The Functioning of A Virtual Auction Fundraiser

Most activities around the world today happen in an online environment. Think of shopping, live streaming of music, e-sports events, booking a holiday, and many more and you will get the whole picture. Auctions today also have gone into virtual mode but for specific reasons. The Covid-19 pandemic recently that saw lockdowns around the globe and stringent implementation of social distancing norms was a huge setback for fundraisers who depended heavily on auctions to fund their charities. Fortunately, virtual auction fundraiser has provided a perfect solution to their problems.

What is the difference between a virtual auction fundraiser and traditional auctions and how by going online are the requirements of the pandemic strictures met?

Let’s start with a traditional auction. The events require large numbers of people to gather in a hall where the items for sale are displayed on tables. An auctioneer is hired to conduct the proceedings and the winners make payments and take away their goods. The very structure of physical auctions goes against Covid-19 restrictions and hence, they are now a strict no-no until of course, the world comes back to normalcy.

On the other hand, a virtual auction fundraiser is entirely conducted by websites that use specialized software for this purpose. There is no physical contact between people as participants place their bids from any Internet-connected device like a smartphone, tablet, or laptop from any corner of the globe. Further, the items do not have to be transported anywhere as, unlike the usual auctions, only their photos are displayed on the site.

Sites holding virtual auction fundraiser offer fully-managed services. Starting from the registration of the participants to uploading photos of the items to conducting the auction on the great day and deciding the winners, everything is taken care of. These sites provide payment gateways too so that the winners can pay for the items bought without any issues cropping up.

A massive benefit for fundraisers is that most of these sites are free and others charge only very nominal administrative charges. This is possible because the sites get huge donations from people who want them to flourish so that fundraising for charities is not affected. Hence, conducting a virtual auction fundraiser is cost-effective and means more profit for the organizers. However, all third-party charges like fees of payment gateways have to be borne by the fundraisers.

The process of bidding in a virtual auction fundraiser is very convenient, one reason why unit sales prices are higher than usual auctions and more people participate in online auctions. You can place a bid from your smartphone and once that is crossed, a notification to that effect will be sent to you with the option to place a higher bid or drop out. You are, therefore, not tied to the auction and do not have to monitor the bidding constantly to know what is going on.