Silent Auction Pro reviews

Excellent Event Planning Software!

Opmerkingen: We are a hypothermia shelter that houses 12 guests during the coldest months of the year, and have a fundraising gala every 2-3 years. At the beginning of our planning process for our February 2020 gala, we wrestled with the question “Do we really need an auction and event planning package for our little event?” At the end, there was no question that Silent Auction Pro was a HUGE reason why our event went so smoothly and exceeded our fundraising goals!

Pluspunten:

I cannot say enough good things about our experience using Silent Auction Pro. Some of the key things that we liked: Event Coach. From the beginning, we were assigned an event coach ([SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]), and she proved incredibly helpful in both understanding Silent Auction Pro as well as anticipating what other issues might come up before, during, and after our event. She checked in regularly, and was available even on weekends. Training Videos. Silent Auction Pro has a large number of training videos on YouTube that were very helpful. Admittedly, they seemed difficult to understand when I viewed them before we actually signed up, but once I was on Silent Auction Pro and able to play around, they made much more sense, and proved very helpful. Pricing Structure. At first, it seemed expensive to pay $800 and still give up 2% of our proceeds to Silent Auction Pro. However, the 2% is only out of auction proceeds, and not things like tickets or sponsorships. That kept the 2% cost down to under $300, for a total cost of $1,100. Comparing that to the many, many hours of time saved, the ability to start the auction before the event, ability to easily sell tickets, and all the communications tools made it worth the money many times over! Usability. While I would not call Silent Auction Pro the most user-friendly website in existence, it is user-friendly, and with a minimal amount of practice it becomes very easy to get around. The reports are also very useful and easy to generate.

Minpunten:

There were a few very minor bugs, but that was it. I didn't care at all for WorldPay, which is one of the two credit card processors that Silent Auction Pro works with. They had horrible customer service and wanted to know WAY to much personal information about me in order to open an account. But that isn't Silent Auction Pro's fault ...

Awesome Customer Service

Pluspunten:

This was our fourth year using Silent Auction Pro. Like so many nonprofits in 2020, we were faced with really two questions: how can we successfully fundraise using mostly social media and how can we put together an event that seemed so foreign at the time, so quickly. While the changes made to the software were helpful and kept us competitive with other organizations, it was Silent Auction's customer service that was the secret sauce. From explaining all the new features to problem-solving, to follow-up reminders, we were able to host a successful fundraising event this year.

Minpunten:

Some things are a little bit clumsy and not as user-friendly as I would like them to be. It would be helpful to be able to change the program colors to be a bit more like our brand. Reports could be more specific or to be able to customize them more.

Review

Pluspunten:

Not a million screens amongst which to navigate.

Minpunten:

There is a lot of repeat info on each screen. Would be great if information could be streamlined a bit.

The Support is Unparalleled

Pluspunten:

The price point for us was manageable - about half of what the other guys are charging. So many features we will take years to master them all. Don't worry - the support people have you back all the way through the process. They are truly on your team and will step you through click by click. SO many ways to get help. video. tutorial. PEOPLE! Stable - this is not a website that cranks out a storefront... it's a robust database. And it is stable and functional. Not a sexy GIU, but it works when you need it and that is valuable! It was a really good choice in the time of quarantine to choose SAP.

Minpunten:

I wish I could have customized the site just a bit - and maybe I could, but we were under time crunch and it was not a priority. There are SO many features. it is important to follow the Best Practices so you don't get overwhelmed.

Highly Recommend!

Opmerkingen: Previously we have had a more create-as-we-go-along approach to each dinner auction held. We were looking for greater portability in auction coordinating. Meaning, we want to be able for someone to walk in the door and be able to understand what was done in previous auctions and be able to carry it forward with little to no difficulty. One of the best things about Silent Auction Pro is the support team and the support videos!

Pluspunten:

The 'back office' support from Silent Auction Pro is amazing. They are quick to respond and very easy to work with. In addition, the videos for how to use the software are very well done and easy to understand!

