Home > Articles > Top 9 Shopify Auction Apps To Supercharge Your Sales

Top 9 Shopify Auction Apps To Supercharge Your Sales

January 16, 2024
Written and researched by experts at AvadaLearn more about our methodology

By Sam Nguyen

CEO Avada Commerce

In this article, we will delve into the top 9 Shopify auction apps, exploring the options available to enhance your e-commerce store’s capabilities and boost your sales through bidding experiences.

Why You Need An Auction App On Your Shopify Store

An auction app on your Shopify store can serve multiple purposes:

  • Customer Engagement: Auctions can increase customer interaction and time spent on your store, as buyers return to ensure they are the highest bidder.
  • Exclusivity and Hype: Limited products or exclusive items up for auction can create a buzz, drawing more visitors to your site.
  • Price Discovery: Auctions can help determine the market price based on customer demand for unique or rare items.
  • Inventory Clearance: Auctions can be a strategic way to clear out inventory without straightforward discounting, which can sometimes devalue your brand.
  • Novelty Factor: Auctions add a unique shopping experience that can set your store apart from competitors.
  • Upselling Opportunities: Engaged bidders may be more inclined to explore and purchase other items from your store.
  • Data Collection: Auctions can provide valuable data on customer preferences and willingness to pay for certain products.
  • Social Proof: Successful auctions, where many customers are bidding, can act as social proof, encouraging others to value your products highly.
  • Customer Acquisition: The excitement of an auction might attract new customers looking for the thrill of winning a bid.
  • Dynamic Pricing: Auctions allow for dynamic pricing, leading to higher profits if there’s a bidding war over a desirable item.

Incorporating an auction app could potentially bring a new level of engagement and profitability to your Shopify store.

The 9 Best Auction Apps For Your Shopify Stores

Webkul Product Auction

Webkul Product Auction

Overview of the app

The Webkul Product Auction app is a reliable and highly customizable tool that enables businesses to host live auctions on their websites. Its key features include bid tracking, automated emails, efficient customer support, and suitability for large-scale auctions and charity events. The app has been highly recommended for merchants for years, contributing to increased sales, engagement, and brand differentiation.

Pros and cons

ProsCons
Live auction hosting

Automated emails 

Bid tracking 

Various customization options

Set increment rules and the increment gaps
Customer service needs improvement

Pricing:

  • From $15/month. 
  • 7-day free trial.

Highlight features

  • Admin can create and manage auctions for any product.
  • When creating auctions, administrators can define increment rules and gap settings.
  • Bulk auctions can be added via CSV files, and auctions can be deleted as needed.
  • Visitors’ authenticity can be verified through a small joining fee.
  • Multiple winners can be declared for an auction, and unsuccessful auctions can be restarted.

Ratings

  • Rating: 4.7
  • Reviews: 218

Who should use

  • Shopify store owners seeking dynamic pricing models
  • Sellers with unique or rare items

Auction Today

Auction Today

Overview of the app

Auction Today app enables merchants to initiate auctions for their products, facilitating the buying and selling goods or services through a competitive bidding process. This dynamic approach to sales makes Auction Today a valuable tool for businesses looking to boost their revenue and engage customers through an exciting auction experience.

Pros and cons

ProsCons
Efficient support

Allows users to fine-tune settings to align with their specific preferences

Positive user experience

Seamless and user-friendly interface.
Bugs happen sometimes

Pricing

  • Free plan available. 
  • 7-day free trial.
  • Paid plans start at $7/month

Highlight features 

  • Run auctions on products or variants in multiple currencies.
  • Easily create bulk auctions, reducing administrative workload.
  • Features a dedicated auction collection, reserve price, buyout price, and popcorn bidding.
  • Auction summaries are displayed on collection pages for convenience and a user-friendly experience.

Ratings

  • Rating: 4.9
  • Reviews: 92

Who should use

  • Merchants wanting to create hype with exclusive auctions
  • Stores need to clear inventory creatively

Tipo Product Auction

Tipo Product Auction

Overview of the app

The Tipo Product Auction app is an easy-to-use tool that allows you to add auctions to your Shopify store. This feature adds excitement to the shopping experience and boosts your sales. With its user-friendly interface, you can create new auctions in minutes. The app also provides instant updates on ongoing auctions via email notifications.

Pros and cons

ProsCons
Dynamic features

Easy-to-use interface

Links to URLs

Free plan available
Customer service needs improvement

Pricing

  • Free plan available.
  • 7-day free trial.
  • Paid plans start at $14.90/month.

