How to Add Auction Items

Auction items are what your supporters bid on. The better the details, the more attractive each item is to bidders.

Open the Auction Items tab

1. Open the auction.
2. Click Auction Items in the workspace navigation.

Auction Items is one of the tabs in the auction workspace menu.

The Auction Items tab lists every item and holds the Add New button.

Add an item

1. Click Add New. Argenta asks for four things first, all required: the Auction Item Name, the Item Value, the Starting Bid and the Min Bid Increment. Click Add & Enter Details and the item is created.
2. On the item's own page, fill in the rest (the required fields are marked with an orange asterisk):
   • Photo: upload an attractive image with the Upload Photo button.
   • Auction Item Name (required, up to 140 characters).
   • Item Description: what the winner receives.
   • Item Value (required): the fair market value.
   • Starting Bid (required): the minimum first bid.
   • Min Bid Increment (required): how much each new bid must raise the price.
3. Add any optional details:
   • Auction Item Type and Auction Item Category for organizing and filtering.
   • Associated Team Member: whoever on your team is looking after the item.
   • Purchase Instructions: how the winner claims the item.
4. Use Currently Public Item (Y or N) to control whether the item shows on the public auction form.
5. Click Save All & Continue to keep working, or Save All & Exit.

Start with the photo, the name and the description.

Value, starting bid and minimum increment are all required.

Type and category are what you filter and group items by.

Purchase Instructions tell the winner how to claim the item.

Currently Public Item decides whether the item shows on the public form.

Save and continue to add another item, or save and exit when you are finished.

The field you do not fill in

Highest/Winning Constituent Bidder looks like another lookup to complete, but Argenta keeps it for you. While bidding is running it shows whoever is currently the highest bidder, and it changes as new bids come in. When the auction closes it shows the person who won.

Name the team member yourself. The winning bidder fills itself in.

Closing one item early

Bidding Closed On This Item stops bidding on that single lot while the rest of the auction carries on. It is the switch to use when an item is withdrawn or already spoken for, rather than deleting it and losing its bid history.

Tips for items that sell

• Use high-quality photos.
• Write clear, tempting descriptions.
• Set the starting bid around 30 to 50 percent of the value to get bidding going.
• Group similar items with categories.