Auctioning is not a new concept. But thanks to the internet, auctions spread like wildfire and became the preferred method of finding bargains and rare items. If you’re interested in making money from auctions, you’ve come to the right place. The five best WordPress auction plugins below will help you create your own auction site in no time.
For sellers, auctions are attractive because items are sold after a certain period passes. And in most cases, people tend to overspend — making auctions a very profitable business. Let’s go in-depth.
How a Digital Auction Works?
A traditional auction is held in an Auction Room and usually used to sell rare and high-quality goods.
However, as ecommerce becomes more common, auctions are moving online. Besides being more cost-effective compared to live auctions, online auctions know no boundaries, so anyone in the world can take part in the process.
One of the most popular online auction platforms is eBay, where users can bid for anything from books to paintings. But nowadays, there are many other platforms available like Etsy, eBid, and iOffer.
Now, the good news is you don’t even have to be confined to those platforms. Thanks to WordPress auction plugins, you can create your own auction website and sell your goods to the highest bidder — wherever they are.
Best 5 WordPress Auction Plugins Worth Checking Out
Let’s take a look at the five best WordPress auction plugins you can get right now.
1. YITH WooCommerce Auctions
If you already have a WooCommerce store and want to auction your products, then you need to use the YITH WooCommerce Auctions plugin.
As the administrator, you’ll have complete control over how the auctions would play out. Choose whether to hold a regular online auction or allow buyers to use automatic bidding. With the latter, buyers can enter the maximum amount they’re willing to spend, and the plugin will bid for them.
After each auction ends, you and the bidders will receive email notifications. Bidders will know whether they win or not, while you get to know if there’s an auction without an offer.
The best thing about this WordPress auction plugin is that it can be integrated with the YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor plugin. The combination of the two allows you to make an auction portal like eBay. Third parties can hold auctions on your sites, and you’ll get a commission for each sale.
YITH WooCommerce Auctions is a premium plugin. Three subscription plans are available for purchase: Single Site ($100.68), 6 Sites ($179), and 30 Sites ($279.70).
The Good
- Multilingual — supported by WPML and WPML Currency Switcher plugins, you can create multilingual sites and set default currencies for specific languages.
- Transparent — buyers can see the list of bidders in each auction.
The Bad
- Limited customer support — the customer support team operates from 9.00 to 17.00 (GMT+1) only.
The Verdict
Seeing that WooCommerce is reputable in the ecommerce industry, your auction process will be in good hands should you choose to go with YITH WooCommerce Auctions.
2. Auction Nudge
Auction Nudge is a nifty plugin used to display your eBay products and info on WordPress sites. It’s perfect for those who have built up a reputation on eBay and want to broaden their customer reach.
Using this plugin requires little to no effort. Install and activate the plugin, enter your eBay account details, and copy-paste the given shortcode to add products to your posts.
What’s impressive about Auction Nudge is that it doesn’t simply display your eBay products on WordPress. Instead, it also brings eBay listing tools and options to your site.
You can choose to display a list of categories above your listings so people can filter your items. What’s more, certain categories can be hidden from the list if for some reason you don’t want to display them. If the filter is not enough, bidders can use the Search Operator option to narrow down the search results.
Auction Nudge is free right now. However, the developer promises to release a pro version that would include several new features. Some of them are search engine readability, more item details, and the ability to insert auction items anywhere on your site.
The Good
- Advanced search tool — aside from providing a category-based filter, you can increase the search results accuracy using search operators within the chosen keyword.
- Customizable display — the plugin supports HTML/CSS and JavaScript for advanced customization.
The Bad
- eBay-centered — you need to have an eBay account and active listings in that platform to use this plugin to its full potential.
The Verdict
If you’re already an active user on eBay and want to branch out to an independent site, Auction Nudge is your best choice. It’s free, robust, and easy to use. What’s not to love?
3. Ultimate WordPress Auction
Ultimate WordPress Auction claims to be the #1 auction plugin for WooCommerce and WordPress, and it’s easy to see why.
The free plan gives you generous features to run an auction site. You’ll get to set the reserve and start prices, hold live bidding, send and receive email notifications, use an AJAX admin panel, and more.
Ultimate WordPress Auction is ahead of the game when it comes to providing bidding engines. When most plugins only offer two types, this plugin has four. Aside from facilitating normal auctions, the plugin can also do a reverse auction, proxy auction, and a silent auction.
