Free silent auction software
Free silent auction software you own for life
Stop renting a platform that takes a cut of every lot. I build your charity a commission-free silent auction website you own forever, so 100% of every bid goes to your cause.
In short
- I build you a silent auction platform your charity owns for life, not a one-night rental.
- 0% commission and direct Stripe payments, so every pound goes straight to your cause.
- Full mobile bidding with start, reserve and buy-now prices, proxy bidding and automatic winner charging.
- You set your own reserves, so inflated third-party mark-ups never siphon off your donors’ budgets.
- Reuse the same site for future appeals at no extra cost.
- Your whole event installs on guests’ phones as its own app, something I have not seen another fundraising platform offer.
Why is most silent auction software not really free?
Most silent auction software is not free at all. The typical silent auction company rents you their platform for a single night, keeps control of your donor data, and takes a percentage of everything you raise. They also set reserve prices on their own consignment lots far above true value, so your charity only sees the money raised above those reserves, often a small slice of each lot.
I do it the other way round. Instead of renting you software for one night, he builds your charity a professional silent auction website on WordPress and WooCommerce that you keep for good. No commission, no forced lots and no inflated reserves. You own the platform, the donor data, and every pound raised.
Why I built this
Charities were raising the money. Someone else was keeping it.
I built this platform because I watched it happen too many times. An outside auction company rolls in, runs the sale, and walks away with a large share of the night, while the charity keeps a small sliver of what its own guests gave. Nothing dishonest. The room just never knew where its money was going.
I believe in a different way. Run it in house, on a platform you own, backed by a firm fundraising strategy. If you cannot source the big shiny lots, that is not a problem. A well planned, watertight live pledge makes up any shortfall from smaller lots, and every pound of it stays with your cause. I have proven this works, time and again.
MS UK · proof it works
The year the money stopped leaking
The year before MS UK brought me in, an outside company ran their silent auction. It grossed around £13,000, and the charity kept about £1,300. The next year I told the room, right at the start, exactly where every pound was going, then I ran a live pledge. Same room, same guests. The money simply landed where they always meant it to go.
Side by side
A rented platform vs a site you own
| What matters | Traditional silent auction company | The Charity Auctioneer method |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | Commission on every item | 0% commission, you keep 100% |
| Platform | Rented for one night | Owned by your charity for life |
| Lots | Geared to their consignment items | Sourced in-house, you keep the margin |
| Reserves | High reserves, low profit for you | You set the price for maximum profit |
| After the event | The site is deleted | Keep it and reuse it for free |
| Payments | Routed through them as middleman | Direct Stripe, funds go straight to you |
What the software does
Everything your silent auction needs, built in
It is a full mobile-bidding silent auction, run from your guests’ phones and controlled by you. No apps to download, no per-lot fees, and nothing deleted when the night ends. Try it for yourself on the live demo site, here is what it does out of the box.
Flexible pricing per lot
Set a start price, a reserve and an optional buy-now price for every item, so guests can bid or buy outright. No inflated reserves, just transparent pricing that works for your charity.
Manual or automatic bidding
Guests bid themselves, or enter a maximum and let proxy bidding raise their bid only when needed. Bidding stays smooth, fair and competitive.
Bid confirmation
Ask guests to confirm each bid before it goes live. This cuts out curious clicks and reminds bidders of their commitment if they win.
Verified card registration
Guests register and add a valid card through Stripe before they can bid, so every bidder is genuine and able to pay.
Instant winner checkout
When the auction ends the system creates a pending order and sends each winner a direct checkout link, instead of chasing vague emails.
Automatic card charging
With Stripe connected, winning cards can be charged the moment the auction closes, which dramatically reduces unpaid bids.
Smart notifications
Bidders are told when they are outbid, when the auction is about to close and when they have won, which drives more competitive bidding.
Yours to keep
Built on WordPress and WooCommerce and owned by your charity, so you can reuse the same site for future appeals at no extra cost.
Ticket tiers with early-bird pricing
Sell more than one ticket type, Single, Pair, VIP, whatever suits your event, each with its own scheduled early-bird price, a capacity limit and a live “X of Y sold” bar.
Table planning
A drag-and-drop seating designer. Arrange tables on a floor plan, seat guests straight from their ticket order, and let them look up their own table by email on the night.
Live & hybrid streaming
Paste a YouTube, Vimeo or Zoom link and remote guests can watch your live auction happen while they place a holding bid from home.
