BiddingOwl Reviews

“Made silent auction easy for me

Pros

As a longtime IT person , I ended up handling our silent auction myself and this platform made the whole setup and day-to-day use incredibly simple. It ran the auction process without a hitch and I'd confidently recommend it to any organization or company looking for a practical option.

Cons

My only real complaint is having PayPal as a payment option. We chose Stripe instead and that worked out well. PayPal has had far too many data breaches over the years for me to feel comfortable with it.

“responsive support

Pros

Getting an auction set up in this tool is pretty simple and the interface is easy to work with. The auction home page can be customized nicely with your organization's logo, photos and styled text which helps it feel more branded. The biggest plus though is how quickly support responds by phone or email whenever questions come up during the auction or even after it closes.

Cons

The online Help section could be more complete and cover more of the common questions users run into. For example, it would be helpful to include guidance on how to remove shipping charges after the auction closes when a winning bidder is picking up the item and shipping is no longer necessary.

“found it very user-friendly

Pros

Navigating the software has been very simple and there's always plenty of phone support available whenever I need help.

Cons

I honestly cant think of any downsides. Im not very comfortable with computers but I still felt well supported the whole time.

“Flexible live adjustments

Pros

Getting an auction up and running with this platform is very simple and checking in to manage it is just as simple. Making adjustments before the auction starts or even while it is live is also very convenient.

Cons

If possible, being able to view added items by the category they were assigned to when entered will make this platform way better. That would save time and keep you from having to scroll through the full list just to make updates.

“I liked the smart AI

Pros

The website felt very adaptive to use for me. Uploading auction items was simple and having AI available when needed to help write engaging descriptions was a big plus. Editing listings, adding photos and handling the rest of the auction setup all worked well for me. It covered everything I needed for running auctions and the overall display looks very attractive.

Cons

One thing that could be better is bidder confirmation. Some of our bidders were unsure whether their bids had actually gone through. It would help to send a confirmation for initial registration and for placed bids, instead of only notifying someone after they've been outbid.

“Great auto-bid controls

Pros

its simple to navigate and being able to adjust an auto-bid is really helpful.

Cons

there should be an option to remain logged in.

“charity-friendly pricing

Pros

This platform initially caught our attention because it doesn't charge annual fees. As a charity, we want as much of the donated money as possible to go directly to our cause so that pricing model really matters. The 5% fee on winning bids also feels fair and stays competitive with other auction platforms.

Cons

Newer version of this software included a few changes that we weren't thrilled with at first. After reaching out to support though we were impressed by how quickly they responded. They were able to address some concerns right away and the rest were noted as enhancements for future releases. It was reassuring to know they listened to our feedback and considered our input.

“Very easy to use!!

Pros

Customer service was excellent and the website was very simple to get up and running for our school auction. It was also simple to use throughout the process.

Cons

We had a really positive experience overall. The only thing that might have made it even better would be automatically charging bidders and collecting credit card information upfront since that would make fulfillment much easier.

“Great nonprofit auction support

Pros

This software is very user-friendly and both the platform and the team clearly have strong experience working with nonprofit organizations. There was a software upgrade this year and the team was extremely responsive in walking us through the changes and making sure we were fully prepared.

Cons

So far, no cons to report

“promising start..

Pros

It's a simple platform overall and adding auction items didn't take much effort either. Im excited to see how the auction goes and how well the platform performs.

Cons

Haven't run into any issues. It has covered everything Ive needed so far.

“fantastic fit for nonprofit auctions

Pros

Our goal was to get out our biannual art auction online and this platform turned out to be a really good choice. We needed something simple to set up and simple for people to use and it delivered on both. Another nonprofit had recommended it to us after using it for a similar event and we've been very happy with how everything turned out.

Cons

A few users had trouble locating our auction on their phones because searching for BiddingOwl brought up the legacy.biddingowl site instead of the newer version where our auction was listed. We also ran into an issue where a shipping fee was automatically added to every invoice rather than being optional but overall these were fairly minor problems.

“simple to use

Pros

It was very simple for people to view the items and navigate everything without confusion.

Cons

After they updated the website, it took a little time to get used to the changes but it wasn't too bad.

“good, affordable option

Pros

The whole process was easy and just as simple for participants to create bidding profiles and place their bids. The pricing is very affordable which was a big plus. I also appreciated that the system doesn't store credit card information and instead integrates with PayPal. The biggest highlight is the customer service. Their team was easy to reach by phone, joined meetings with us and even provided training at no extra charge.

Cons

It took us extra effort to set up items that were only available as buy it now through the auction. It can definitely be done but it requires some tweaking with the item pricing to make it work properly.

“Better photo uploads

Pros

Customer support has been excellent and listing items on the platform works well without much hassle. Adding photos has also gotten better with the newer site updates which is a nice improvement.

