Free to start. 3% when a bidder pays online. Nothing on cash or cheques.
No monthly fee, no setup fee, no listing fee, no contract.
What it costs
Up to 10 items per auction. No card required, and no trial that expires.
Of each card payment. On a $100.00 winning bid, that is $3.00.
On cheques, cash and bank transfers. There is no fee on money we never touch.
The free tier is not a demo
Everything that makes an auction work is included: unlimited bidders, live outbid alerts, automatic winner determination, payment collection and the reconciliation dashboard.
Why offline payments are free
A fee on a payment that never went through us would have to be invoiced to you afterwards, and chasing volunteers for invoices is not a business we want to be in. Offline collection is a first-class path, not a workaround.
Card processing goes to Stripe, not to us
Card payments are handled by Stripe, which charges your organization its own rate — currently 2.9% + $0.30 per payment for US cards, billed to your organization directly.
What that means together. On a $100.00 card payment your organization receives about $93.80 after both fees. On a $100.00 cheque it receives $100.00.
Stripe sets and may change its own rates. Its current pricing is here.
Optional: let bidders cover the fees
You can turn on a checkbox at checkout offering the winner the chance to cover the processing and platform fees, so your organization receives the full bid amount. It is off unless you turn it on, it is set per auction, and it is always the bidder's choice. Many people say yes when asked plainly.
Larger auctions
More than 10 items, custom branding and additional features are coming. Pricing for those is not set yet. If you need more than 10 items now, email support@biddingstar.com and we will sort something out.
How the money moves
This matters, so it is worth being exact about it.
Your organization is paid directly. Bidding Star never holds your money.
To collect card payments, your organization connects a Stripe account of its own. Stripe is a payment processor used by millions of businesses. Setting it up is a form Stripe walks you through, and it asks for your organization's EIN, its bank account, and identity details for one person authorized to act for it. Bidding Star never sees or stores any of that.
When a winner pays:
- The payment goes to your organization's Stripe account, not ours.
- The bidder sees one charge from your organization on their statement.
- Bidding Star's 3% is deducted at the moment of payment as a platform fee.
- Stripe pays the rest into your organization's bank account on its normal payout schedule.
What being merchant of record means
Your organization is the merchant of record. In plain terms: the sale is between your organization and the bidder.
That makes your organization responsible for the item, the receipt, and any refund or chargeback. Bidding Star is the software you ran the auction on. Our refund policy sets this out in full.
The upside is that the money is yours from the moment it is paid. It does not sit in an account we control waiting for a payout we schedule.
You will need an EIN to accept card payments
That is Stripe's requirement, not ours, and it applies to any organization accepting card payments anywhere. Stripe verifies it, and we never see it.
If your group does not have one, you can still run a full auction here and collect the money by cheque, cash or bank transfer, recording each payment as it comes in. Everything except card collection works exactly the same, and it costs nothing.
Common questions
Is there a contract?
No. Run one auction and never come back, or run four a year.
What if nobody bids?
Then nobody pays and we earn nothing. Our fee only exists when money is raised.
Do you take a cut of donations?
Yes — a standalone donation made through the platform is a payment like any other, and carries the same 3%. A cheque posted to your office does not.
When does the money reach our bank?
On Stripe's payout schedule for your organization's account, typically a couple of business days after the payment. We are not in that path.
Can we see what we owe in fees?
Every payment shows the platform fee on it, and the reconciliation view totals them for the auction.
Questions about pricing: support@biddingstar.com.