Minpunten:

There really wasn't anything that we didn't like about this software.

Silent Auction Pro User Review

Opmerkingen: This was our first year using this software at an in person event. The check out process made package pick up much more efficient and attendee friendly.

Pluspunten:

Silent Auction Pro is very intuitive software. They have thought through the needs of both the organization putting on the event (silent and/or live auction) plus have made it user friendly for the auction bidder. Reports are comprehensive and easily downloaded to use as event wrap up in usable formats. But where they go above and beyond it their customer service. Clients have access to live support during normal business hours during the ramp up to the event plus live support during the event should the need arise to contact them while the event is in progress. Hats off to Silent Auction Pro for their great event product.

Minpunten:

There are a few features that I believe are being addressed in an update coming at the first of 2022, one of which is the ability to use tablets and the event instead of computers. We look forward to the update.

Great Customer Service

Opmerkingen: They know what they are doing and have their team is also very knowledgeable. They will also help you with suggestions and ideas to enhance your event!

Pluspunten:

The team at Silent Auction Pro truly wants your event to be successful. They are alaways available by phone or email, and while their website has fabulous tutorials, they are also fabulous in providing you hands on support.

Minpunten:

I would like to see more analysis reports

Amazing Software and Customer Service

Opmerkingen: Amazing! Everyone who has been on the phones with us has been fantastic to work with. Including the owner. He is completely a part of his team and business and does not hesitate to jump in and support you.

Pluspunten:

What I like most is what all it can do. For this event I only used one little portion, but learned in the post event how great this tool is going to be to use for our big fundraiser.

Minpunten:

There is a LOT packed into one spot. Learning where everything lives is challenging, but their customer support is, literally, amazing. So really there is not a least.

Great product for the price

Opmerkingen: When we moved our annual service auction online, we needed to move from our other auction software to one that had a Digital catalog and would process orders without any issues. It is a very good system and we look forward to working with them again.

Pluspunten:

We loved the customer service and training offered from Silent Auction Pro.

Minpunten:

A bit more complicated for people who are unfamiliar with computer software. We had to do some workarounds to post more than one photo per item but I understand they have upgraded the software and have that ability now.

Extremely helpful and streamlined service

Opmerkingen: Very positive.

Pluspunten:

What I liked the MOST about this software was how easy it made the checkout and follow-up process with our guests. There are a lot of large benefits to using Silent Auction Pro, but I have to say that this has been the most significant aspect for us. All of the invoices are automatically created and batched for a seamless end-of-event experience. From the admin side, this has made management much less stressful.

Minpunten:

Sometimes it was difficult to navigate or figure out exactly what functions lied where in the platform. It took a bit of digging around before I got comfortable with using it.

Tremendous system for making charity auction easier to set up

Opmerkingen: Set up and run the event solely from volunteer committee without having to contract with other services for ticketing or check in/out. Handle high volume auction and attendee counts with smaller committee.

Pluspunten:

Donation entry was intuitive and loved that we could pull up items donated before so that we didn't have to retype everything. Demo environment allowed us to get committee members up to speed quickly and also allowed us to practice on some creative set up to meet our auction needs. Ticketing feature offered a variety of ticket options, some only displaying with a promo code, and love the addition of the asking for the email address for a ticket purchasers' guests - made it simple to reach all attendees with the marketing tools. Allowing the ticket purchasers to select the meal, or any other item we programmed made the table/catering coordination easy. Marketing features to promote the event to our attendees as well as help them feel connected to the event that was a couple months away. We set up an online auction the week before our event and people loved it! The online auction was open to the public so it allowed parents to share with friends and family that weren't planning on attending. We posted the event auction items on the online auction as previews to entice bidders to attend to get a chance at the rest of the silent and live items. Reporting is good, check in/out is all on one page, the system performance is great. Loved working in system even from our smart phone browser to check on things, make changes etc. any time, any where. Customer support was outstanding!

