SchoolAuction.net Reviews

Summary: We are pleased with the performance and customer support. This is a product we will continue to use for our events for years to come.

Positive: We love the flexibility and ease in setting up our events. It has been great, and the customer support is outstanding.

Negative: It just takes a little while to get used to a new system and some of the features aren't totally intuitive. However, the help section and support has been great.

Summary: I love this software! It really makes my life so much easier. You can set up tickets however you want, bidder number are assigned automatically, guests can be linked together to share an account. Your whole team can access the site with individual log in accounts. The site is set up so that users can teach themselves how to use the software. Little question marks next to every feature opens up articles and videos.

The software does everything you need to host an event.
It creates bid sheets, display signs and event gift certificates, if needed. The public auction catalog is classy looking and easy to navigate. This year we even threw in a voting game online.

I already raved about the self check-out. That feature alone is gold. Guests can review their bills on their phones and pay without getting in a line. If they don't have auction items, they can even leave and pay the bill later.

This year we'll be using the virtual event function. I have high hopes that it'll be as great as the rest of the features.

Positive: They have great features to make an event run smoothly. Their self check-in and self check-out have made the event open and closes so much easier. Guests can store their credit card information ahead of time (they are purged after the event) and then pay their bill at the end of the night using their smart phone. No more hassled guests standing in line at the end of the night. They also provide features which allow guests to round up their bill, add a donation or pay the credit card fees. Most people are happy to pay these small amounts and it adds up quickly. They also have a practice site which is awesome for working out the kinks and figuring out how things will run if you're trying out a new feature. We are doing an online auction for the first time this year so I used the test site to set up a mock online auction for my team to see how it works.

This year when the pandemic hit, they quickly came out with software to host an online event. They also provided lots of helpful information on how to transition from live to virtual.

One thing I really appreciate is that they allow you to access your archived events. When I was researching event software, most companies would give you a certain amount of time to download data before purging the event. Being able to refer back to past years is really helpful. I often go back to see how I set up a certain feature or to copy and paste a description of an item that was donated in a past year.

Negative: My biggest frustration is that tech support is done via email unless you're a Premium member. It can get frustrating going back and forth if you're not quite understanding each other. However, they do respond quickly, seven days a week. Their site has an extensive amount of self-help tools, articles and videos. You can also set up training sessions with a live person. This has been very helpful in learning the software. Especially this year with the new virtual tools.

Summary: Great! We’re very happy! Plan to continue to use fire the foreseeable future. Liked it so much we used it for other events in addition to our annual auction.

Positive: Intuitive. If you are even fairly comfortable with computers you can figure this out and get up to speed quickly!

Easy to use. Straightforward tutorials. Good support.

Updates are good.

The software sets you up for success. The staff seem to really want your organization to succeed.

Negative: Some on our team wished for phone support.

There are some limitations in the software with regards to table captains (as our team calls them-those who put together tables and/or pay for tables of tickets). This is foundational to the success of our gala so it’s not something we’re willing to change. We’ve been able to find work-arounds in the software but it reduces functionality in other areas. That being said, I don’t think this is an issue that would effect the vast majority of school auctions.

Summary: Overall, the support team is very responsive and helpful to answer questions and to help resolve any issues in a timely manner. They support events and help schools be as successful as possible with this platform.

Positive: The website displays cleanly on public view and it's easy for guests to use. The catalog display has many categories that allows you to sort gifts. The software allows for easy reporting post-auction.

Negative: Adding images to the homepage is not as user-friendly as it could be-you have to add them one at a time.

Summary: My overall experience has been great! We've been using school auctions for one of our annual fundraisers for years and will continue to use it in the future.

Positive: How in depth all of the help articles are, how quickly the support responds and helps with any questions/issues, ease of use (especially as someone who's never set up the back end of a website before).

Negative: Interface is not super attractive/modern but it gets the job done!

Summary: We had a great experience overall. I think our guests were very pleased with the software and I would recommend it to other people wanting to do an online event.

Positive: The ease of not only setting up the auction but how easy it was for attendees to bid! We had a silent and live auction using the software and we didn't have any calls from users having issues!

Negative: The help section was incredible but would have loved to talked to an actual person a couple times when I needed help. Checkout was also a little unclear.

Summary: Awesome! Easy to use and to teach to new volunteers. Support is top notch! We will keep using it for years to come.

Positive: The software is easy to use and covers the majority of our needs. The look is great SA is always improving the program.

Negative: That in event text messaging is not available at the "plus" level. We would love more flexibility on pricing. We do not need all of the support features of the premium pricing but would like to use more features for SMS texting and advanced bidding controls.

Summary: Great experience overall. I highly recommend this product over all others, I was hooked after the demo and could see all of the amazing features.

