Online Pre-Bidding Versus Online Bidding Only
An overview of the differences between Online Pre-Bidding and Online Bidding Only, and how to decide which approach is right for your event.
The key difference between the two approaches comes down to one question:
Do you want the final part of the bidding process to happen during an in-person event?
- Yes → Use Online Pre-Bidding. Guests start bidding online before the event, and bidding is completed in person on paper bid sheets or with an auctioneer.
- No → Use Online Bidding Only. All bidding takes place online through the auction website, text messages, or the mobile app.
You Can Use Both
You can use Online Pre-Bidding and Online Bidding Only in the same auction — just not on the same item. Each item must use one approach or the other.
Both approaches are managed by setting appropriate Online Bidding Times for the event and for individual items as needed.
Comparison: Online Pre-Bidding vs. Online Bidding Only
| Online Pre-Bidding | Online Bidding Only | |
|---|---|---|
| Item types used | Paper and Live types with Participate in online bidding enabled | Online type |
| Bid sheets | Yes, bid sheets can be generated | No |
| How the item is won | Bidding is closed manually by recording a Final Bid | Bidding closes automatically at the Online Bidding end time |
| Maximum Bidding | Not supported | Supported |
| Winner notified automatically | No — a final bid must be recorded first | Yes — see System Notifications for details |
| Buy It Now price | Supported, though a bid sheet is still generated | Supported |
| Multiple winners | Supported, though only recommended for fixed-price items where a functional bid sheet can be generated | Supported |
| Must close bidding manually | Yes — a final bid must be recorded to close bidding | No |
| Kiosk mode | Supported during the online bidding period | Supported |
| Text bidding | Supported during the online bidding period | Supported |
Notes on Specific Scenarios
Live Auctions and Online Pre-Bidding
Online Pre-Bidding Not Recommended for Live Items
Online Pre-Bidding is primarily designed for Paper type items. We do not recommend enabling it for Live type items.
Auctioneers typically manage live auction bidding and prefer items to start at a high opening bid. Online Pre-Bidding can interfere with this process. For this reason, the Participate in online bidding option is disabled by default for all new Live type items.
See Live Bidding Type — Online Bidding for reference.
If you are using Live type items, confirm that Participate in online bidding is disabled unless you have a specific reason to enable it.
Maximum Bidding and Online Pre-Bidding
Maximum Bidding (proxy bidding) is not supported with Online Pre-Bidding. If a bidder places a max bid during the online pre-bidding period and bidding is later completed on a paper bid sheet, the max bid amount would appear on the bid sheet as the full bid — no longer functioning as a maximum bid since the total amount was committed regardless of competing bids.
Switching from Online Bidding Only to Pre-Bidding
If you set up items as Online type but want to complete bidding on paper at the event, you can change the item type from Online to Paper in bulk from the item list. See How To Bulk Edit Multiple Records for details.
Maximum Bids When Switching Item Types
If maximum bidding was enabled and a bidder placed a maximum bid before you switched the item type, you won't have visibility into the full maximum bid amount. If you attempt to record a paper bid below the max bid amount, the paper bid will be discarded and the max bid will be bumped up to match it.
To resolve this, delete the maximum bid from the item's Activity tab before recording the winning paper bid. See Remove A Maximum Bid for more details. Note that removing a maximum bid may require clarification with the bidder who placed it.
Last reviewed: April 2026