Another feature that is worth mentioning is the ability to relist expired auctions. What’s more, you can retain placed bids so you won’t have to start all over again. This would be beneficial in case there’s no winning bid or the winner doesn’t pay in time.
If you’re interested in getting more features like future auctions scheduling and custom emails, you can get a pro license for one site which costs $79/year. There’s also a license for three sites ($99/year), and another one for an unlimited number of websites ($149/year).
The Good
- Expansive functions — choose between four types of auctions based on the market demand and the type of the item.
- Profitable — earn commission by allowing registered users to enlist their items for auction.
The Bad
- Limited support — you have to rely on the support forum for help as the developer doesn’t provide a dedicated support team.
The Verdict
Ultimate WordPress Auction is highly accommodating when it comes to various types of auctions. Not only will the plugin’s expansive functions ensure the best possible transaction experience for bidders and auctioneers, but it will also help you because the facilitator will profit from the process.
4. WP Auctions
WP Auctions is a feature-rich plugin that would help you to make an all-round auction website.
When putting an item up for bidding, you can set the price and the time, as well as setting a shipping fee per auction. You have two options: set a flat fee or add a shipping clause based on regions.
Bids can be paid through several options, with PayPal being the most popular method. Alternatively, you can send payment instructions to the emails of the winners if you want them to pay through wire transfer, checks, or any other method.
A distinct feature of WP Auctions is its security options. This plugin allows you to make auctions available for registered users only, so you can be sure there are no fake bidders.
But that’s not the only thing you can do. Take it further by enabling Request to Bid feature, and accept bidding from users who you trust. Then, if there’s any suspicious bidding, you can delete the bid and blacklist the bidder from future auctions.
WP Auctions is currently priced at $45. You’ll get a license for one site, three months of updates and support, and access to full documentation.
The Good
- Multiple payment methods — give the winners the option to pay via a standard payment method or send custom payment instructions via email if you want to use an unconventional method.
- Multiple layers of security — you can enforce a request system for users who want to bid, blacklist offending users, and delete ill-intent bids.
The Bad
- Limited online payment gateways — as most people prefer to pay online these days, having PayPal as the only option isn’t ideal.
The Verdict
With multiple payment methods and shipping features, WP Auctions provides all the necessary tools to accommodate both ends in an auction process. Furthermore, you have the final say on who gets to bid on the platform thanks to the security measures embedded within the plugin.
5. Woo Auction Software
Want to create an auction site where third parties can auction their items? Then you can never go wrong with Woo Auction Software!
Users can run two types of auctions on your site: Simple and Penny. The former is a regular auction, while the latter allows the sellers to charge bidders when placing bids. This way, sellers will make money in two ways: from the auction itself and from the bidding fees.
Meanwhile, as the site owner, you can monetize your site by charging users who want to list their items. The fees can be a fixed price or based on certain percentages.
Running an auction portal can exhaust your server space. As such, Woo Auction Server allows you to set a maximum file size limit to save space. In addition, you can also limit how many photos a user can add to a gallery.
But, photos are not the only thing users can add to promote their listings. This WordPress auction plugin also enables users to embed YouTube videos, making the auctioned items even more attractive for bidders.
For only $49, Woo Auction Software can be used for an unlimited number of websites. You’ll also get support and updates for a year.
The Good
- Manual server space management — you get to set the maximum upload file size to save server space.
- Supports digital products — save time by sending a download link of the product to the winner.
The Bad
- Limited currency settings — the plugin only supports Dollar and Euro as its currency.
The Verdict
Woo Auction Software allows you to earn extra revenue by acting as the facilitator and the auctioneer simultaneously. Being able to sell digital products next to the physical ones is also a huge plus point that will bring your site to a broader audience.
Which WordPress Auction Plugin Best Suits Your Needs?
So now you have some insights into the five best WordPress auction plugins available on the market, each with its own strengths:
- YITH WooCommerce Auctions is used to create an auction site for your own products and for items sold by third parties.
- Auction Nudge helps you show your eBay listings and profile on a WordPress site.
- Ultimate WordPress Auction has four bidding engines than can be used to run several types of auctions.
- WP Auctions has pretty strong security measures to avoid and blacklist fake bidders.
- Woo Auction Software is used to create an auction portal and make money from it.
Pick the one that suits your needs the most and start auctioning online!
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