If you’re researching charity auction websites, we’re here to help. We’ve gathered stats on reviews, pricing, and features of some of the top nonprofit auction sites. Read on and decide which auction site is the best choice for your organization’s event.
CharityAuctionsToday is widely reviewed as a top online auction site, but it’s not the only one with strong user approval. We encourage you to explore other top online auction sites to ensure you select the one best suited to achieve your fundraising goals.
The magical thing about online auction sites is the ability to reach bidders from all over the country, increasing the bidding pool—and profits. Physical limitations of traditional auctions, such as geographical or timing issues, are past worries, thanks to online auction sites.
There are dozens of online auction sites for your fundraiser. Any platform you choose will work, but know that some work better than others, which is why we have reviewed 13 of today’s top online auction sites for you.
It depends on your goals or what’s important to your organization. Cost may be a crucial factor. Others may want to work with a partner who is a charity auction expert.
Browse the top 13 online auction sites below to get a feel for what’s available. You’ll find that every one of them will “do,” but the hard part is determining how to differentiate them to select the best charity auction site for your fundraiser.
This is a piece about auction platforms: explore our pieces detailing the 10 best general fundraising platforms and the 10 best fundraising platforms for nonprofits.
Beware of auction software that claims to be “free.” More specifically, a free charity auction site. As the saying goes, there are no free lunches, even in the fundraising auction business. No auction site is truly free. There are costs required to run auction software or apps.
We recommend an auction site that has no up-front costs, which is different than free. In fact, no costs until your auction is over, like CharityAuctionsToday. This way, you never have to spend any money until you have money to spend. No up-front costs, plus a long list of benefits to support your auction’s success, are features that our clients trust.
Learn more about why there’s no such thing as a free online auction site.
If you don’t want to take the time to review the top 13 online auction sites that we have researched below, then jump right in and take a test drive of our easy-to-use online auction platform, CharityAuctionsToday.
You might have your own list of questions of course, but here are a few you should consider asking about each platform you consider. Below, we’ve picked out a few of the most important questions to highlight for each of the 13 auction sites we’ve detailed.
Those are the top considerations. If you have specific needs such as event tickets, customized invoices, or popcorn bidding—just ask the auction site if their platform has these customizations.
PRO TIP: If you want to go a step further, read their Google reviews to learn what users like and don’t like. Read ours!
Let’s start with us as the benchmark: A versatile online charity auction site, CharityAuctionsToday supports individuals, nonprofits, schools, and businesses in their fundraising experience so that they can raise even more funds for the causes they care so much about. We are proud of our stellar reviews and are continually improving our platform.
The top two features that users love are our incredible live support, and that event set-up takes less than five minutes! If you want to run a smaller auction, our flex plans are for you: they don’t require any money upfront, as you will be charged a commission on the amount of money raised as payment.
If you set your sights on a bigger auction, opt for a prepaid plan (starting at a low $297), which varies in price depending on the size of your event. These allow a lot of flexibility in how much you pay. Whichever way you choose to go, our Auction Success Managers will be there to support you every step of the way.
Key Features:
Not only are our charity auctions easy to set up, but CharityAuctionsToday offers seamless functionality across all devices and auction types. This simplifies the management process and bidding for the users, making it easier to raise money and capture donor information.
OneCause is a pioneer of the online auction, alongside CharityAuctionsToday. They are a great choice if you are looking for more than just auction features, as they offer mobile campaigns, fundraising pages, and peer-to-peer solutions in addition to auctions.
OneCause does not offer free trials. Per G2, OneCause’s prices start at $495. Be aware that their first auction/event pricing tier (these are combined features in their pricing plans), the Essentials plan, does not include silent auctions or live auctions at all.
Read our in-depth comparison of CharityAuctionsToday vs. OneCause
BiddingForGood is now owned by Frontstream, a digital fundraising platform that can help you organize peer-to-peer fundraisers (like walks, runs, rides, etc.) in addition to charity auctions, donor management and even corporate sponsorships.
Although this “all-in-one” digital platform does not make its prices publicly available, it offers yearly subscriptions that are sure to be on the higher end due to its comprehensive nature.
Read our in-depth comparison of CharityAuctionsToday vs. BiddingforGood
GalaBid allows you to set up events that host silent auctions, raffles, accept donations, and more. This platform can help you crowdfund for your cause and host either in-person or purely online auctions and events for your convenience.
GalaBid pricing plans start at “Free” plus processing fees that you can choose to pass on to your event participants. At this level, your participants will also be asked to tip the platform itself, a feature that GalaBid allows you to turn off at its higher price tiers. This “free” tier however does not include customizable mass communications, consultation calls before your event launches, text-to-register, or the ability to mark invoices as paid in person, to name just a few that we think are the most important. Its next tier offers a slightly less limited range of features starting at a 4.9% software fee plus processing fees, and the option to pass all fees onto participants.
Read our in-depth comparison of CharityAuctionsToday vs. GalaBid
Charitybuzz helps connect big spenders with charities that can benefit from them. Nonprofits can net big profits when they can auction off big ticket entertainment, luxury travel, and other experiences on this platform. Charitybuzz requires a minimum estimated value of $1,000 for each item, to ensure that it will appeal to their pool of affluent bidders. It’s also important to note that Charitybuzz is not a self-serve auction site: you must hire them to administer your auction, for which they charge a premium. Though this tool might be out of reach for some nonprofits, it is free to get started, and you will net roughly 80% of your auction total.