Minpunten:

Special characters aren't allowed in donation title so we had to change once they got loaded as an auction item. Special characters in the description like " for inch threw off the formatting of the data export to excel. Reporting is good, but would have liked a few more reports or the ability to create ad hoc reports. We found one report provided this item, but another report provided this item so we had to export to excel and do look up functions which is tedious to do each time. Would like more options for formatting of bid sheets, and also would like to see some additional options with displaying, leveraging the "Donation Tag" feature which is critical for us as our teams need to be identified. Would like filters on lists as well.

Silent Auction Pro Thought of Everything!

Opmerkingen: Overall, I am extremely pleased with this software. I was totally immersed in it, learning every possible feature and application, to ensure that we got the maximum use.
Pro's:
1. The Help section is extremely well documented, and the customer support is amazing. The You Tube videos were very helpful for training both me and my volunteers. Any time of the day or night when I sent an email, I had an immediate response.
2. The options available were extremely comprehensive and knowledgeable about the mechanics of a benefit fundraiser. I cannot think of anything that I wanted to do that I couldn't do. From donor setup, to bidding styles (purchase of ticket parties for Teacher Experiences, to Silent Auction bidding, setting different minimum bids etc) to performance tracking, exporting info, everything was there.
3. The buzz that we created with the auction was definitely a boost to our event. We doubled our attendance vs. last year, just by starting the auction 4 weeks before the event, and creating excitement about the items that we offered early.
4. I am now set up for next year, with over 50% of the input work established already (donors, pictures and logos, bidders, etc). Next year should be a lot easier!
5. Auction Day section is powerful and easy to use - The check in was easy, online bidding was easy, and checkout was VERY easy, especially for those who had already registered their credit cards online. I could just click "auto process" for a batch of auction items, and with a click of the button, 20 people were checked out at once. Then I just looked up the auction number, passed out the gift envelopes or baskets, and done! "Be Awares" - I won't say Con's!
1. The upfront setup in the first year takes some time. Start early, and I strongly encourage you to read all of the "Help" sections before you start. Even then, tread carefully as you craft your setup, and re-read some of the Help sections. I ended up re-doing a few of my entries as I thought about the structure, and crafted it for maximum efficiency and reporting.
2. Engage team members to do their own data entry as they gather donations. This will save you a lot in data entry time, especially if you have a lot of auction items, and especially in the first year.
3. Train your "auction assistants" well, before event day. This includes check in, auction bidding assistance, and check out, but is especially true for Check in.
Overall, very pleased!

A Software that DEFINITELY Helps you Raise More Money

Opmerkingen: This was our first use of this software and we were very satisfied with the results we achieved the night of our event. The software is relatively easy to use - the modules are marked but you do need to take you time to make sure you are on the right page. The customer support was fantastic. Every time I had a problem or a question they were there to answer it. They were able to go into my site, analyze my problem and help me solve it. I did not use the registration part of the software since I purchased it too late to really get the benefit of that part of the program. However, I was able to push my guests to the site to register their credit card prior to our event. On the day of our event as our guests checked in we had a few banks of computers with people manning so that if our guests had difficulties they were there to assist. (I would recommend that for anyone using the program.) During the event, we were able to showcase our fundraising live as it happened. This aspect definitely helped generate more bidding and involvement of our guests.

Pluspunten:

This was our first use of this software and we were very satisfied with the results we achieved the night of our event. The software is relatively easy to use - the modules are marked but you do need to take you time to make sure you are on the right page. The customer support was fantastic. Every time I had a problem or a question they were there to answer it. They were able to go into my site, analyze my problem and help me solve it. I did not use the registration part of the software since I purchased it too late to really get the benefit of that part of the program. However, I was able to push my guests to the site to register their credit card prior to our event. On the day of our event as our guests checked in we had a few banks of computers with people manning so that if our guests had difficulties they were there to assist. (I would recommend that for anyone using the program.) During the event, we were able to showcase our fundraising live as it happened. This aspect definitely helped generate more bidding and involvement of our guests.

Minpunten:

The modules could be designed to be easier to differentiate.