Highlight features

  • Define the minimum acceptable bidding price.
  • Set rules for bid increases while creating auctions.
  • Extends bidding time automatically if a bid occurs in the final seconds.
  • Specify the desired selling price.
  • Enhance convenience with an automated bidding system.

Ratings

  • Rating: 4.3
  • Reviews: 66

Who should use

  • High-end fashion stores.
  • Luxury watch stores.
  • Antique and collectible shops
  • Art galleries

Auction Pro

Auction Pro

Overview of the app

Auction Pro is a user-friendly app that lets you set up live auctions on your e-commerce store quickly. It offers a unique customer experience and continuous improvements to enhance its features. The responsive support team considers user suggestions to ensure an efficient experience.

Pros and cons

ProsCons
Sometimes, the app can get errors.Sometimes the app can get errors.

Pricing

  • From $15/month. 
  • 10-day free trial.

Highlight features

  • Increase sales by offering users a unique online shopping experience
  • Simple and inviting user interface for customers
  • Customize auctions to match your brand

Ratings

  • Rating: 4.7
  • Reviews: 5

Who should use

  • Vintage or second-hand fashion retailers
  • Nonprofits and charities that run auction events to raise funds
  • Businesses selling niche products

Dropit Auctions

Dropit Auctions

Overview of the app

Dropit Auctions is reverse-auction price discovery software that specializes in facilitating price discovery, particularly for rare goods. It enables you to conduct fast and competitive reverse auctions, where customer demand empowers them to set prices and secure the items they desire. With Dropit Auctions, you can revolutionize your approach to pricing and sales, ensuring a more engaging and value-driven shopping experience.

Pros and cons

ProsCons
Effective product launch

Shopify integration support

Fast integration and customizable design

Suitable for high-traffic and high-demand transactions.
A little pricey for some users

Pricing: 

  • Free to install. Additional charges may apply.

Highlight features

  • Seamless Integration
  • Exclusive Access
  • Streamlined User Experience
  • Multi-Currency Support

Ratings

  • Rating: 4.6
  • Reviews: 2

Who should use

  • Stores dealing with rare music records signed merchandise, or memorabilia
  • Businesses that handle estate
  • Special edition items sellers

Caro—Auctions and Custom Drops

Caro—Auctions and Custom Drops

Overview of the app

Elevate your inventory management and sales strategy with Caro-auctions and custom drop. The app empowers you to engage younger audiences, increase customer engagement, and boost Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). With a versatile range of auction types, including ascending, descending, sealed bid, elastic, and more, all within a single app, Caro offers a comprehensive solution to elevate your e-commerce strategy.

Pros and cons

ProsCons
Flexible prices are suitable for many different business groups

Simple and easy-to-use interface

Has good compatibility with many devices
Some features are only available in paid plans

No review

Pricing

  • Free plan available.
  • Paid plans start at $60/month

Highlight features 

  • Use over five modes like ascending, descending, elastic, and sealed bid auctions
  • Quick setup and auto-adding widget
  • Use directly in Shopify’s admin panel
  • Generate hype through interactive countdowns

Ratings

  • No review at the moment.

Who should use

  • Jewelry and gemstone stores.
  • High-end fashion brands.

Price Beater by Space Squirrel 

Price Beater by Space Squirrel 

Overview of the app

Today’s customers easily compare prices online, and Price Beater ensures that your business remains at a competitive advantage. It allows customers to submit their quotes, preventing you from losing a sale and gaining a lifelong client instead. With Price Beater, your business can effectively navigate the competitive landscape while fostering long-term customer loyalty.

Pros and cons

ProsCons
Easy installation

Get notified of what price and competitor you can beat

Pop-up messages
Customer service needs improvement

Pricing

  • $9.99/month. 
  • 14-day free trial.

Highlight features

  • Edit pop-up message for your guarantee 
  • Get email notifications of price offers 
  • Respond to offers with discounted products 
  • Easy installation

Ratings

  • Rating: 4.2
  • Reviews: 34

Who should use

  • SUVs and trucks stores.
  • Custom headphone stores.
  • Limited-edition item resellers

Negotio “Name Your Price” App 

Negotio 'Name Your Price' App 

Overview of the app

Negotio “Name Your Price” App helps convert customers into loyal shoppers, increasing sales and cash flow. With Negotio, customers can make product offers, keeping them engaged in negotiations and on your online store. Real-time automated interactions streamline the process, allowing merchants to focus on business growth. Prioritize customer engagement and maintain a competitive edge with Negotio.

