Podium auction functionality
Space: VM
Last Updated: 2026-03-11T16:02:09.265Z
Author: Ana Cristina
Version: 5
URL: https://vollers.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VM/pages/2555707404/Podium+auction+functionality
****## Introduction
Podium bidding works like a normal forward auction. This means bidding for an item starts with an opening price determined by the auctioneer and bids are placed by bidders in increments above the previous bid. At the end of the auction, the highest bid wins. However, in a podium auction, there can be multiple winners.
Bidding is made in one of two ways.
- You can either bid at the next increment by pressing the "Bid" button and then pressing "Confirm" to confirm your placed bid
- You can bid at a higher amount than the current increment and enter your own bid amount in to the box by the "Bid" button, then press "Bid" and confirm your bid by pressing "Confirm".
Your bid will then be placed in the system and all bidders will see the change in current bid on the webpage.
Auction Bidding Options
Buy now bids
A "buy now" is just means a user can "buy" an item. A buy now option may be available alongside incremental bidding. If a user "buys" the item, then all other forms of bidding are stopped. (N.b. ERIC and CNC use the "multi buy now" stuff, so it's a little different for them).In case two users "buy" at exactly the same time, then only the first "buy now bid" counts.
Sealed bids
Sealed bids are kind of like "offers" (or sometimes a "blind bid"). They get entered into the system, but no winner is formally chosen by the system. Instead the admin (or lot owner) will decide who actually wins. Also there's no cross-validation of the bids. If one bidder bids 100, then another bidder can bid 10 without being told their bid is too low.This form of bidding can vary a bit between clients. Some of buttons/forms etc to be able to actually accept the bids (and trigger emails etc) in the site. Whereas some have to deal with sealed bids totally manually. Some site treat sealed bids as "pledges" where very user will donate the money they entered in the sealed bid.
Preview bidding
This is the same as "normal" bidding, but when the bidding ends the highest bidder is not the winner. Instead they are just the "highest bidder". They will get a different email from the system. Preview bidding is normally used by charities to do some online bidding prior to a real "event" (say at a hotel), where the final live/in room auction will be held. They use the bids from the preview bidding to set the opening prices of the lots in the real auction.
Site Settings Overview
| Bidding Options | All new bids and autobids need to be higher than the 1st placed bid on the podium. |
|---|---|
| Add Extra Bid Enabled | If this is enabled, and a bidder has a place on the podium already, the bidder will be prompted to let us know if you would like to keep previous or duplicate bids when placing a second or third bid on the same lot. (This typically occurs when one person is bidding for multiple golfers from his or her company.) |
| Autobid Options | Podium: The autobid triggers a bid if the bidder is knocked off the podium by another bidder.Normal: The autobid triggers a bid regardless of whether the bidder is on the podium or not. |
| Pin number | |
| Lot Payment options |