Guests in their own language
A one-click switcher lets any visitor browse the whole site in one of 11 languages, no translation work required from you.
Team tasks & shared documents
A simple shared to-do list for your volunteers and committee, plus a place to upload the run sheet, seating plan or sponsor pack for everyone to find.
Your event, as an app
Your whole event on every guest’s phone
Here is something I have not seen another fundraising platform do. Your event installs onto a guest’s phone as its own app, with your charity’s name and icon on the home screen. No app store, no download to approve, no waiting for anyone’s permission.
- One tap on the night to bid, pledge, buy tickets and pay, with no hunting for a web address.
- It is still your own website underneath, so Apple Pay and Google Pay work at the checkout with nothing extra to set up.
- Guests who add it to their home screen tend to come back and bid again, and that shows up in the final total.
- It comes as standard with the platform I build you, and your charity owns it for life.
Built with an ecommerce background, tailored to your charity
This platform comes from years of hands-on ecommerce experience, then shaped around exactly how a charity fundraising night runs. I helped develop it, and I never hand over a generic template: I customise the whole platform to your charity, your branding, your lots, and the features your event actually needs.
- Customised to your charity’s brand and your event before you ever log in
- Only the features you need, from silent auctions to a monthly-giving programme
- Yours to keep and reuse for future events, with no ongoing licence fees
Two ways to get the platform
Get the platform your way
The same commission-free platform, however suits you best: bundled free when I host your event, or downloaded to run yourself.
Hire Kevin
I host your event
Platform free
When I am your auctioneer
- I run your live auction and pledge on the night
- The complete platform, set up for your event
- A lifetime licence, yours to keep afterwards
- No software fee at all
Self-install
Do it yourself
£49.95
One-year licence
- Download the full platform: plugin, theme & setup guide
- Set it up yourself on your own site
- Includes a year of updates and support
- Renew each year to keep adding new lots
How do inflated reserves quietly cost you thousands?
Inflated reserves cost you thousands because they spend your donors’ budgets before your real fundraising even begins. Picture a guest, call him Dave, who arrives ready to give £2,000. He spots a villa in the silent auction brochure with a £2,000 reserve, when its true cost is closer to £995. He bids, feels good, and is now emotionally spent.
When the live auction and pledge come round, Dave is out. He has already given his £2,000. And if he wins that villa, the silent auction company keeps most of the difference while your charity is left with a few pounds. Multiply that across a room and the cost is enormous.
Owning your platform removes the middleman entirely. You source lots in-house, set honest reserves, and keep every pound above cost. I also work the room on the night, driving last-minute bids and keeping guests engaged for the live auction and pledge drive too.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Who develops and sets up the platform?
Me. With my ecommerce background I helped develop the platform, and I personally customise it for each charity: your branding, your lots, and the features your event needs. You are never handed a generic, one-size-fits-all template.
Is the silent auction software really free?
There is no commission and no per-lot fee, so your charity keeps 100% of every bid. I build the platform for you as part of working together, and you own it afterwards, so there is no ongoing licence cost to a software company.
Do I own the platform after the event?
Yes. The site is built on WordPress and WooCommerce and belongs to your charity for life. You can keep it and reuse it for future appeals at no extra cost, rather than losing access the moment the night ends.
How do guests pay for winning lots?
Payments run through your own Stripe account, so funds go straight to your charity with no middleman. Winners receive a direct checkout link, and cards can be charged automatically when the auction closes to reduce unpaid bids.
Do guests need to download an app to bid?
No. The whole silent auction runs in a normal web browser on your guests’ phones. They register, add a card and bid from wherever they are sitting.
Do I have to use your auction lots?
No. Unlike a consignment model, you source lots in-house and keep the full margin. Kevin helps you choose items and set honest reserves, so more of every bid reaches your cause.
Can I run a live auction and pledge on the same night?
Yes, and most events do. The silent auction warms the room up, while the live auction and pledge drive are usually where the biggest totals are made. Kevin runs all three so they work together.
Does the software handle more than just the auction?
Yes. As well as the silent, live and sealed-bid auction itself, it now includes ticket tiers with early-bird pricing, a drag-and-drop table planner, a live fundraising leaderboard, QR guest check-in, live and hybrid streaming, a shared team task list, document sharing, and a switcher letting guests browse in one of 11 languages, all from the same free platform.
Let’s talk
See the software in action
Ask for a free, no-obligation demo and see how easy it is to run your own commission-free silent auction.