A! Cloud
Yes! You can customize all output such as bid sheets, gift certificates, name tags, or catalog (program brochure) in Auction! desktop edition. You can also customize reports to include other fields or remove fields, saving your customization for easy re-use. You can use your own logos and images and choose any font on your computer.
Even when you work in Auction! Cloud, you can also add your own fonts, logos and images.
Auction! is a complete auction solution that keeps track of everything you need to run a successful auction event, and produces all of the documents and reports you need. It is a Windows program that runs on any supported Windows platform. It provides bridges to online or mobile auctions as well. Updates to the software are always free. If we fix something or add a new feature, we want all of our customers to have access to the best copy of the software. We also offer Auction!, Cloud, A!Online and A!Mobile.
PDF995 for Auction! Version 4
PDF995, a free, shareware program produced by Software995, works extremely well for us and for many of our clients.
Even better, Auction Systems has licensed a special edition of PDF995, available at no charge to you, that works rapidly and smoothly with Auction! Version 4.
PDF995 integrates directly with Auction!. There's no delay or pop up ads. When using PDF995 with Auction! there is no need to purchase a paid edition for PDF995. When installed, PDF995 for Auction! will work outside of Auction! for other programs on your computer, however, in other software programs, delays will occur and a pop up ad will show when using this free PDF writer.
In Auction!, PDF995 is required to print Statements, Donor Receipts and Invoices to separate PDF format files in batch for attachment to emails.
Once your PDF995 tool is installed, open Auction! and preview the report or document of interest. With Auction!, when you choose the Print to Individual PDF's print option; PDF995 prints each statement, receipt or invoice to its own file. If you have included the email address of the recipient in the name entry record in Auction!, the name of each PDF file will include not only the name of the recipient but also their email address, making it a snap to attach the correct document to any email sent. Any other documents or reports can be printed to PDF file format as well by choosing PDF995 in the printer selection dialog box.
Adobe Acrobat (full version)
Acrobat has very powerful features, and you can edit PDFs and drag pages in & out in addition to simply printing PDFs. It's a great tool; some clients find it cost-prohibitive. Adobe Acrobat does not integrate directly with Auction! to produce individual documents.
Auction! V4 is a software program to help manage a fundraising activity such as a gala, golf tournament or other event that can include a silent and/or live auction. We have added many new features and capabilities including: ability to store logos to reproduce on documents, flexibility in how names appear on documents, additional item types (pending, retail, bid board), more customization of documents, reports and exports, etc.
We have added just about everything that our customers expressed a wish for, during a phone call or in an email, and more!
See our features list here...(replace with a link or page: http://auctionsystems.com/ProdComparison.htm)
No, but you'll need to purchase a license key each year for a nominal cost.
In subsequent year, to have access to all the support features and videos, you need to purchase a continuing support key. All support features are included in the first year.
For a little more in subsequent years, you get access to the support features and videos, and enable premium features such as credit card processing, bridge to online auctions and bridge to mobile auctions. Note: Premium Features are available at no cost during the first year of your license.
Note: This article is offered as a convenience to our customers and is not part of Auction! desktop technical support.
The two copies issue is a printer driver issue.
Auction! is telling Windows to print two copies but sometimes that message is not making it to the printer. The problem is actually much bigger than Auction!, and involves the print spooler between Windows and the various manufacturer’s print drivers.
Here’s the basic problem. When you queue multiple copies to a device, the systems involved essentially say “Wait, to minimize network traffic, just send ONE copy, and have the printer store it in memory and do the second copy on its own.” Unfortunately, as many articles and help forums on the web attest, it doesn’t work well. If the printer does not have enough memory then it simply prints the first copy. It doesn’t complain back to Windows to “send another copy.”
On HP printers, this is called “mopier” mode, and disabling it CAN override the problem, but we have not been able to find this mode on all of our own HP printers. We do not know what it’s called for the other brands, but it’s clear from searching the web that the issue is not specific only to HP.
You might try setting your preferences for the printer to always print 2 copies. This works for some printers but not for all. Go to the Windows Control Panel and look for “Devices and Printers” or “Printers and Faxes”. Locate your printer and click on Printing Preferences. Set the desired number of copies to 2. This is a global setting which means everything you print will now print two copies so make sure to reset the number of copies after use.
Here’s the best fix we know: for flexibility, make a COPY of a printer driver, or install another copy of the print driver in control panel, set that second one to print two copies in the Printer Preferences, and name it “TwoCopyEpsonStylus” or “2copiesHP1020,” or something similar. Choose it when you need two copies, and the regular driver when you only want one.
You may only purchase it for a single club or chapter of an organization, such as "Downtown Lions Club #1241". Each club or chapter needs to secure its own license.
We’ve had few people running Auction! who couldn’t seem to export to Excel.
Make sure there is a valid license for Excel. If not, you may be able to save as a .csv file.
If you are using a Cloud server to host your data, the server may not have a valid license for Excel. As more and more organizations are remoting into their work servers and saving document and files, this has become more common.
Some organizations have tried this solution for local installations and it worked for them.
Download and then double-click to install http://v4downloads.auctionsystems.net/accessdatabaseengine.exe This should have been installed when you installed the V4 program, but for some reason, it may not have been.
If none of these work for you, please reach out to your IT department or ask them to contact us with the details and error message(s) received.
1000 Introduction
For a Mac, when you have a windows boot sector, you can use Auction! Desktop. Otherwise, you can use Auction! Cloud. It runs in a browser on any platform. It is already networked so your team can work together regardless of location or type of computer they own. (See Cloud pricing)
We do not like to depend on an internet connection to the cloud at the event. So we issue a license key that can be installed on your own computers for the event, in case wired internet is not available.
