Auctions are a great way to boost audience engagement and expand your NTWRK community. In this article we will go over everything you need to know from how to set up your first auction to what to do when you are live.
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It's very simple and here's how:
Select Products from the side menu navigation in your dashboard. You can then select an existing product or create a new one.
Make sure you select Auctions as your Product Type:
You're all set! When creating your show, you can choose from your products and add in the ones you set as an auction.
We support one Sale Type per product. If you want to sell a product as both Buy Now and Auction, please create a separate product for each respective Sale Type.
What if I want to auction multiples of the same product?
Auctions are run at the variant level and not the quantity level. This means that there should be a variant added for each item that will be auctioned.
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Pre-show Configuration
Every time you auction a product, you will need to create a new product listing in Shopify. Furthermore, if you have a product that was previously auctioned, you will not be able to sell it again in the future. If you would like to sell a previously auctioned product, you can easily duplicate the product in Shopify. For more info on this see the Duplicating Products in Shopify article.
Step 1 - To enable products for auction, you will need to include all the normally required fields outlined below:
- NTWRK Sales Channel must be enabled for that product
- Product Title
- Product Description
- At least 1 Product image
- Product has a price [this won't impact the starting price for the auction (we'll go over that later in this article).] We recommend setting the price at the price point you'd normally charge for the product.
- Product has an inventory value of at least 1
Step 2 - Sign in to your Seller Dashboard, go to the 'Products' tab on the left menu, and locate the product you recently added. Click into the product and select the 'Product Type' as an Auction and hit 'Save'.
While creating a show, select the product(s) you pre-configured as auction, and you are all set! When you go live, they'll show up like this:
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Once you are live, you will see the auction icon on the right side of the screen.
Tapping the auction icon brings up a catalogue of preconfigured products that can be auctioned during the show.
You will only be able to auction one item at a time.
Tap the item you wish to auction. Choose the starting price and the length of the auction. NTWRK supports auctions between 10 seconds and 5 minutes .
By tapping “Apply” after the starting bid and auction timer have been configured, you will see your auction in a "Ready for Auction" status.
Tapping “Start Auction” will begin the auction, allowing users to bid on the product.
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Reserve price is used to establish a floor price that your item can be auctioned for. For more information on setting up auctions with a reserve price see THIS article.
For Flash auctions the bid timer will not reset. For example, if you configure the auction to be 2 minutes, the auction timer will end precisely at the 2 minute mark.
For a Standard auction, the bid timer will reset to 10 seconds each time a bid is placed in the last 10 seconds. For example if a bid is placed at :04 seconds, the timer will reset to 10 seconds.
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You will clearly see who is winning and who has won the auction based on the status bar highlighting their username.
The auction ends when the timer reaches 0.
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Once a user has won an auction, their payment method will automatically be charged. We do not allow customers to bid on your products until we have verified they have a valid credit card on file. Once payment has been successfully captured, you will receive a notification confirming the customer has paid for the item.
Your payout will be initiated once you ship out the order. For more information, please see our Payout Schedule article.
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Yes! You can auction products on the fly while you're livestreaming.
The best way to choose products to auction on the fly is to show off your inventory or collection during your livestream. After you showcase an item, if there is a buzz from your audience in chat, that is a good indication that the item will do well at auction.
During your livestream, tap the "+" button beneath the auction catalog. You will have the option to create a new auction product from scratch or import an existing auction product from your catalog. Add all the requested information. Upload an existing image from your phone or take a new picture!
Troubleshooting Tips
- If you're a Shopify user and your Auction products are not showing up in the dashboard, please make sure you have included all of the required fields. If you've confirmed that this is all included, please send us an email at sellers@thentwrk.com so that we can resync your account.