Avaliações do Silent Auction Pro

A Must for School Fundraising

Comentários: We are going to start using our SAPro software in our other school fundraisers, not just our auction. It is a great way to organize and keep all of our sponsor and donor information organized. I can also not speak highly enough of the customer support! They are quick to answer calls and get you answers to your questions.

Vantagens:

We've used Silent Auction Pro for at least three events in the last several years as a Mobile Pro client. It is pretty intuitive and keeps our donations well organized, as well as allowing us to communicate effectively with bidders and donors. The ability for anyone to bid online opens our fundraising to the community, not just our school families, helping us raise much more money than we could achieve with paper bidding.

Desvantagens:

We would love to see an app in the future, rather that just a mobile site for bidding.

Overall Excellent Experience with Software and Support

Comentários: We were overall very pleased. It provided a greater reach than we would have ever been able to achieve with an in-person silent auction. We loved the versatility, the ease of use (after learning), and the support. We'd absolutely recommend this to another organization and will be using it again.

Vantagens:

Easy to use: The software is very easy to use after spending a little bit of time familiarizing yourself with it. They have numerous help pages and even some youtube videos that help you learn the software. Additionally the technical support was out of this world (see Tech Support is Outstanding). We also loved that numerous people can enter donation items so that the cumbersome task of entering items is not tasked to one person. Reasonably priced: It is reasonably priced, relative to other similar softwares, and the support alone was worth the money. Originally, we thought the fees were slightly high, but after investigating other software pricing, and after our experience with this software and their support, the annual fee (which allows for as many auctions/events as you'd like within a year) and the 2.0% taken from high bids were nothing, and we would absolutely do it again. Tech Support is Outstanding: The event coaches are very friendly and incredibly helpful. They help you get started, make suggestions along the way, and they are there to wrap up afterwards as well. We had an IT problem at 9:00pm CST. I called in, my event coach answered me, and she had tech support looking into my problem immediately. Every tech call was answered or gotten back to within an hour. Overall Great Features: The user pages looked stunning, most features you'd want are available. We really enjoyed our use of the software and are looking forward to our next auction.

Desvantagens:

Takes Time to Learn: The administrative pages are slightly cumbersome to navigate in the beginning. They take time to learn, although that is probably true of every auction software. Some Features Not Available: There were a few features that were not available that we would have liked to have seen, such as an option for the public to view all bids placed on an item with bidders names or without, similar to an in-person silent auction. The Donate Button (Fund-a-need) was not intuitive for our users and confused them. Administrative Pages: Looked a bit dated. For a new software, we would have expected everything to be a bit more up-to-date looking. However, the user pages were very nice looking for the actual auction. Additionally, it would be great if there was a "view as user" option to be able to see what your changes look like once you've made them in the administrative account. It was cumbersome to have a user account and an administrative account and have to switch between the two constantly to be able to view things we were changing in the administrative account. Also the software won't let you have two logins open at the same time.

Silent Auction Pro - basic auction software

Vantagens:

Silent Auction Pro has features like image uploading and item organizing that make it useful for auctions.

Desvantagens:

Silent Auction Pro uses an unreliable payment processor, they do not give an opt out for saving credit card info, and there is no bulk upload for items.

Round 2; Regrouping

Comentários: I loved the software. We had used BidPal/OneCause prior but the cost model was unbearable for us this year. With Silent Auction Pro we pay after the first event; nothing upfront. Capped fee% and low fixed cost are benefits. Credit card processing (we used WorldPay) fees are lower (and no monthly fee), making the total cost lower. Software is feature-rich. This can be a double-edged sword as features can add complexity. Help is always available and phone support was awesome. Overall, the features are worth it. Ability to 'stage' or start a new event while keeping a recently finished event active for a bit would be a welcomed improvement.

Vantagens:

Features, Performance and Support were all Excellent.

Desvantagens:

Registration and PW requirements for bidding . No import (from spreadsheet) capability. Understandable, but would have been nice. They do offer to import for you at extra cost. They must have had bad experiences... It turned out to be less an issue than I thought. They were very upfront about it and it was not a surprise.

Silent Auction Pro is Very-User Friendly

Comentários: Overall, I love using this software as they made it so easy for me using it for my first time. It is very user-friendly and the tech support team is amazing and was always available to help! They basically held my hand through it all! That is what I appreciated the most. You guys rock!

Vantagens:

In my second time using the software for new online auction event, I love that software recognizes previous donors and if you want to add a donation you can select donation from previous year and update details like value, expiration dates, etc. without having to duplicate the work, and you don't have to upload photos - just use the same ones you had before. That was a huge time saver for me.

