How much does the service cost?
We charge a flat fee at the start of $149 and then a commission rate of 5% at the end of the auction. This includes many features that other auctions sites don’t include, or only include at their premium level, including in-site emailing to your bidders, buy now options, and customer retention.
What kind of support do you offer?
We have web-based support that is included for all of our users as part of your fee. Most inquiries made during normal business hours (9a-5p Monday thru Friday MST, excluding holidays) will be responded to within 2-3 hours. It may take up to 24 hours. Inquiries made over the weekend or during a holiday will be handled first thing on the next regular business day. Our email is support@auctionsalacarte.com. There is no phone support.
Do you offer refunds?
No, because you’re able to build your whole auction before you go live. There’s ample opportunity to make your final decision. So, only pay when you’re sure that you want to run your auction with us.
How long before an event can I sign up?
Well, you can start making your auction whenever you like without paying. And it will be stored for 30 days without payment. If you pay, it will be stored for 120 days (prior to the auction).
How long can my auction last?
Your auction can be up to six weeks long. During that time you can have items end at different times (for example, if you have time sensitive tickets that have to be sold before the end of your auction).
How can customers pay for their items?
You can set up a Merchant PayPal Account, (don’t worry, it’s free). Make sure to do this at least one week before your auction. You can choose to accept checks or cash through the mail, but there’s no way to guarantee the safety and security. Also, you will be invoiced for your auction within 5 days of your auction ending and it’s much easier to pay fees if your customers have already paid you! (How to link your Merchant account to our system)
Do I need to be a charity?
No, anyone can use this service.
How can I let people donate?
There are two options. The one that we prefer is PayPal – they have a great free service here that adds a button to whatever webpage you prefer (we suggest using the optional “custom” page we provide). Or, you can link to your own donation location on your website, or provide other information for how people can donate.
How will people know how to sign in and bid?
We hope that for the most part, it’s easy to use! But we also provide a pre-loaded bidder FAQ into every auction. This is also editable, so you can add whatever you like to it as well. (It includes information about how to create user ids, and how to bid, as well as definitions of terms used in the site, and how your users should contact support).
What are those extra pages that you have available?
The FAQ page is the only one that we provide pre-loaded, but the other ones are for you to make your own. You can always choose to delete or rename any of these pages (or add more if you need!). This way, you can tell people about your organization, inform them of your shipping and pick up policies, and allow them to donate.
Do you help with shipping?
We don’t offer that service, but PayPal does help you create the label. And then you can use whatever shipping service your organization uses on a regular basis. The most common options are USPS, UPS, and FedEx. If your auction is local, you can also set up a pick up date for you buyers.
How do I let my users know that they’ve won?
We have a mini tutorial for you here, it’s actually really easy, it’s just a window you won’t see until your auction finishes
Your service price has gone up since my last auction! Why?
We’ve made a lot of changes to our service and added a lot of perks that are included only in other sites premier packages. Our price is still well below the average.
What browser should I use?
We recommend Firefox (download here) or Chrome (download here). Both are absolutely free to use and are the #1 and #2 browsers available. Our service is not compatible with IE 6. IE 7 with personalized office controls may not work either. Internal network setting may deny our data request creating errors including the inability to log in.
Why is your IE 6 and IE 7 support so limited?
Well, these are older browsers (Internet Explorer is now on version 9). And other browsers that do work are available for free. Firefox and Chrome account for 70% of all internet users. While IE is still a very important browsers, IE 6 and IE 7 make up only about 5% of IE’s total 23% market share, and most of those are using IE 8, which we do support.
How am I billed?
At the start of your auction, you don’t have to pay anything. Once you’re ready, there’s a link at the top of your site prompting you to pay to launch your auction. Then at the end of the auction, you will be sent an invoice for your 5%. It will be converted to local currency, and you may pay by PayPal, credit card, or check. We prefer checks for the same reasons you do, we want to keep our costs low!
What are your item limits?
Limitless! That goes for you and your customers. You can put as many things as you want up, and they can buy as much as they want from you.
Can bidders change their bids?
Yes and no. We’ve put a lot of safeguards into the system to keep people from accidentally bidding. The only way to remove a bid is is to remove and re-list the item. The choice to do that is up to you, but remember if you do, and there are other bids, you’ll need to notify your bidders (we do have the in-house email system for you)