Positive: Having used a different auction program for years, I can say there are so many Pros to SchoolAuction.net! The ease of use, the point and click, the incredibly easy to follow instructions, the instructional videos, the friendly staff when I had a problem, and the ability for guests to pre-register cards easily and check out with ease. To many pros to list!

Negative: I wish with the lower version pricing category, I could check out guests when we have them all tallied at once, as an option to the guests checking out themselves. This was a feature I liked on the other program I used.

Summary: I love the customization ability within this product & the customer service is EXCELLENT!! If you are looking for an incredible event software, look no further! 5 stars :)

Positive: I love the customization ability within this product & the customer service is EXCELLENT!! If you are looking for an incredible event software, look no further! 5 stars :)

Negative: The pros so far out weigh any cons present. As I am filling this out, I really can't think of any notable con. However, I wish the same developers would create a CRM database, because that would be epic ;)

Summary: Excellent experience, easy to use, easy to understand. Our auction ran very smoothly because of the software.

Positive: Our family hosts a charitable auction once every two years. This auction software is easy to use and to re-learn. We love SchoolAuction.net!

Negative: None - other than you need to pick the software package that best suits your needs.

Summary: My org has used SchoolAuction.net for about four years, using their ticketing features as well as auction site with mobile bidding. The software is very intuitive for both the staff and guests. Never once has the software malfunctioned or left me in a bind. Instead, their resources and customer support help me trust that this software will be able to meet any challenge.

Positive: - Easy to use/intuitive design.
- Reliable.
- Great support, including event night support.
- Looks modern for guests.
- Great features.

Negative: If anything, wish there was a way to further customize the printed bid sheets, but we don't really use them anyway! Would be great to have a thermometer feature for "fund the need"/paddle raise built into the software.

Summary: Works well for what you need. It is simple but still has the features that are necessary to run your event.

Positive: It was easy to navigate and had everything I needed. The staff are helpful as well and will walk you through anything.

Negative: There is nothing I can think of off the top of my head.

Summary: As an event producer specializing in nonprofit auctions, I've worked with SchoolAuction.net, as well as a few other similar providers, for over a decade in the fundraising event industry. SchoolAuction.net is the most innovative, responsive and intuitive platform out there, with developers that work to meet the changing needs of the industry. SchoolAuction.net is typically among the first to offer solutions based on real-time obstacles, and to address "wish-list" features such as user-friendly, attractive online auctions, mobile bidding for event guests as well as those bidding remotely, and more. I highly recommend SchoolAuction.net as a terrific tool for planning your nonprofit organization's next fundraising event.

Positive: SchoolAuction.net is absolutely packed with essential features that address every aspect of your fundraising event. The platform is incredibly intuitive and easy to learn, and is fully customizable to meet the needs of your small or large organization. The look and feel of the platform is clean and straightforward, and the vocabulary is simple and intuitive so the learning curve is very mild. A host of email templates can be customized and automated for easy and effective one-click communications with your guests. The check-in / data entry / check-out process is easily mastered and enables your volunteers to set the tone for a great event as soon as your guests walk in, with no confusion or long wait times while the staff puzzles out how to add a guest name, assign a bidder number, or sell a ticket at the door. Wrap-up is easy, as the system allows you to capture payment details in advance to minimize the hours spent chasing a guest for payment. Once you've used SchoolAuction.net for your fundraising event you will wonder how you ever got along without it!

Negative: SchoolAuction.net is a not a giant entity so support is not instantaneous via chat window like some of the larger providers out there. But your questions will be answered -- AND direct phone support is ALWAYS available on event night.

Summary: We're big fans of SchoolAuction.net and their software, and are glad to have this as an option during the pandemic.

Positive: We use SchoolAuction for our big spring school fundraiser, as well as for other fundraisers throughout the year. It makes big, complex auctions much easier to manage, and streamlines a lot of the online aspects – the website, the catalog, ticket sales.

It's still a time-intensive process to create an auction site and catalog, but once you get the hang of it, it is very intuitive.

We've had a standard subscription for several years, but are planning to upgrade to Plus this year to better help us run a mobile/virtual auction – the text notification and mobile bidding tools seem really useful.

Negative: Some of the options to present catalog items are limited  – it would be nice to have more layout and presentation options, especially for online auctions. And learning how to set up a new auction site can be confusion, but once you've been through it once or twice it starts to make much more sense.

Summary: This software is PERFECT for fundraising for small-medium populations. What it lacks in power, it more than makes up for in user-friendliness and cost. When you're talking about functions run by MANY volunteers, it needs to be easy - and it is. And when you're in a school community where those volunteers change year to year, this becomes even more important. They are EXTREMELY helpful and quick to respond to any questions. Highly recommend!

Positive: This software is extremely user friendly and simple to use. While it lacks some functionality and reporting elements, it's simplicity makes up for that.

Negative: It lacks some data reporting and functionality, and a few site design features.