stars.
We have explained how to create a website like bark in this article.
Where can this be used ?
- can be used in wholesale trading. B2B Marketplaces
- construction quote bidding websites
- contractors platform for construction or other services
- services/freelancer IT sector
- government auctions and acquisition
Main features of the reverse auction type
- buyer and seller roles are switched
- buyer/customer will do the paying of the task/service
- its used usually for tasks and services rather than goods
- can be good for finding out the real price of an item
- reverse auction is one customer to many sellers
3. Dutch Auction
A dutch auction is very similar to the reverse auction type. The difference is that the bidding process starts with the highest pricerr. Giving that, the difference is in the dutch auction there are multiple buyers and one seller. The seller gradually lowers the lot price until one of the bidders accepts it. Our auction theme does the dutch auction part too, the PRO version.
Main features of the reverse auction type
- each bid reduction lowers the chances of winning the auction
- each bid reduction lowers the price of the item/lot
- the seller can limit the lowest price for the item/lot
4. Silent Auction
The silent auction is very similar to the english auction type. The only difference is that the bids are anonymous. Which means this is the perfect type of auction for charities or charitable events. When the bidder places the bid, you will not be able to see their name. This is because the main goal of this type of auction, is charity events.
5. Unique Bid Auction
An unique bid auction is a special kind of auction where the uniqueness of the bid matter most than the highest bid itself. That means the winner of the auction will be the person that bided the highest, but also the bid is unique. In order to do that, usually the participants will need to pay a fee to the website or to the house.
Main features of the reverse auction type
- the bids will be very accurate bids, including the cents, in order to be unique
- bidders will have to pay a fee to participate
- some high prices items, can be won by very low bids
- possibility of purchasing a high end product at a very low price
Features in an online auction website
- Placing a lot or an item for auction or sale
- Buy now feature
- Reserve price feature
- Automated bidding feature
- Commission fee for each sale
- Listing fees for each lot
- Viewing the lot live in its own page
- Paying a fee to participate in an auction
- Lot management
- Dashboards for seller and buyer
- Offer management
- Bid management screen
- Notifications
- Shop page and Profile pages
- Dispute management
- Arbitration management
- Search page with filters and sorting
- Geo location and targeting
Features in a car or real estate auction website
- Placing a car or a property for sale
- Anonymity of buyers and bidders
- Reserve price
- Buy now price
- Automatic bidding
- View the car and property page with all details
- Car data
- Property data
- Geo location and maps of the property
- Administration features
- Invoicing feature
- eWallet feature and token features
Find out more about our car auction theme as well here.
Unique bid auction sites
With the WordPress auction theme you would be also able to launch an unique bid auction site, or any other type of auction site. And in this type of auction site, the bid will be unique, and the highest unique bid will win the auction, or the goods. Or if you want a custom auction website built by our web agency, please check a list of our web development services and contact us for a quote.
Regular bidding auction website
There are many bidding websites, from regular bidding website, to live auction websites. And online auction systems can be build in many ways with the proper auction software. Plus many of these websites have auction app these days as people are always on the move and want to bid on their favourite goods straight from their phone. Creating an auction website has never been easier with our auction software and expertise.
