What are the types of auctions, and what is the difference between them?

A specialized tool for in-company sales, SilentClicks, allows you to create offers in three available auction types: Buy Now, English auction, and Increment offer.

• What are the differences between the auction types?
• Which type of auction is the most effective?

Check out how does an auction through the SilentClicks look like and find out which method is best suited to your needs.

SilentClicks auction – what does it look like?

The SilentClicks tool will allow you to quickly create sales offers and invite participants to take part in a closed auction. It’s a great way to get rid of backlogged items and generate additional revenue for your business, or create a unique offer for your golden customers.

SilentClicks features an intuitive interface, where you get access to the admin area after registration. From this level, you can set up a seller role for yourself and then create auctions with items for sale.

The process of creating an offer on SilentClicks takes no more than 5 minutes.

Each auction follows specific steps:

• Creating offer

At this stage, you can fill in information about the product, such as the name, number of pieces, and delivery method. You can add photos and a description of the item and set a minimum amount or a predetermined rate for the product, depending on the type of auction.

• Selecting an auction type

You can choose the type of auction, from three available options: Buy Now, English bidding or Increment Offer.

• Inviting participants

In the SilentClicks tool, sales are held on a closed session basis for selected participants. You can invite selected employees, contractors or customers to participate in the auction by sending an email, through one of SilentClicks’ automated features. 

• Bidding/selling

Once you’ve completed the formalities of creating your offer and publishing it, auction participants can bid on the rate for your product (or choose to buy it immediately). Bidding continues within the time frame you specify, but any price increase automatically extends the auction time to give participants time to react.

• Auction completion

When your product finds a buyer, the bid changes status to completed, freeing up space for more products you would like to sell. If the auction has a bidding structure, the right to buy the product is earned by the one who offered the highest price.

Auction types – which option to choose?

Focusing on the bid creation panel, a specialized tool for in-company sales, SilentClicks, allows you to determine the structure of the auction by choosing one of three types: Buy Now, Increment offer or English bidding. Each of these structures determines a different bidding process:

Buy Now

By creating an auction with a “Buy Now” structure, you predetermine the amount for which you want to sell an item. Choosing this type of auction eliminates the possibility of bidding price by users. The right to buy the product is given to the person who decides to buy it in real time. 

You can edit the Buy Now auction at any time with the corresponding functions in the seller’s panel. You can finalize your bid at any time by selecting the appropriate option – you do not have to wait until the bid activity time ends.

Increment offer

Increment offer is a type of auction in which auction participants can raise the bid in two ways: for the minimum raise amount set in the form, or by predetermining the maximum bid they are able to offer for the product. In the second case, it is system that will automatically raise the bids of other bidders using the post bid mechanism. Participants do not know what the maximum bid is, and the winning participant can buy the product at a price lower than his or her maximum bid, as long as other participants do not raise that bid. 

By choosing this type of auction, you invite users to bid. Once an active participant in the auction raises the bid, you cannot make adjustments to your bid. You specify the duration of the auction in advance. You can also specify a time to extend the end of the auction, which has the effect that any price raise during this time automatically extends the auction, giving other participants time to react.

At the end of the auction, the right to purchase is given to the person who offered the highest price for the product listed in your auction.

English auction

If you decide to choose a sales bid with an English auction structure, the invited participants bid for exactly as much as they declare, taking into account the predetermined minimum bidding amount. In this type of auction, there is no bidding mechanism. The system suggests the highest bid at the moment, and a participant’s bid cannot be lower than the bid of the bidding leader.

You can set the duration of such a bidding in the bid creation form, however, similar to the bidding with postponement, you can set the time to extend the end of the bidding after the price is raised at that time.

English bidding ends at the end of the bid activity time, and the item goes to the participant who bid the highest amount.

Auction type vs. sales effectiveness

Each of the available sales structures proceeds similarly, but produces different results. A Buy Now auction allows you to offer an item at a price you think is appropriate. This guarantees a profit in the amount you expect, of course, if you find a willing buyer for the item. The “Buy Now” sales structure is a solution if you want to sell off the ends of collections and free up storage space, or create a bargain sale for golden customers.

In the case of Increment offer, you set the minimum amount at which the auction begins. Participants who bid up have predetermined minimum bidding amounts, but they can also propose a maximum amount that is not visible to other bidders. The product can be sold without reaching this maximum amount, and participants have no need to keep track of the auction. Bidding with postings will work well in creating special offers for contractors.

English bidding allows you to specify a starting amount for a given product, but participants can bid by at least the minimum raise amount. All amounts bid are visible to participants, so you have information at any time on exactly what amount is currently being offered for a given product. This is an excellent way to sell off depreciated assets in your company or organize a charity collection.

While a Buy Now auction allows you to quickly sell a product for a certain amount, bidding always contributes to maximizing your income – your starting price is a guarantee of a minimum profit, and the offers of the participants in the auction always increase this amount.

SilentClicks quick sale

A specialized tool for in-company sales, SilentClicks, allows you to organize a sale quickly and efficiently. By setting a minimum amount or a static price for a product, you know that the sale will make a profit, regardless of the sales structure of the auction. However, it’s worth keeping in mind: during the auction, participants set the highest amount they can spend on the product, maximizing the potential profit for your business.

Quick and effective selling with the specialized tool for in-company sales, SilentClicks, is a way not only to sell depreciated fixed assets internally in the company, but also to open a new sales channel.

With a PRO license, you can create as many as 200 active auctions simultaneously and invite 250 users to bid.

Closed auctions for selected contractors or golden customers are a great way to sell off the ends of collections or create special offers. An additional value will be giving the auction participants possibility to bid on the price of products. In this way, you will create a path to strengthen customers’ relationship with your company and provide them with interesting experiences that will influence the strong position of your brand.

Key Takeaways: What are the types of auctions and which one is the most effective way to sell out?

The specialized tool for in-company sales, SilentClicks, allows you to make an effective closed sale using three sale structures, each of which will bring the expected result in a short period of time:

• Buy Now – you sell a product for a predetermined amount
• Increment offer – participants indicate the maximum amount and an automatic minimum raise mechanism is used
• English bidding – participants raise by minimum amount

Try the Free plan and see how SilentClicks works. Free up your warehouse space, build a new sales channel for your contractors or organize a charity collection in your company – quickly, efficiently and in an organized way.