Pros and cons

ProsCons
Excellent intuitive interface 

Easy to install and use

Free to install
Customer service needs improvement

Pricing

  • Free to install. 
  • Additional charges may apply.

Highlight features

  • Instant response with automatic “negotiation” based on your pricing rules.
  • Negotiate on multiple items individually or an entire cart of items at one time.
  • Make pricing rules for a single product or an entire Collection/Category.

Ratings

  • Rating: 3.1
  • Reviews: 24

Who should use

  • Stores that sell unique, rare, or hard-to-find items 
  • Artists and galleries
  • Vintage or second-hand fashion retailers

Magical Make an Offer

Magical Make an Offer

Overview of the app

Magical Make an Offer lets you add “Make an Offer” and “Pay What You Want” buttons to your product listings. It allows buyers to propose a price you can accept, decline, or counteroffer. You can set automatic offer acceptance or rejection preferences to negotiate on your terms. Adding this app can significantly enhance your chances of a successful sale.

Pros and cons

ProsCons
Unique price proposals

User-friendly

Sales boost

Stock clearance

Email list growth
Bugs happen sometimes.

Pricing

  • Free plan available. 
  • Additional charges may apply.

Highlight features

  • Unlimited offers
  • Auto offer response
  • Customizable pop-ups and buttons
  • Expiration timer
  • Email collection and customization

Ratings

  • Rating: 4.8
  • Reviews: 254

Who should use

  • Businesses selling niche products, like custom-built PCs, rare books, or collectible toys
  • Antique clothing stores

Key Features To Look For In An Auction Shopify App

When choosing an auction app for your Shopify store, here are some key features to look for:

  • User-Friendly Interface: It should be easy for both you and your customers to use, with intuitive navigation and bidding processes.
  • Customizable Auction Settings: Look for options to set reserve prices, starting bids, bid increments, and auction durations to suit your products and sales strategy.
  • Automatic Bidding and Notifications: The app should allow customers to set maximum bids and be notified if they are outbid, encouraging continuous engagement.
  • Real-Time Bidding: A seamless, real-time bidding experience can keep customers engaged and may lead to higher bids.
  • Post-Auction Management: Tools to automatically or manually handle the steps after an auction ends, such as invoicing and payment collection, can save time.
  • Mobile Responsiveness: With many users shopping on mobile devices, the auction interface must be fully functional and display correctly on smartphones and tablets.
  • Reporting and Analytics: The ability to track auctions, understand bidding patterns, and gather data on customer participation is vital for refining your sales strategy.
  • Customer Support: Good customer service from the app provider can be critical, especially if you encounter issues during an auction.
  • Security: Ensure that the app has strong security measures to protect the integrity of the auction and the safety of customer data.
  • Scalability: The app should be able to handle a high volume of auctions and traffic as your business grows.

Bottom Line

Choosing the right auction app is crucial to enhance your online auction experience, boost engagement, and ultimately contribute to the success of your e-commerce business. Therefore, it is essential to conduct thorough research and compare different options meticulously to find the one that aligns best with your unique requirements and budget.

FAQs

An auction app is a platform that facilitates online auctions and creates a virtual marketplace for buyers and sellers. These apps provide various features to streamline the auction process, including real-time tracking of bids, secure payment transactions, and detailed reporting. They are popular in e-commerce, allowing businesses to sell surplus inventory, unique items, and collectibles. Auction apps have made it convenient for people to participate in auctions from the comfort of their own homes, using desktop computers or mobile devices.
An auction app can help boost your store’s revenue by clearing excess inventory, creating competitive bidding, increasing customer engagement, offering higher profit margins, acquiring and retaining customers, providing marketing and promotion opportunities, enabling cross-selling, highlighting unique and limited items, offering data insights, increasing brand awareness, and collecting customer feedback. Implementing a well-thought-out strategy and maintaining transparency can contribute to long-term success in revenue generation through auctions.
Here are some key steps to help you make the right choice:
  1. Define your needs and goals for running auctions.

  2. Ensure app compatibility with your e-commerce platform.

  3. Look for a user-friendly interface and mobile responsiveness.

  4. Evaluate customization options, security, and payment processing.

  5. Check for real-time updates, proxy bidding, and reserve pricing.

  6. Consider reporting and analytics tools.

  7. Check for quality customer support.

  8. Ensure scalability for long-term success.

  9. Understand the app’s pricing structure.

  10. Read reviews and ratings and choose an app with a trial period.

Following these steps, you can choose the best auction app for your store’s needs, goals, and budget.


Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Singapore. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.