Cons

I still preferred the old Leaderboard features because they offered a more detailed breakdown. The newer version also no longer includes an Expiration date field and that used to be a useful reminder for adding expiration dates to listings.

“clean interface and simple bidding

Pros

Getting everything set up was fairly simple, the bidding process was simple enough to work through and users haven't really had any complaints.

Cons

The newer version dropped some features that were available in the older one and although the updated interface looks nicer, it doesn't always work better in certain areas. That was at least my experience during the initial setup, though improvements are still being made.

“Simple to use

Pros

It was easy to use and overall the usability was one of the best parts for me.

Cons

Nothing to complain about here. I was happy with everything and didn't run into any issues.

“auction pages look great

Pros

Their auction pages have a really polished look which we've been happy with. Being able to upload up to 5 photos for each item is a nice improvement too. Placing bids is simple and it's helpful that bidders get reminders when they've been outbid. the support team is quick to respond and very helpful.

Cons

A few of the instructions are still a little confusing specially the ones at the top of Item Management.

“Affordable and adaptive for auctions

Pros

Running our non-profit's annual auctions with this platform went really well. The platform was quick to learn and our bidders seemed to pick it up without much trouble too. It gave us plenty of flexibility and customization options and the support resources were reasonably helpful when needed. It also cost a lot less than the other vendors we considered soo overall we were pleased with how our events turned out.

Cons

There were a few times when customer support responses weren't very helpful. Editing items can also get pretty tedious specially when something like renumbering everything is needed. Some bidders had a hard time understanding the checkout process and image uploads would occasionally throw errors.

“Manager and bidder friendly

Pros

The program is simple to use for both managers and bidders.

Cons

Only confusion came from switching between the old site and the new one.

“helpful support all the way

Pros

Customer service really stood out. JoAnne was warm, helpful and took the time to answer every question I had.

Cons

It's definitely an older system, although it basically functions like other auction platforms. After learning how it works, setting up an auction becomes pretty simple.

“Item management works well for us

Pros

Adding and updating items is really simple. Managing inventory feels very simple and convenient.

Cons

The pricing is the downside. We weren't thrilled about using part of our fundraiser money to cover it but it was still manageable.

“Impressive auction setup

Pros

It was super simple to build an appealing auction website with them and im impressed with the functionality it offers. I also appreciate that the platform is all-inclusive instead of charging extra for every little feature. When I emailed customer support about a concern, they responded right away.

Cons

I'd like the option to place an auction item in two categories. Having to pick just one category for each item creates a chance of mislabeling something and possibly missing out on a bidder. I also wish they offered real-time live chat support with an actual person.

“simple setup

Pros

After comparing quite a few platforms for our auction, Bidding Owl ended up being the most simple option and was simple to set up and manage.

Cons

One hiccup came from using the shortened URL they suggested in our first eblast instead of the longer URL that was actually needed which caused frustration because the link didn't work. Tech support was helpful but I really wish we had caught it before sending everything out.

“Made our workflows simpler

Pros

I like how friendly, responsive and helpful the staff are whenever I have questions.

Cons

There are a few cosmetic changes I'd still like to see, like removing categories we don't use in our online auction and adding the option to upload more than one picture at a time. Even so those are very minor compared with how efficient and convenient the program is overall.

“wider reach with smooth bidding process

Pros

Opening the auction to people beyond just those attending the event has been a huge advantage. The software makes it simple for customers to browse the available items, place bids without hassle and then go enjoy the rest of the event while getting notified if they need to update their bid.

Cons

When you list a higher-priced item, the fee can feel a little expensive but that seems to be the tradeoff for having an accessible auction platform that also includes all the invoicing tools.

“A real time save in online auctions

Pros

Every year we come back to this platform for our online auction and it has been very efficient and simple to use. Being able to pull information from past auctions and carry over items and other details from previous events saves a lot of time and cuts down on the effort involved.

Cons

Not many downsides Id say, although I would love to see some new auction themes added.

“Customer support is great

Pros

The setup and usage both have been easy and great so far.. whenever I needed help, the customer service team was excellent.

Cons

It takes a long time to upload pictures. I used the scrolling banner to display sponsors but the banner tools didn't offer automatic alphabetizing.

“Amazed by the strong results

Pros

Other people had recommended it to us as a user-friendly platform and they had already seen good results with it in their own company.

Cons

After the link went live and users created an account, they still couldn't view the items available for bidding until they logged out and signed back in. This was a bit confusing for all

“cost-free fundraising

Pros

It's a really effective way to raise funds without having to put any money down upfront.

Cons

A downside is that you cant go back and view past auctions to see the items that were listed.

“Experienced an auctions boost!

Pros

Putting together, editing and running an elementary school auction has been a really good improvement. We've had a lot of success with this platform because it's simple for everyone to use.

Cons

The payment side could be better. I wish there were an option to keep credit cards on file to make checkout faster and more convenient.