My auction winner is ineligible. What can I do?

Sometimes an organization may find that a winner in their auction is ineligible. This article will discuss:

• Why an auction winner might be ineligible.
• How to select a new winner.
• Successful credit card payment.
• Unsuccessful credit card payment.
• How to keep the same winner when their credit card payment was unsuccessful.

Why might an auction winner be ineligible?

There are several reasons that an auction winner may be ineligible. These include:

• The winner does not meet a specified age requirement.
• The winner declines the prize and wants a refund.
• The winner is not eligible per your rules/guidelines (Ex. Company employees are not eligible).
• The winner can no longer pay for the item/shipping/delivery.

When any of these scenarios occur, you may need to select a new winner.

How do I select a new winner?

There are a couple of ways to select a new winner based on the original winner’s credit card payment status.

The winner’s credit card payment was successful

1. Cancel and refund the current winner’s payment.
2. Look under View Auction Bids in the management menu for the next highest bidder. If there are multiple items on your auction, you can sort by the prize.
3. Contact the next highest bidder and manually charge their card.

The winner’s credit card payment failed

If a winner’s payment has failed and you would like to award the next highest bidder the prize:

1. Click View Auction Winners in your management menu.
2. Find the winner you wish to revoke.
3. Hover your mouse over their name and click the three-dot menu at the right.
4. Click Revoke.
5.  Enter the reason for revoking the winner. NOTE: This reason will be sent in an email to the winner.
6. Click Revoke Winner to cancel this winner and automatically charge the card of the next highest bidder.
7. The name of the new winner will show in the View Auction Winner table.

If you have chosen the option to send the winner’s an email notification (in Campaign setup), a winner email is automatically sent. If you did not select this option but would like to notify the winner:

1. Hover your mouse over the new winner’s name and click the three-dot menu at the right.
2. Click Send Email.

How do I keep the same winner if their credit card payment has failed?

For highly-priced auction items, the winning bidder’s credit cards may fail if the amount of the item exceeds their credit card limit or if their bank’s fraud detection system places a hold on the purchase.

If this occurs, the donor and organizer will both receive an email notification. The donor’s email will include a link to donate again. Find out more about the process in the following article.

What should I do if a donor’s credit card fails (is declined)?