Desvantagens:

One sections you go in to Manage Online Bidding, you can see all of your auction items (and the ones that are bundled) with their assigned #, you click on the auction item number and can see all the photos of bundled items and total value and starting bid. There were times I wanted to know what is value of each or even the description of each bundled item while in that section but there was no option to click on while in there. The nice thing is for what I wanted to know was in a different section so I had to exit that section and go to another area to get the info I wanted then go back to Manage Online Bidding.

WDCC Fashion & Frolic Fundraiser

Comentários: Excellent - A++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mobile Online Bidding and Custom Email / Text Distribution for marketing SAVED our annual fundraiser which was 100% virtual in 2020.

Vantagens:

Software is user friendly and website easy to navigate. Continue to annually learn and become more familiar with functionality of features since 2013. The websites offers variety of features: previous donation report, contact history, donation inventory and tracking, auction item bundle function, mobile online bidding, email merge, and custom email / texts distribution. Support (Help) staff is very knowledgeable and accommodates at anytime.

Desvantagens:

Would like to see individual email / text contacts available for email distribution, besides category labels. Would like to be able to obtain only 2-3 years previous donation history. History older than 3 years not necessary, report too long and cumbersome.

The Support is Unparalleled

Vantagens:

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.

Desvantagens:

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!

Comentários: 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!

Vantagens:

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!

Desvantagens:

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

Silent Auction Pro User Review

Comentários: 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.

Vantagens:

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.

Desvantagens:

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.

3rd times is the charm!

Comentários: Great! I will use SAP again next year for our Auction.

Vantagens:

This is my 3rd year using Silent Auction Pro for my kids school Auction. The program is great and the staff are wonderful and very helpful.

Desvantagens:

I wish I could run a report the way we need it for item distribution after the auction. Instead of going into a large report and sorting it in Excel. Would be great if it just sorted by winners names all the items they won.

Silent Auction Pro - Good, but with some significant reservations

Comentários: Southern Gateway Chorus used Silent Auction Pro (SAP) to manage our Gateway Gala for 2016, our major fund-raiser of the year. We found much to like about it, but also a few things that could stand improvement. The best thing about SAP is its people and the support they provide. They were right on top of everything. I never waited more than an hour for an answer to a support question. SAP also provides a very nice flow for managing donors and donations, and turning them into auction items. We were also impressed with the ease of checking guests in and out and providing them with paddles and invoices. Data entry for auction results is also well-thought-out, and quick and easy (with the exception of the Fund-a-need auction type - more below). Less useful is SAP's process for managing prospective guests. SAP conflates donors and guests as "Contacts". This means that if a person is both a guest and a donor, there is potential for duplication. SAP has a process for managing duplicates, but the outcome of the choices that you make in that process are not always very clear. Southern Gateway sells many of the tickets to our event through person-to-person contact. We did not find a good way to handle these sales in SAP. We wound up having our list of guests imported, and then using SAP to assign bidder numbers to them. SAP also does not deal well with groups of people (such as couples) who want to register using one credit card and bidder number. Its documentation, and its support personnel, stress the need to have each person have his or own contact record, phone number, email address etc. This is unnecessarily cumbersome. One kind of auction, which SAP calls "Fund-a-need", is not very well handled. It requires that you create multiple phony "donations", and then turn them into phony "auction items". Data entry for these auctions is cumbersome and error-prone. We wound up with a number of duplicate entries, which had to be manually resolved. This should be an easy software fix. Finally, SAP requires that you create a merchant account with Vantiv if you want to accept credit cards, and another account with American Express if you want to accept their cards. This process is not simple. You are also required to use card readers that you rent from SAP. Southern Gateway has a preexisting merchant account, and card readers, from Square. It would have been much easier if we could simply have used that account.

Vantagens:

Capturing information about donors and donations Creating auction items from donations Checking guests in and out, and providing them with invoices Bid entry (except for Fund-a-need)

Desvantagens:

Handling reservations and guests, especially couples and other groups Formatting bid sheets - very little control over this format Handling creation and bid entry for fund-a-need Requirement to create a merchant account with Vantiv

Excellent Choice to manage your event/auction!

Comentários: I have been with Silent Auction Pro for 7+ years. I have referred clients who have since thanks me for doing so. They are an exceptional company with a great heart for nonprofits. Like any company there are areas for improvements. They are actively engaged in improving their product daily. Very impressive company. Their customer support is without match. They are outstanding!