If you wish to run Auction! (or other PC-based software) on a Mac, you’ll need to make your Mac run as a PC. Please see the Apple website:
https://support.apple.com/mac for help in running Windows on a Mac.
Other options are to purchase and install VMWare Fusion or Parallels. Please visit their websites.
VM Fusion website: https://www.vmware.com/products/fusion.html
Parallels website: https://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/
There may be other emulation software programs, but these are the two most widely known. Auction Systems does not sell these software programs; you would need to contact the manufacturers directly or ask at your Apple store.
See these links for more detailed instructions for performing the following tasks.
Networking Computer
Upload Items from an Auction! V4 project to A!Online
Updating Auction! V4
Backup and Restore V4 Projects
PDF995 works with Auction! V4. The free, sponsored version of PDF995 works at lightning speed with Auction! Version 4 without ads or pop ups. It is required in V4 for creating individual invoices, donor receipts and statements to attach to email.
Instructions:
1. Download and save the PDF995 for Auction! zip (compressed file).
2. Unpack the zip using Windows File Explorer, or your favorite unzip program.
3. Double-click InstallPDF995.exe, and let it install. A popup message appears when it is complete and ready to use.
You may need to close Auction! and then reopen for PDF995 to be a printer option.
[Click To learn more about Adobe Acrobat](https://www.adobe.com/)
A!Online and A!Mobile auctions are a great deal of fun. When you begin data entry inside Auction!, you can also import the results back into Auction! desktop. You will have the comprehensive reports you've learned to depend on. You've got the full history of the event and can thank everyone from inside Auction! desktop. You can also use A!Online and A!Mobile as standalone products, with standard support.
First, there are more than 100 training videos. The videos are organized by topic: data entry for names, documents such as bid sheets, event night, etc. and lots more! Click here for details.
Second, there are many FAQs, tbd.
Third, you can post your question in our forum, tbd.
You can even earn points toward future support renewal by answering others' questions.
When you are new to bookfold format, it might be confusing.
The easiest way to understand it is to take three identical pieces of notepaper or regular paper and fold like a very small booklet. On the top page with the fold at the left put a number one(1) on the page. On the next page folding it open, place a two (2) on that page. Continue numbering in that fashion up to twelve (12).
Now take the sheets apart. You'll see one sheet with 6 on they left-most page and 7 on the right. When you turn it over, you'll see eight on the left and five on the right. On another page, you'll see 9 on the right and 4 on the left. Turn it over and see three on the right hand side and 10 on the left, and so on. Auction! displays the page numbers as they actually appear. When you print this to a PDF or to send it to a printer and tell them it's in bookfold, they understand how to print it
A guaranteed bid allows a buyer to purchase a bidding item outright. Rename guaranteed bid to something like "Instant Winner!", "Make it Mine!" or "Take me Home!".
We don't use "BUY IT NOW" as the phrase is trademarked by eBay. We can't display any words if that phrase is used.
All bidding on that item stops when a guaranteed bid is placed.
We recommend volunteers circulate and put a diagonal line across the bid lines and previous bids and circle the bid when there is a guaranteed bid placed. Other bidders might not notice the guaranteed bid and continue bidding on an item that is already sold by a guaranteed bid.
No. When you purchase Auction!, you are granted a permanent license for the individual organization, which includes support access during the first year. Subsequent years have a nominal fee to receive an updated license key; support is available for an additional fee.
When you open a V3 project with V4, Auction! will ask you if you wish to convert the project to V4. It's that simple.
Note: If you are a current user of V3 and do not own a licensed copy of V4, do not convert your V3 project, but instead, make a copy of the V3 project and then convert the V3 Copy to V4.
When you design your checkout process, think about department stores at Christmas time,and worry about flow for high speed transactions.
Signage may be helpful. Quick checkout probably warrants it's own line. These are guests who chose to swipe their cards earlier in the evening. Their invoices should be marked quick checkout. Only one copy of their invoice needs to be printed. They can pick it up and go straight to item redemption. Their credit cards will be charged after the event, a few days later.
Regular checkout should not be divided alphabetically; guests will ignore those signs and simply go to the shortest line. They will need two copies of their invoice. One for you to mark payment by check, cash or quick checkout (if they choose to swipe their card). On one copy, after marking payment, fold the payment inside and tuck it into a cash box. The other copy should be marked PAID so they can take it directly to item redemption.
Guests can swipe their credit cards at checkout, mark both copies of the invoice “quick Checkout”.
Data entry in Auction! Is done later, even the next day, from the Paid invoices you tucked away. Be sure to do this before processing credit cards, as some guests may have swiped their cards, but chosen to pay by another method at checkout.
Have enough cashiers, say three or four, so your lines for standard checkout don't get too long. When the invoices are printed first in duplicate, bidders can pick them up and review prior to stepping to the cashier. Then you do not need computers at checkout except perhaps for people who want to swipe their card in EventPay! This is important as we've seen guests stumble and spill on cashiers' computers.
When your checkout team has enough volunteers, it's great to gather items together for each bidder. This is easy to do with Auction! The pick list report is designed for this. It prints one page per bidder in large print with checkboxes next to each item, including gift certificates.
When a guest disagrees with the invoice, have them proceed to a solutions person, who can check bid sheets, data entry on the computer, and make any corrections necessary.
When organized this way and the Live auction finishes, say, at 9:45, you are done with checkout by 10:30!
Auction! Desktop
PO Box 9626 Colorado Springs, CO 80932-0626
info@auctionsystems.com