Reached our goal - even during COVID-19 - with help of Silent Auction Pro

Opmerkingen: Our small non-profit has had a very positive experience with Silent Auction Pro. We have used Silent Auction Pro for 3 years, 2 years with paper bidding and this year with mobile bidding. This year we were so lucky to have transitioned to mobile bidding. Our auction went on without a hitch, in a virtual environment, during the COVID-19 shut downs. We were able to switch everything to a virtual offering easily and we were still able to exceed our goal of $75,000. We look forward to using this great software in the future.

Pluspunten:

Once you use the software for multiple years it makes it so easy to put in repeat auction items. The software offers so many options and ways to set up communication with bidders, attendees, donors, etc. I love that you can schedule items to go out ahead of time so you don’t need to think about doing them later. Every year new updates make the software better than the year before. The pricing is affordable for non-profits and they offer superior customer service, tech support and a fantastic help section.

Minpunten:

There is a learning curve, as with any other software package – the more you use it the easier it is. We tended we only have 2 people inputting auction information so that it was consistent. We would love to see a more comprehensive package that allows you to input expenses and see the full picture of the event. I know this is something they are trying to incorporate for the future and once it is available it will be even more fantastic!

Very Powerful, not very pricey.

Opmerkingen: Online auctions require good software. SAP meets the challenge and excels at paper bidding and live auctions as well, integrating the results into common invoicing/check-out. Our experience has been very good.

Pluspunten:

On-line bidding and automated event invoicing/check-out. Friendly, competent support staff.

Minpunten:

To be maximally effective, email addresses and cell numbers need to be captured, for ALL guests at registration/ticket purchase. Most 'registering' users do not have this info (or refuse to enter it) for their guests making it a chore to hunt down before the event, or binding up check-in. Credit cards on file is also difficult, but at least is not mandatory. Don't have any good suggestions, though, except maybe allow guest names (only) during registration.

Great auction software, outstanding customer support

Opmerkingen: I would definitely recommend using this software to others and will use again myself. There is no doubt that we brought in more money using Silent Auction Pro. Pay attention to detail on the front side and the event will run seamlessly.

Pluspunten:

I had seen this software used as a guest at another event and sitting at our table, the excitement around driving the bids higher was impressive. So when it came for me to organize an event, I pushed for using Silent Auction Pro mobile bidding though we were uncertain that our clientele would be receptive. Post the event, the response was almost all positive, they loved bidding on their mobile devices and we made much more money from our silent auction. We particularly loved the automated winner text notification and giving them the opportunity to self check-out/pay, making it all so much faster and easier. From the point of view of the auction administrator, it made my life much easier with no last minute pulling an all nighter to produce bidding sheets, etc. The customer service was superb and personalized. Someone always answered my calls, no matter the hour and helped resolve the issue(s) I was having or if they couldn’t, they referred it to the developer who is the owner and soon afterwards all was resolved. I loved the reminders ahead of the event to ensure all was moving along smoothly and the personal calls to check in were very much appreciated. I felt fully supported at every step.

Minpunten:

It was definitely challenging learning a new system but it was worth the time and effort. There were a few little quirks that need resolving and these I have shared with the developer.

Really Good Auction Program

Opmerkingen: Once you play around with the program, it seems to be pretty user friendly. And what you do not know how to do or are having trouble with, there are lots of tutorials to lead you through the process. Plus the support staff is excellent and amazingly helpful.

Pluspunten:

A good way to track all donations and purchases. There are many features which make this very easy. The check-out system is pretty user friendly and works well. The support staff at SAP are great to answer questions and lead you through the process.

Minpunten:

The first ticket purchase by a buyer only allows for the purchasers name, and does not let you reassign the name to someone else right away – you have to go back in and readjust. It worked but is a little bit clunky. A lot of data entry. As we were using this for the second time, some bits were easier as we could pull from past donors info. The bid sheets selected the donations that were entered first, which were not always the biggest selling points when bundling Setting up the bar tickets was a bit messy. Would be nice to be able to pull more specified reports from the program. Customize the report formats.

