Choose the best Auction style for your fundraiser.

RallyUp offers two Auction types, each with its own bidding process: English-Style and Proxy Bidding. New Auctions default to English-Style but you can easily switch to Proxy Bidding before going live.

English-Style

English-Style Auctions operate similarly to many in-person Auctions:

1. Each item’s starting price and bid increment are set before bidding starts. 
2. Bidders must meet the bid increment requirement or go beyond it to outbid someone else. (E.g., if the bid increment is $5, the participant must bid at least $5 over the previous bid.) 
3. Bidders must manually re-bid if they are outbid, and they can bid as many times as they like. 
4. The item is sold to the highest bidder when the Auction ends. 

English-Style Auctions encourage real-time bidder engagement and competition, driving up the item’s price and helping your organization raise more funds.

Example: If a current bid is $15 and the bid increment is $5, the next bid must be at least $20, but a participant might choose to bid $25 or more. When the Auction ends, your organization receives the highest bid amount that a bidder is willing to pay. 

Proxy Bidding

Proxy Bidding Auctions are similar to English style Auctions, but bidders only log in once, and then a proxy system will continue bidding for them as needed:

1. Bidders submit their first bid manually and set a maximum bid limit (other bidders can’t see this limit).
2. A proxy then monitors the Auction on their behalf. If the bidder is outbid, the proxy will raise their bid to put them back in the top position.
3. The proxy will only bid the minimum amount necessary to keep the bidder in the top position.
4. The proxy will keep bidding until the bidder’s maximum bid limit is reached. The bidder will then be notified that they’ve been outbid past their limit, and they can manually raise their limit if they want to keep bidding.
5. The item is sold to the highest bidder when the Auction ends.

Proxy Bidding Auctions make the bidding process easier and less time-consuming for donors, so it’s a good choice if your audience wants to participate but can’t be as engaged to bid often. However, a proxy will only bid the minimum amount necessary to keep the bidder in the lead.

Example: If a current bid is $15 and the bid increment is $5, the proxy will only bid $20. If the Auction ended at that moment, your organization would only receive $20 for that item, even if the bidder’s maximum bid limit was more than $20.

Switch to Proxy Bidding

1. Go to Campaigns in the left menu.
2. If you have chosen a list view, click on the Campaign title. If you have chosen a grid view, click on the Campaign image. 
3. Select Campaign Setup.
4. Go to Options in the timeline at the top and select Auction Options.
5. Scroll down to Choose the bidding style for your auction and select Proxy bidding:

6. Select Save.

Video

Watch the following video for play-by-play examples of each Auction type: