As a process of selling goods up for bid, the auction is widely accepted by the selling party to make money online. The goods will be sold to the highest bidder thereby maximizing the profit. Thus, running an auction website has become a new trend for webmasters who wish to accelerate the development of business.
The discussion around how to make an auction website in WordPress is mentioned in this guide clearly, which helps you create a great auction site comparable with eBay. We are going to settle the matter with a WordPress auction plugin to hit the mark in an easy manner.
Select an Auction Plugin at Will
There are auction plugins released by WordPress developers, which can be searched via WordPress.org or WP admin. The selected one in this guide is Ultimate WordPress Auction Plugin, which is the most popular method trusted by most webmasters running an auction site. Multiple advanced features of this plugin make everything go on wheels, and an Ajax admin panel enables an easy manner for management.
Multiple images or videos can be uploaded to a product so as to help visitors have a better understanding of each item. The ability to edit, delete or end a live auction enables an easy management for all auctions created before. Set an expiration date for each auction consistent with your timezone or do it manually if needed.
Featuring the “Buy Now” option with PayPal, it is convenient for payment. More possibilities are available for you once installing this plugin on your website. Log into your WP admin and search for a result as below via Plugins > Add New. Upon activation, an item called Ultimate Auction appears on the sidebar.
Note that, the free version of Ultimate WordPress Auction Plugin is selected here and that only allows registered users to place bids on your site. The pro version of this plugin enables registered users to add auction to your website.
Set Up Ultimate WordPress Auction Plugin
The Ultimate Auction further includes several settings for auction website setup. Go to Ultimate Auction > Settings and that is the initial page of this plugin for a general customization. There are three sections available in the Settings tab, including Payment, Auction and Email.
The Payment Settings is where to determine the currency and payment options. Select a default currency from the drop-down list, which includes all currencies around the world. If you are running an auction website with global concentration, you’d better add a currency converter on the web page for the convenience of currency conversion.
And then, check the payment options available for customers from PayPal, Wire Transfer, Cheque and Cash. More customizable settings for payment methods are available in the Payment tab.
The Auction General Settings section includes a list of options for auction customization. Select your timezone from the drop-down list and then type how many auctions will be displayed on one feed page. Here requires you to enter the auction page URL and that is the page with inserted shortcode [wdm_auction_listing].
Create a new page named as Auction via Pages > Add New and insert the shortcode mentioned above in it. Once having this page published, copy and paste the page URL to “Auction Page URL” field. Type the login page URL and register page URL if you have any. Make a decision on the rest options as needed.
By the way, we suggest you to add this auction page to the main menu of your website so as to make it at a glance. Go to Appearance > Menus and check the name of your auction page from the Pages mode. Click “Add to Menu” to add this page to the main menu and then save all changes.
Move to Email Settings section. Type an email address to receive all bid notification. It is a great method to get to know the latest bidding information in time.
Create New Auction on Your Website
The process of new auction creation is easy to handle, even for beginners. Turn to Ultimate Auction > Add Auction and here shows you a list of fields to complete. Before everything, give this new auction a product title and then describe it properly. A product short description in a few brief words is also required, which will be shown on the auction listing page to impress your visitors initially.
Upload up to four images or videos for that product so as to make this item on full display. Select an uploaded image or video from the drop-down list and that is used to be the thumbnail image. Most important of all, an opening price should be marked clearly. You can set a reserve price if needed and that will not be disclosed to bidders.
Set an amount between each bid in Incremental Value field. If it is set as $100, then the price of a new bid should be $100 higher than the previous one. The ending date of the current auction is set via the Ending Date field. That is consistent with the timezone you’ve selected via Ultimate Auction > Settings > Auction.
Set a Buy Now Price to encourage bidders to make a decision as soon as possible. The purchase will be finished via PayPal. Having all settings done, click “Save Changes” and turn to manage the existing auctions. Add as many auctions as needed in the same way.
Manage All Auction Items
Ultimate WordPress Auction Plugin allows you to view all existing auctions via Ultimate Auction > Manage Auctions. Each auction displayed in the Live Auctions list comes with specific ID number, title, creation date, ending date, starting price and bids placed. The “Expired Auctions” includes all auctions out of date.
If there is a need to modify an auction, click the “Edit” button following this item and access to the edit page. You are automatically directed to the auction settings page. Make a change to any details as needed and then confirm all changes by clicking “Save Changes” button.
Click “Delete” to delete an auction completely since it is of no value. If there is a need to close an auction with ending date non-arrival, click “End Auction” to end this auction manually and that will be moved to Expired Auctions list. The expired auctions can be reactivated if needed.
For any questions about this plugin, you can get an answer via Ultimate Auction > Support and that enables help & support links to numerous help guides. Once posing a question, you can get an answer from professional developers in real time.
In fact, some other auction plugins available in WordPress bare comparison with Ultimate WordPress Auction Plugin, including WordPress Auction Plugin, Dutch Auction Masters, WP Auction, and so on. Make a decision if you wish to get more possibilities.
Style Your Auction Site with a Premium Theme
If you get tired of the plain design of your auction website and desire for a new one with professional-looking, going with a premium auction theme seems a pretty useful idea in this case. We would like to introduce a popular theme provider specialized in auction website desgin, namely, SiteMile.
SiteMile enables a large number of premium WordPress themes for different purposes, coming with an array of advanced features, like fully-responsive layouts, monetization tools, auction expiration, and so on. The auction theme recommended here is Responsive WordPress Auction Theme, which is starting at $69. Complete payment and then upload this theme to your auction site.
Here is an auction sample created with SiteMile Responsive WordPress Auction Theme. The following guide makes an explanation for main features of this great auction theme.
An item called Auction Theme appears on the sidebar and that further includes a list of options for theme customization. Go to Auction Theme > General Options and make some changes to the main auction settings, including AutoRenew option, HTML auction description, item count on categories/location, time limit on Buy Now, and so on. Make a decision according to personal needs and then save all changes.
The Pricing Settings option includes 4 tabs for item pricing customization, namely, Main Details, Listing Fees, Other Fees and Custom Commission Fees. Go to Auction Theme > Pricing Settings Main Details and select site currency, currency symbol position, decimals sum separator and thousands sum separator from the drop-down list. Besides, the base fee, featured fee and sealed bidding fee should be set in Listing Fees tab.
There is an array of payment gateways available for customers, like PayPal, Payza, MoneyBooker, Amazon, and so on. Modify settings for payment via Auction Theme > Payment gateways and that includes multiple payment settings. Focus on the first PayPal tab. Select “Yes” from the Enable drop-down list and customize the rest options as needed.
Having the API password, API username and application ID completed, click “Save Options” to confirm all settings. Enable other payment gateways and customize the given settings if needed.
Since some webmasters have a higher demand on website design, the SiteMile Responsive WordPress Auction Theme enables various layout settings for homepage, header, footer and colors. Go to Auction Theme > Layout Settings and select a suitable layout for homepage from a list of options. Upload an attractive image and set it as the logo of your website. Replace the default footer to your own site information via Footer tab.
Turn to Change Colors tab and select a base color scheme from the drop-down list. If you wish to complete color matching by yourself, you are required to select “green” as the base color scheme and then type any color code as needed in the below boxes. Click “Save Options” button to confirm all settings.
In addition to what we’ve mentioned above, more settings are available for you to customize your auction site. All auctions can be assigned to different categories and each category comes with a specific image. You can set fees for each category and make a change at any time. Buy this theme now and explore more possibilities to have a great look on your auction website.
The post How to Make an Auction Website in WordPress appeared first on WhatsWP - WordPress Coding, Web Hosting, Theme, Plugin and SEO Matters.