Handbid Reviews

“A strong fundraising support”

Pros

Working with their team is very simple and they help bring a significant amount of funding into the organization.

Cons

It costs more than handling it internally with our own team.

“setup is frustrating”

Pros

From the end-user side, the experience is okay. It's a capable tool for running auctions but need major improvements too!

Cons

Configuring everything is challenging and the interface isn't very adaptive at first. That said their demo does a good job of walking through the features and there's a large library of how-to videos that helps with just about anything you need to do in the software. You'll need to set aside more time for setup than with most other platforms but once it's in place, it does seem more strong than many competitors and offers a very strong experience for end users.

“Vague pricing”

Pros

We chose this platform because it handled both auction/event management and peer-to-peer fundraising which matched our needs well. Their support team was responsive and genuinely helpful when we reached out.

Cons

Unfortunately, the software came with a long list of technical problems. Around 25% of our guests struggled with logging in, accessing their tickets or editing guest information. Display sheets also will not print if your descriptions contain HTML, yet the tutorial never explains that limitation. After the sales process, our assigned contact often took about 7 days to respond to emails and did not offer a phone number for alternative communication. The contract is also unclear about what is included in the 125 items in the basic plan. That total covers not just silent and live auction items but also games, sale items and raffle items. If you need more, it costs an additional $300 and Handbid tends to push extra add-ons as well. These are only a few of the issues we ran into and after more than 15 years of running auctions and using several other platforms like er Giving, OneCause and qTego, Handbid has been by far the worst.

“dated platform !”

Pros

Our choice for this software was mainly influenced by its partnership with MobileCause. That connection was the biggest selling point for us since it was supposed to work smoothly with our fundraising software.

Cons

The integration between the two platforms was pretty disappointing and this software has not been very user-friendly overall. Customer support is slow and sometimes we do not get a response at all. Our users describe the platform as dated and sluggish. When COVID forced us to move our auction and event entirely online, the platform was not prepared for that shift. It was already our first year using MobileCause so we were still learning a brand-new system and then we had to immediately learn another new platform with it. As a small nonprofit, the whole experience felt very overwhelming.

“fantastic for auctions”

Pros

It's a simple platform and for bidders the whole process flows really well from beginning to end. We use this for our event's silent auction starting about three weeks before the event and then continue using it the night of the event for the live auction as well.

Cons

We haven't run into any downsides with it.

“Really like this platform”

Pros

As we get ready for our first annual fundraising event, investing in this tool proves to be an excellent decision. It has been amazing so far and looks like it will make the auction side of everything feel completely smooth.

Cons

Their basic package limits how many auction items you can include and I wish that restriction wasn't there.

“Customizable auction settings”

Pros

This platform lets you tailor auctions to fit the specific needs of each event which is really useful. You can also adjust things like how long bids are accepted and exactly when the auction closes so there's a good amount of control over the setup.

Cons

Overall, the software can be a little confusing and not all that adaptive specially from the customer side. It does what it's supposed to do but the experience can still feel somewhat unclear.

“fast auction setup”

Pros

After using this platform for several years, Ive really appreciated how simple it is to use. The interface is fast to access and simple to jump into, whether you're an admin entering auction details or using the mobile app to place bids during an auction.

Cons

As a nonprofit, the credit card payment fee was an added cost we would have preferred to avoid, though it makes sense since this platform needs to cover its own card processing expenses.

“modern design stands out!”

Pros

The software gives off a polished, modern feel. It does take a bit more time to learn at first but once you get comfortable with it, it becomes incredibly efficient and lets you do a lot. I really appreciate that you can stream the stats for everyone to see during an event. There are also plenty of customization options for setting up your auction and the customer service has been excellent.

Cons

I wish there was more control over pictures specially being able to resize them directly in the program. That's really my only complaint and it's something I can work around pretty easily with bulk image resizing software.

“Convenient for both sellers and organizers”

Pros

Ive tried alot of bidding platforms, this one has easily been the best of the bunch for me. Ive been using it for the past few months and it lets you place bids from anywhere in the world which is a huge plus. It's also really convenient for sellers and auction organizers since they can invite a large number of people to their auctions without any physical effort. the interface looks attractive while still being simple to use.

Cons

I haven't run into any major problems up to this point but it would be really useful to have an option to invite bidders who were active in previous auctions.

“huge fundraiser hit”

Pros

Our non-profit decided to modernize our annual fundraiser with this platform and at first it made the board pretty nervous. Once we started using it,, it turned out to be a huge success. The setup was simple, bidding was simple for everyone and the analytics were really strong. We're definitely planning to keep using it going forward.

Cons

Others have said it too but it's really important to make sure your wifi is strong because some hotel connections can be unpractical. After using it, going back to a manual auction feels pretty tough.

“Amazing overall”

Pros

It's been excellent for us from the start! The customer support team responds quickly whenever questions come up, the pricing is more than fair and the platform has been simple to use for both our team and our clients. Ive also used it as a bidder in other auctions and that experience was fantastic as well. On the admin side, it's been adaptive and packed with everything we need.

Cons

No cons

“flexible for different setups”

Pros

The flexibility is a big plus and makes the software work well in different situations.

Cons

It does require efficient bandwidth soit's important to make sure your venue's internet can support it.

“User-friendly”

Pros

Everything is simple to use so getting around the software is easy from the start.

Cons

Haven't run into any issues or drawbacks so far.