CharityAuctionsToday Pricing Explained

CharityAuctionsToday strives to keep our costs low, so that you can raise more with less. We understand that great causes don’t always have large budgets. In order to continue serving small nonprofits and organizations while keeping our platform affordable, we charge a few different types of fees.

Platform Fees

This is the most basic cost of our platform. 5% of your total proceeds helps cover our operating costs. If your auction raised $1,234, your platform fee would be $61.70. Keep in mind that if you don’t raise any money, we don’t make any money. 

If you plan to hold more than one auction per year, and especially if you suspect you’ll raise more than $6,000, we recommend our subscription plan. Instead of paying 5% of your funds raised, you’ll pay a yearly fee that starts at $297 depending on your auction’s specific needs. Our customer support team can help you understand if that’s the right choice for you.

Processing Fees 

Although they appear on your invoice, these fees don’t really come to us. Processing fees are the fees that payment processors, like Stripe or PayPal, charge for their services. Different auction sites’ charge slightly different processing fees because they use different processors, a mix of processors, or do the processing themselves. Generally, we charge 3% + $0.30 per transaction, though there may be some small variation based on your plan or the credit cards used. Your Auction Success Manager will be able to tell you more. 

Platform Tipping

Many fundraising and auction platforms use optional tipping to help cover their platform costs. Instead of charging larger platform fees upfront to the auction administrator, they ask donors and bidders to tip the platform when they checkout.

We ask bidders and donors to tip us when they check out. This tip is always optional and can be set to $0. Tips are never deducted from your funds raised, and we do not ask auction administrators to tip us. 

The generosity of bidders and donors helps CharityAuctionsToday provide a secure and effective auction experience for everyone, so that we can continue to help SMB nonprofits and charities raise money for important causes. 

Buyer’s Premium

On our platform, the buyer’s premium is added to winning bidders’ invoices, never deducted from the total funds raised by the auction host. This buyer’s premium is generally 5% of the pre-tax total of the hammer price. On your invoice, the buyer’s premium is listed below each item’s total and its accumulated tax.

This buyer’s premium serves to offset some CharityAuctionsToday costs of operation, so that we can pass on further savings to the organizations who use our site and continue to do so for years to come. 

Our Mission is Your Mission

We strive to serve nonprofits and charitable causes that have limited resources and manpower. CharityAuctionsToday makes it possible for them to reach fundraising goals with fewer hands at the helm, with less budget, and with little to no technological savvy. Features like the optional tips and the buyer’s premium help us to continue to help these mission-driven organizations achieve their fundraising goals.