Browsing the Auction Site
Once you’re registered for an event with auctions, you’ll see the auction page with:
Auction title and a landing page image at the top.
Search bar — If you already know which item you’re interested in, type its name to find it quickly.
Item cards — Browse all available items. Each card shows the item name, image, and current bid status.
Some items may display an "Available at live event only" badge. These are live auction items that will be auctioned in person at the event. You can click on them to see details, including the fair market value and instructions on how to participate in the live bidding.
Viewing an Item
Click on any item card to see its full details:
Description — What the item or experience includes, terms, validity period, and any other relevant information.
Fair Market Value — The estimated market value of the item.
Auction End Time — When bidding closes for this specific item (items can have individual availability windows).
Your Bid Status — Shows whether you’ve placed a bid and whether you’re currently in the lead.
Refresh Indicator — The page auto-refreshes every 10 seconds to show the latest bid activity. You can also click the refresh button manually at any time.
Placing a Bid (Silent Auction)
Open the item you want to bid on.
Click Place a Bid.
You’ll see the current starting bid or minimum next bid amount. Bids go up in fixed increments (e.g., $100 at a time).
Increase your bid to the amount you’d like, then click Confirm Your Bid.
If you’re the highest bidder, you’ll see a confirmation: "You are the highest bidder."
The item’s status indicator will update to show "You are leading."
You can bid on as many items as you like.
Participating in a Live Auction
For items marked as "Available at live event only":
These items are auctioned in person by an auctioneer at the event.
The item detail page explains how to participate: listen to the auctioneer, place your bids in person, and understand the bid increment rules.
After the live auction, an admin will record the winner and winning amount on the platform.
You do not place online bids for live auction items.
Tracking Your Bids (My Bids)
Click My Bids to see a dashboard of all items you’ve bid on:
Item name and current bid status (leading, outbid, won, etc.)
Quick link to jump directly to any item you’ve bid on.
Refresh Now button to update the status of all your bids at once.
Notification toggle for each item — turn notifications on or off per item.
Getting Notified About Items
You can opt into notifications for any item, even ones you haven’t bid on yet:
On the item detail page, toggle "Get notified about this item" to receive status updates.
Notifications are sent at most once per hour to avoid inbox overload.
You can turn off notifications for any item at any time from the My Bids page.
AI-Powered Bid Summary Emails
If you’ve bid on multiple items, keeping track of each one individually can get overwhelming. To help with this, Almabase sends AI-generated summary emails that consolidate the status of all your bids into a single update.
A typical summary email includes:
Items you’re leading on — with your current top bid amount.
Items you’ve been outbid on — with a note about competing interest.
Time remaining — How many days are left in the auction.
Call-to-action button — Takes you directly back to the auction to adjust bids or place new ones.
Saving Your Payment Card
Before or during an auction, you can save a payment card to your account. This makes checkout faster if you win items and enables automatic payment processing.
Go to the auction site and look for the Save Card option in your account or on the auction page.
Enter your card details and click Save.
Your card is now stored securely and can be used for payment when the auction closes.
Note: Some auctions may require you to have a saved card on file before you can place any bids. If this is the case, you'll see a prompt to save your card when you try to enter the auction.
Winning and Payment
When the auction closes:
If you're the highest bidder on an item, you'll receive an email: "Congratulations, you've won this item!"
The email includes information about the payment window — the time period during which you can complete your purchase.
Once the payment window opens, go to the Cart section on the auction site.
You'll see all items you've won, with a Buy Now button next to each.
Clicking Buy Now takes you through the standard checkout flow where you can enter your payment information and complete the purchase.
Auto-Charge with Saved Cards
If the auction has auto-charge enabled and you've saved a payment card, your winning bids will be charged automatically after the auction closes. Here's how it works:
During bidding, you'll see a consent checkbox asking you to agree to automatic payment. You must check this box to place your bid.
When the auction ends, the system processes payment using your saved card at the time set by the event organizers.
You'll receive a payment confirmation email once the charge is successful.
If auto-charge is not enabled, or if you haven't saved a card, you'll pay manually through the Cart during the payment window as described above.