Read our in-depth comparison of CharityAuctionsToday vs. CharityBuzz
Auctria is a charity auction software company dedicated to providing affordable tools to help nonprofits of any size run successful fundraising auctions. Their charity auction site was born out of the need to simplify real-time fundraising efforts by offering an affordable solution that provided their customer with a reliable, efficient fundraising tool.
Auctria offers a powerful, easy-to-use auction with your choice of affordable silent, live, or virtual auctions. Users enjoy real-time monitoring, streamlined inventory management, detailed donor tracking, and the option for bidders to “buy now.”
While Auctria starts at a “Free” plan for unlimited events, these events are limited to 250 bidders, include a 1% credit card fee, and, most notably, do not include chat or email support if you run into issues.
Compare CharityAuctionsToday with Auctria features, prices, and reviews.
ClickBid is one of the charity auction sites that allow schools and nonprofits to raise funds through hybrid events. Using their live auction and video services, organizations can run a variety of fundraising events through a mobile bidding app. A basic annual event license runs $795 for unlimited events. However, some features, such as mass texting/emailing are only available in their higher tiers.
Get more details on how CharityAuctionsToday and Clickbid features, prices, and reviews stack up against each other.
SilentAuctionPro is a web-based, multi-user team environment designed to allow for the creation of an online, hybrid, or in-person auction event. The platform ranges in both pricing and offerings, their services varying from branded receipts to bid sheets and much more.
SilentAuctionPro only offers annual subscription plans, starting at $449 plus 2.0% of event proceeds, however this plan only offers in-person, “paper-based,” auctions. Their virtual/hybrid auction plan starts at $749 per year. There is no one-time auction plan on offer.
Take an in-depth look at how CharityAuctionsToday and SilentAuctionPro stack up against each other.
ReadySetAuction provides solutions for organizing fundraisers, keeping track of bid sheets, and everything in between. This platform can help keep track of your auction items so that you can focus on other important aspects of the auction organizing.
ReadySetAuction only offers yearly subscription plans, there is no one-off auction option available. Also important to know: ReadySetAuction’s lowest pricing tier only accommodates in-person auctions with no online item catalogue or bidding options. Starting at $1,099 per year for access to only a few of their features, this is one of the pricier online auction sites.
One thing that 32auctions has that other charity auction sites don’t is the ability to restrict access to your auction event, eliminating the hassle of uninvited bidders. Some users will never use this feature, but it may come in handy to others. At CharityAuctionsToday, we offer the option to keep your bidding pool private, accessible only to people you give the link to, or to open it to our market of bidders.
As with many other free online auction sites, 32auctions offers tiered pricing from free to $370 for each auction. An a la carte menu allows users to select only the options they want.
Keep an eye out for transaction fees.* There are two sets of transaction fees, not performance fees, added. The first set is 2.9% + $0.40 per online payment or donation. The second set is from your payment processor, PayPal or Stripe. The charge depends on the payment account connected to the auction but is typically 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction for PayPal and 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for Stripe, or lower if their non-profit discount is applied. There are no transaction fees if you collect the payments in person instead of doing it online.
Additionally, the third-party ads on 32auctions’ free plan have been reported as confusing to bidders, unsure whether they were part of the auction or not. We feel that the only thing on your event page should be your organization and your sponsors’ information.
*This information on transaction fees can be found in the Payment & Donation section of the 32auctions pricing page.
GiveSmart is invested in an auction, from brainstorming to training to ending the auction ahead of goal. They consider themselves a partner with skin in the game.
GiveSmart’s reporting tools are robust and provide actionable insights to make their next auction even better. Moreover, their bookkeeping processes, integrations with nonprofit CRMs, and donor insights help streamline more than just auctions.
Some users report that GiveSmart’s wide variety of tools and features can have a little bit of a learning curve, meaning setup might take longer than on other platforms.
GiveSmart does not charge transaction or ticketing fees. However, although its prices are not publicly available, this likely means that their prices are on the higher end of the auction site spectrum.
Take a close look at how CharityAuctionsToday and GiveSmart compare.
BiddingOwl is one of the classic charity auction sites. You get a comprehensive auction management system that caters to all your needs, whether planning a silent auction, live, or online auctions. They offer auction management software with a 5% performance fee paid at the close of the auction.
BiddingOwl doesn’t offer as many features as other charity auction sites, for example there is no donor management or reporting option. For small nonprofits or one-off events it is a quick option.
Take an in-depth look at how CharityAuctionsToday and BiddingOwl measure against each other.
Handbid has the distinction of being created by people who had previously started a nonprofit. After an old-fashioned fundraising auction with paper bid sheets led to long check out lines and confusion, they decided to make their own online auction solution.
Handbid offers a variety of in-person, hybrid, and online auction solutions including mobile bidding, ticketing, and text-to-give capabilities. With two pricing tiers, some auction features are available only at the premium price point. Single and multi-event packages are available and start at $1,396.
Whether you have further questions for us or just want to get started for free, you can trust that our platform, tools, and customer service are here to serve you. Our mission is to help you pursue yours: raise more with fewer resources, tech know-how, and effort.
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