Sheboygan Service Club

Opmerkingen: Silent Auction Pro is a powerful tool for fundraising events. Login is smooth for past members and new members of the organization. Once you're on the site for some time, it's neat to see all the various ways data can be sorted and viewed. Mobile bidding was an interesting transition for our group and guests, but I think it will become smoother every year. The software has made tasks for the auction and operations team smoother every year with the saved data. It was great to see our member's work real-time, so we knew where we were at for auction items and ticket sales. It's also great to have the data saved in one spot from year to year.

Pluspunten:

Silent Auction Pro helped our auction and operations team see data (auction items, ticket purchases) on a real-time basis. Previously, we relied on spreadsheets and emails, and version were easily confused and confusing. It was also great to tally up totals at the end of the evening quickly to make a grand total announce while all guests were present.

Minpunten:

This was our organization's first time using mobile bidding and it was received with mixed reviews. It was confusing for some to login if they didn't receive an email. We will collect emails at registration next year to make it smoother. The QR codes on the items were great, but most guests did not already have the app on their phones. It was difficult, at times, to scroll through items. Lastly, it would be great to have a cross reference for "baskets" by individual. We weren't sure why the numbers continued from 2015 rather than starting fresh for the new event.

St. Joe Draw Down 2021

Opmerkingen: OVERALL - I would not have used them for the FOURTH time if I was not happy with them. This weekend was my 4th draw down with their software and team. This year we used everything they offer, I think. It was the best experience and we are so excited with the outcome of our event, even though it was virtual it was amazing.

Pluspunten:

This software is easy to use and if you have any issues, the customer service is like none other. They call and check on you, they are available for zoom calls to help when you need it and on the day of the event, if you have missed a step, they are calling and letting you know so you can get it fix asap. I have enjoyed using this software and working with the Silent Auction Pro team.

Minpunten:

There really are not any cons I can detail here. Anything I have issues with, they are available to help me with and come up with a solution if they didn't have one already.

Great Auction Software

Opmerkingen: This was my first year personally using the software to set up the auction, and I received incredible customer service throughout the process. I worked primarily with [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN], but everyone I spoke with was polite and helpful. Not sure if it because there weren't as many auctions happening due to COVID, but I felt I had the support needed to be confident setting up the auction. We also needed some help during and after the auction, and we were well taken care of.

Pluspunten:

We use this software for our yearly school auction. This is now our 4th year using it. One of the huge benefits is being able to use contacts, logos, donation descriptions, etc. from previous years. It really saves time if you have the same donors year after year. That being said, it does take time to set up contacts, donations and auction items initially, but you know you'll have everything saved for next year. Also, we got lots of compliments on how nice the auction looks and how easy it is to bid. I agree!

Minpunten:

It took me a little time bit of time to learn where things are and how to use the tools. I don't know if it would be worth the time to set everything up if you weren't planning on using the software for more than once.

Silent Auction Pro Bidsheet Pro

Opmerkingen: Silent Auction Pro is easy for anybody to "pick up," which is good since the team running the auction has an almost yearly turnaround. Also, the customer support is phenomenal, if and when I do need to talk to someone about features.

Pluspunten:

I have been working Silent Auction Pro for many years now for our auction fundraiser. We have a silent and live auction portion and this program works perfectly for all our needs. There are still even more cool features that if we took the time to look through a bit, we could make things run even more smoothly (i.e. notifying winners of their winning bids, creating thank you cards for afterward, etc.)

Minpunten:

It'd be nice if we could change font size on bid sheets - we have an elderly clientele and I know the sheets might be hard to read for them.

Game changer!

Opmerkingen: We have been able to reduce the amount of staffing that it has previously required for everything that is involved in a Live and Silent Auction. We were satisfied with the first event and pleased to find that our second event, that some of our suggestions were considered and fixed int the software.

