Wavebid offers the ability to manage absentee bids on upcoming auctions. This article describes the process for registering, entering, and tracking absentee bids, as well as steps for email bid results to absentee bidders.
Registering Absentee Bidders
Confirm that the Absentee? paddle option has been enabled during Bidder Check-In. This option is what allows Absentee Bids to be entered for a bidder. Click the Disk icon in the top right corner of the page to Save.
Entering Absentee Bids
Once a bidder has been registered as absentee, Absentee Bids can be entered.
- Navigate to the applicable auction from the Dashboard, then select Accounting > Absentee Bids.
- Use the Find Customer field to search for a bidder by first name, last name, address, or paddle number.
- Enter the Lot Number in the drop-down under the Lot # column.
- Enter the bid into the Amount field. If this absentee bid will take priority over other Absentee Bids, check the Tie Break? box. The Tie Break? box should be checked if an absentee bidder is willing to go one increment over their maximum bid.
- If there is more than 1 item available, enter the number of items being bid on into the Qty field.
- Check the checkbox all the way to the right of the lot.
- Click on the Actions button under the bid table and select Save Selected. The saved Absentee Bid will turn green. Pressing the Enter key while the keyboard cursor is in any of the entry boxes, will automatically save the bid. This process will need to be repeated for each buyer for every lot that has an Absentee Bid. To delete an Absentee Bid, click the Actions button and select Delete Selected.
Clerking Absentee Bids
The clerking process for the auction will remain the same as usual. Enter a lot number and it will appear in the clerking grid. Then enter the information for the winning bid. Absentee Bids information will be listed under the Title/Description column. 
In the example above, there is an Absentee Bid for $75 from Paddle Number 4. To the right of that bid is the lower Absentee Bid of $50 from Paddle Number 1. The Plus Sign located to the right of the bid indicates that it is a tie breaker. Since this bid has been set as the tie breaker, it is given priority on the interface.
Once the winning bid is determined, enter the information into the Winning Bid and Buyer fields.
Notifying Absentee Bidders
Wavebid is set up to allow companies to quickly notify absentee bidders of the status of their bids via email. The auction company name, phone number, and website will appear at the bottom of each absentee bid email notification. These details are pulled from the Company Profile page. The subject line of the email will be "Absentee Bid Summary for Auction: (Auction Name)".
To send an email notification to absentee bidders:
- Navigate to the applicable auction from the Dashboard, then select Accounting > Reports > Absentee Bids.
- Click the Envelope icon in the top right corner of the page and then select whether to notify all absentee bidders, winning bidders only, or non-winning bidders only.
- A confirmation window will appear. Click the I'm Sure button to continue. Emails will be sent to the bidder's email address on file, which appears in the Email column on the report. This email address can be edited on the bidder check-in page. The Outgoing Email report will display any failed email attempts.
- A confirmation window will appear. Click the Ok button to continue.
- Non-winning bidders will receive an email indicating that they were not the highest bidder.
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Winning bidders will receive an email indicating that their absentee bid was successful.
- Non-winning bidders will receive an email indicating that they were not the highest bidder.
Reporting
To view a list of all the absentee bids in an auction, navigate to the applicable auction from the Dashboard, then select Accounting > Reports > Absentee Bids.
Use the Search field at the top of the page to search for an item on the report.
Click on the column headers to change the order of items as they appear on the report.
To export the report, click the Export button in the top right corner of the page and then select the export type.
Columns can be added or remove from the report by clicking the Columns button in the top right corner of the page. Click on a column header to add or remove it. Column headers in blue will not appear on the report. Column headers in white will appear on the report.
For information on emailing absentee bid information to bidders, see Notifying Absentee Bidders.
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