Vantagens:

Their customer service should be an example ALL companies of what great customer support entails. Hands down, Silent Auction Pro provides the best customer support in the industry! I wish all the companies I work with offered Silent Auction Pro’s level of customer support

Desvantagens:

Some features still needs some work. But they are always working on improving the software based on customer input. This year they started taking a percentage of ticket sales and sponsorships. That is a large sum when you include sponsorships. We manage our sponsorships outside of Silent Auction Pro so I don’t see this fee as justified. They offer one feature during the ticketing process to add guests to the sponsor’s group. But that’s about it.

Thumbs Up

Comentários: We've really enjoyed working with them. Last year, we had to completely switch to an "all on-line auction" last minute. The support we received was excellent. It was our first time to use them and they truly helped us with the process. If you don't use the software year round, it can be challenging when you pick it up again however, they took us through it again this year. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] has been the best customer rep and event coach we've had and hope to continue to have. Her knowledge and mot of all her attitude truly makes a difference. You feel you have a partner and not just a provider. It was like have a "concierge service" which made it easier to use for us. Events are very challenging to execute specially when we do them tight budgets and limited staff. They made the process pleasant and easy for us and our customers/donors. They listened to our suggestions and have adapted some of these in the system. Overall, the features, service and support we receive from SAP are definitely worth the switch and the cost.

Vantagens:

Customer Support/having an event coach and cost.

Desvantagens:

Some reports are not exportable. Some features can be enhanced to make it more user friendly but the staff are very helpful. They are very open to taking suggestions and continue to enhance their system. I have found that continued use and their enhancements have made the program more user-friendly.

Look no further this software is great

Comentários: Excellent! We have grown our fundraising auction three fold since instituting Silent Auction Pro. Much as to do with the ease in which we can sell tickets, process charges, create bid sheets, etc. Everything Silent Auction Pro does well!

Vantagens:

Above all else, the support you get from Silent Auction Pro is beyond best! The staff is on top of answering inquiries almost as fast as you can send them.....and you get to actually talk to someone, who has English as their first language! Besides that, the software is easy to use. Good help screens and an incredible demo site that you can practice on.

Desvantagens:

Still attached to World Pay for processing, BUT they have recently included their own WorldPay reports which eliminates the need to try to decipher the WorldPay reports!

Great tool to have. Change is it's Middle Name!!!!!

Comentários: As a former systems engineer (in my previous career), I found the system to be easy to work with. There are a few things I think should be in different places, but it is just my preference. Support is everything!!! If you are lucky enough to get [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] as your support person, you will be just fine!!! She talked me "off a few ledges" the days leading up to the event. Things we usually do in person (and for cash) had to now be done through the system. Rethinking is the name of the game right now and [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] helped me iron out all the issues we had to rethink!!!

Vantagens:

The ability to change! In this year of constant change, we were stopped 48 hours before our Auction was to take place in March of 2020. We were never able to hold an in-person option but we were able to switch all the data we had already entered to go from live to on line with just a few quick and easy steps! we finally held the Virtual auction in November 2020.

Desvantagens:

We did not take a picture of every item in a basket, just the combined basket itself. That was fine for the main page. the drill down page listed every item in the basket but the individual pictures did not exist so the item said No phot to Display. We ran out of time to take all the pictures so we dealt with it. I would've preferred it to at least show the basket from the main page. Zoom capabilities only existed when a user drilled down. This is usually not an issue since our silent auction is in person...… just not this year! [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] gave me great ideas to deal with the virtual aspect of our auction to try to make it as personal as possible!

Great auction software, outstanding customer support

Comentários: 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.

Vantagens:

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.

Desvantagens:

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

Comentários: 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.

Vantagens:

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.

Desvantagens:

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

Comentários: 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.

Vantagens:

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.

Desvantagens:

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

Comentários: 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.

Vantagens:

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.

Desvantagens:

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

Comentários: 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.

Vantagens:

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!

Desvantagens:

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

Comentários: 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.

Vantagens:

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.)

Desvantagens:

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!

Comentários: 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.

Vantagens:

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.

Desvantagens:

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

Comentários: 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.

Vantagens:

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.

Desvantagens:

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

Comentários: 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!

Silent Auction Pro has exponentially increased our elementary school auction profit!

Comentários: Savings of time, money and energy! A huge increase in profit over the last several years!

Vantagens:

Silent Auction Pro makes the auction process seamless. Our school auction has gone from completely paper based, to silent auction with software, and then to mobile bidding over the past four years. Silent Auction Pro walked us through this process, helping us through each transition. The customer support we received was phenomenal. Their staff even looked for any issues and contacted me with assistance! In addition, we price compared several other similar services, and Silent Auction Pro was very cost competitive!