How To Add a Simple Auction Solution on Your WordPress Website

WordPress usage has been diversified over the past few years. It was originally meant as a CMS for bloggers but more and more designers/developers use it to build completely different websites such as online stores, company websites, personal portfolios, membership websites and for other purposes. One of the new possibilities I have recently seen is a solution to use WordPress for setting up an auction website. I had a quick look on how this is possible and basically it is a WordPress auction plugin that turns your current WordPress website into an online auction platform. It is not a new eBay site you are going to create here, but for selling your stuff asing the auction trading pattern this is a useful solution to check out. Another option for selling goods online using WordPress is to set up a WordPress online shop. This is done through the use of WordPress commerce plugins and themes. The solutions available are mature and used intensively online.

The plugin that I am referring to is called Ultimate Auction Plugin and it is a free package. The plugin allows you to easily set up a professional auction website through the plugin options pages. It is a simple and flexible auction plugin that I believe works with any WordPress theme. The plugins offers integration with Paypal to handle auction payments quickly, but wire transfer and cheque is also available for buyers. In order to make bids on the site, users must sign up for a WordPress account.
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Here the core features of this plugin.

• Registered User can place bids
• Ajax Admin panel for better management.
• Add standard auctions for bidding
• Buy Now option with Paypal
• Upload multiple product images
• Show auctions in your timezone&Paypal ready payment settings
• Set Reserve price for your product
• Set Bid incremental value for auctions
• Ability to edit, delete & end live auctions
• Re-activate Expired auctions
• Email notifications to bidders for placing bids
• Email notification to Admin for all activity
• Email Sent for Payment Alerts

You can get the free version of this plugin at the WordPress.org. After installation, you can access the plugin via the WordPress admin menu. You can change the currency, add your PayPal email address, change account type, add your mailing address and timezone under the settings tab.

Items for auction can be added under the Add Auction menu tab.

You need to add the title, description, some product images, opening bid, lowest price to accept, incremental value, ending date, buy now price and the payment method.

You can manage your items in live auction under Manage Auctions. You can see a summary of the auctioned item and also choose to edit, delete or end the auction immediately.

After adding all the necessary info, you can implement the auction to page using this shortcode: [wdm_auction_listing].

Once inserted the page will list the available auctions in a nice overview.

Bidding takes place on the auction detals page. Users need to have an account in WordPress and they need to be logged in to make a bid.

Ultimate Auction Plugin is surely a useful free solution for setting up an auction site in a snap. You do not need to spend a lot to get your auction site set up. Just install this plugin on a WordPress site, do a quick configuration and you now have a working auction site. Keep in mind though, that there is often a lot more to running a popular auction site. You need to be clear on the rules and how to collect payments for winning bids. You can get this awesome plugin here.

Lars

Lars is passionate about web design, web development, SEO, social media and loves to look into new technologies, techniques, tools etc. and to write articles for tripwire magazine readers.