Bid Beacon

Pros

Easy to set up, easy for the users (older than baby boomers did struggle a bit), and even easier pick up process. Our company has used it two years in a row and it was a fantastic way to reach people, that otherwise wouldn’t have seen our items.

Cons

I think the price for adding on photos is absurd. We’re showcasing art and sometimes to get the full “picture” I need 3-5 photos per item. I quickly have to up the package-, and it’s pretty frustrating.

I wish there was a feature that could show others that were looking at the items real time. It could build excitement and up bids.

Pros

Bid Beacon gave us the ability to do something we hadn't previously been able to do, which was have a silent auction without all of the cluttering around tables of miscellaneous items. We opted to make all of our silent auction items experiences, or coupons instead of tangible things. (For example, a 3 night stay in a nearby town vs a basket of wine and chips) Bid Beacon allowed us to make eye catching thumbnails for these experiences and all of them sold for more than what we were expecting. It's very user friendly, and even some of our older attendees were able to bid along.

Cons

There isn't a feature that allows you to format the text within the auction item description. This makes the description look like a hard to read wall of text. It would be a huge improvement to be able to bold text and add bullet points.

Pros

It’s is very cost effective, and was pretty easy to figure out

Cons

Users should be required to enter credit card info before they start bidding, and then charged at auction closing for any items won. this would help in closing out auction items

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Bid Beacon

Pros

The auction was easy to set up and I was able to figure out through the step-by-step instructions how to connect it to my PayPal account. It's great for the price and overall worked great.

Cons

We only use it about once a year, so the pricing structure and what was included changed from the last time I used it so had to make a few adjustments. I also had an issue and was disappointed that I had to use chat support over a phone call because it was not included in the package I purchased. We did have a slight issue with viewing items which were paid for after the auction, but were able to figure it after a slight frustration.

Pros

Easy to put pictures and information onto the site

Cons

You could not enlarge the pictures
Some of the bid functions did not work properly.