Pluspunten:

The best software for an auction! It has just about everything needed to support your staff. We literally pulled this off with less than 3 people on the back end in comparison to the past were the actual event required dozens of staff and volunteers to pull off an auction at the sale that we produce. First of all Customer Support is top notch. No matter what stage you are in, they know this software and they will get your show organized from preproduction to post show. They care about your needs and they will work on improvements if there is something that can be reasonably done.

Minpunten:

The need to reconcile bidders with the same last name is a hold up as you need to be watching out for this and we did have some customers who felt turned off by this as they are long time customers. I would be that Silent Auction Pro will do something about this as they want 100%satisfaction from their customers. It's something we have not yet shared with them that this is a bug that needs fixing. I would like the header to be a little larger to reflect that this is our museum's event.

Great auction software for our small congregation

Opmerkingen: We used Silent Auction Pro to host our annual fundraiser, which we had never done online. We had to switch models because of the corona virus. It was a great experience and my team and I agree that we will be using them again, even if we switch to an online model. There is a learning curve to setting up the items, but there's a lot of fun features, and we were even able to have a live auction over Zoom.
The checkout alone made this auction SO easy. We didn't have to chase people to get their payment, and it was very clear who won what item. This event is really a lot of work, and SAP make the job way easier.

Pluspunten:

Silent Auction Pro had a lot of features, and was able to have multiple winners for an item- which was a key for our group. For example we like to try and drive the price up on an item by having only the top 4 winners win on an item, it drives the price up. Other auction softwares were not able to feature this. The support available by the team was incredible. they were always available to answer with questions and walk me through setting up the items.

Minpunten:

I am tech-savy and I felt educated about how to enter items, but there's a lot of clicks and I still messed it up. The support team did a great job to help me but it's just a very clicky software. Even after watching the videos and classes, next auction I will set up a zoom call to have them walk me through a few live ones to make sure it's set up right. There is a learning curve to the software.

Intuitive System and Amazing Customer Service

Opmerkingen: We needed software to hold an in-person auction fundraiser event with only mobile/online bidding (so not to have to deal with paper bids, entering bids, etc. After researching other companies and piloting several "free trials", we decided to go with Silent Auction Pro because it offered all of the tools that we needed at a price that was much less than the nearest competitor. As the Auction Administrator, I found the system to be intuitive and well-labeled. There was no searching and clicking through pages and pages to try to find what I needed. It is all presented clearly on the home screen that has a few clearly labeled tabs that will take you directly to whatever you need. The system can be tailored to your needs - we wanted only online/mobile bidding and we did not need card readers. So - we only selected what we needed and did not have to pay for any whistles and bells that weren't necessary. We were able to easily create an online catalog with photos and descriptions of each auction item, and we were able to paste the URL of the catalog onto our social media sites and into emails, therefore driving up the public interest in the event. We were able to have attendees pre-register, so when they arrived there were no long lines at the check-in table. Check-out went smoothly, too. All you have to do to process a check-out is to enter a bidder number. It generates a list of items and you simply confirm that you want to use the credit card already in the system (or cash/check if the person wants to pay in that manner). It's that simple. I received helpful emails from support staff alerting me to "best practices" and "timelines" without even asking. These emails helped to keep the auction planning on track and really identified potential trouble spots before they happened. There are tutorials/training videos built into the software, so training support staff is easy - you do not have to create your own manual or training sessions, it's done for you!

Organized Entire Event from Start to Finish

Opmerkingen: I love the fact that the software is always adding new features! They have an extensive Help section and support is always available! Priced great with the option to use the software as many times as you would like within the year! I would highly recommend this software to anyone planning a fundraising event.

Pluspunten:

Our group has used the software for an annual event for almost 10 years. The developers continually add new features to enhance the experience for the guest as well as those working to produce the event! We started as Bidsheet customers and now LOVE the Mobile platforms!! They are so easy to use, even for those who are technologically challenged. We have seen our proceeds grow year after year and can attribute that to the ease of use and features available to encourage bidding and donations. Love the fact that support is always available!!

Minpunten:

The only challenge ever was wi-fi at a live event. This isn’t the fault of the software though and with careful planning we alleviated that issue.