ERPNext Website Auction

Admins create an online auction in Desk and pick a published Website Item. The item name, item group and description fill in on their own, and the auction gets its times, starting price and reserve price.

An online auction stays in Draft until it is published. Once published it is Confirmed, then turns Running at the start time, so the Webshop shows it as upcoming before bidding opens.

• Only published Website Items can be selected for an auction.
• Set a starting price, reserve price and Buy Now price per auction.
• Status moves through Draft, Confirmed, Running, Extended and Completed.
• End time must be after start time, and prices are checked on save.
• A View on Website button opens the auction page from Desk.
• Complete or Close buttons end a running auction before its end time.

Each online auction in ERPNext Website Auction has its own page with the item image, status, countdown, current bid and the next valid bid amount. Shoppers must be signed in to place a bid.

Bids update live for everyone watching the page. The highest bidder cannot bid against themselves, and a bid or auto bid below the next valid amount is refused, so the Webshop keeps every bid clean.

• Offer Bid shows the minimum amount the shopper must enter.
• Recent Bids lists bidder names, amounts and times on the page.
• Auction Details shows starting price, reserve status and increment.
• My Activity shows the shopper's highest bid, last bid and status.
• Countdown labels change for upcoming, running and extended auctions.

A shopper who cannot watch the countdown sets an auto bid with a maximum amount. ERPNext Website Auction places the lowest valid bid for them and raises it each time another bidder goes higher.

When two shoppers both use auto bid, the higher maximum wins and an equal maximum goes to the earlier auto bid. Admins can switch auto bid off for any single online auction.

• Auto bid maximum must be at least the next valid bid.
• Bids rise only by the increment step, never straight to the maximum.
• A shopper's own auto bids are labelled for them in Recent Bids.
• Allow Auto Bid is on by default and set per auction.
• Auto bid can only be set while an auction is running.

Bid steps in ERPNext Website Auction come from an Auction Increment Rule. Each rule holds price bands, and each band sets how much the next bid or auto bid must rise within that price range.

A default rule is created on install, with a step of 500 up to 10,000 and 1,000 above it. Any online auction without its own rule uses the default, so every Webshop bid step is predictable.

• Add bands with a From Amount, To Amount and Increment Amount.
• Bands cannot overlap and the increment must be greater than zero.
• Only one rule can be marked as the Default Increment Rule.
• Pick a different increment rule on any single auction.
• The next valid bid is the current bid plus the band increment.

The reserve price is the lowest amount the seller will accept. ERPNext Website Auction marks Reserve Met once a bid reaches it, and shoppers see a Met badge in the Auction Details view.

When time runs out, the highest bidder wins if the reserve price is met. If it is not, the online auction is cancelled with no winner, and bidders and watchers get a Reserve Not Met email.

The winner then sees Add Winning Item to Cart. The item enters the Webshop cart at the winning bid with quantity fixed at one, and each online auction can be ordered only once.

• Reserve price cannot be lower than the starting price.
• Auctions without a reserve price complete with the top bid.
• Winner names can be shown publicly or kept hidden from shoppers.
• Only the winning bidder can check out a completed auction.
• Pricing rules and discounts are cleared on the auction cart line.
• The Sales Order is linked back to the Auction record.

Last-second bids leave other bidders no time to respond. ERPNext Website Auction adds Extend By Minutes to each online auction, so a late bid pushes the end time forward by that many minutes.

A bid counts as late when it lands inside the Closing Soon Threshold set in Auction Settings. The online auction then shows as Extended with a new countdown on the Webshop page.

• Extend By Minutes is set on each auction record.
• Closing Soon Threshold Minutes defaults to 60 in Auction Settings.
• Every late bid can extend the end time again.
• Extended status and countdown update live for all shoppers.
• Leave Extend By Minutes at zero to keep a fixed end time.

A Buy Now price lets a shopper end the wait and buy at a fixed amount. ERPNext Website Auction adds the item to the Webshop cart at that price and holds the auction as Pending Checkout.

If the order is not placed within the Checkout Time Limit, the online auction resumes and earlier bids are restored. When the Webshop Sales Order is submitted, the auction completes and links that order.

• Buy Now price must be higher than the reserve or starting price.
• Checkout Time Limit defaults to 15 minutes per auction.
• Buy Now turns off once the current bid reaches the Buy Now price.
• The auction end time moves forward by the checkout time limit.
• A countdown shows shoppers when the checkout hold expires.

Shoppers click Watch This Auction on the listing page or Subscribe Watch-list on the auction page. ERPNext Website Auction then keeps them informed by email as the online auction moves on.

Six Email Templates are created on install. Admins set notification defaults in Auction Settings and can turn off any alert, such as Buy Now or reserve price results, for one online auction.

• Auction Started emails go to watchers and past bidders on the item.
• Auction Outbid emails go to the shopper who lost the top spot.
• Auction Closing Soon emails go to watchers and bidders.
• Winner, Non Winner and Reserve Not Met emails close each auction.
• Email subjects and messages can be edited in Email Template.

Signed-in shoppers open My Auction from the website menu. ERPNext Website Auction lists every online auction they bid on, watched, won or reserved for Buy Now checkout, in one table.

Summary cards count total, active, won and watching auctions. Each row shows the current bid, the shopper's own bid and a result such as Won or Outbid, with a link back to the Webshop online auction page.

• Results include Won, Highest Bidder, Outbid, Watching and Upcoming.
• Checkout Pending shows while a Buy Now order is waiting.
• Row details show start time, last bid time, sold bid and total bids.
• Winner name and end time appear in the Ends / Winner column.
• Guests are sent to the login page before they can view it.

The Auction Dashboard in ERPNext Website Auction counts live, upcoming, draft, completed and cancelled auctions, plus total subscribers and active bidders for each online auction in a chosen date range.

Auction Settings controls how the online auction pages look and behave, from switching auctions on or off to how many bids and completed auctions the Webshop shows.

• Date range of 7, 15 or 30 days, or a custom From and To Date.
• Status chart and engagement trend for bids, subscribers and auctions.
• Top Engagement ranks auctions by bids and subscriptions.
• Set Bid Records Display Limit and Completed Auctions Display Limit.
• Show or hide the bid count and the winner name on the website.
• Dashboard and auction Desk pages open for System and Website Managers.