Auction of Promises provides a complete, flexible and free service for starting and running a fundraising auction for any cause. Participants are able to donate promises to a specific auction, or bid online in their own time and from any location. An auction lasts for as long as you choose, giving bids plenty of time to escalate towards the target.

An auction may be started in two steps -
1. State your cause and set up other auction details - such as specifying who may add promises and who may bid at the auction.

2. Either add the promises (lots) yourself or invite others to donate theirs.

At the end of the auction -

When bidding ends, bidders may contact the promise contributors to arrange fulfillment of the promise. The auction owner has options to receive a list of the promises, winning bids and the final total.

In more detail -

Promises are donated to a specific auction. Contributors state the location in which they are offering their promise - this could be their town or have no geographical limitation.

The auction owner (person starting the auction) chooses the date and time on which bidding will end. Promises may be donated at any time until the auction is closed. The auction owner may choose whether anyone can add promise, or limit people to a list.

Once an auction has been set up, an invitation link is available which may be emailed, added to a website or blog in order to let people know.

Potential bidders, contributors and the auction owner can communicate with each other via the Auction of Promises website. All data is protected on the site by several secure methods.

As bidding progresses a graphical totaliser shows how total bidding is doing against the final target.

There is no need to make any payments or give bank details to Auction of Promises. When a bid is made on a promise, an agreement is made between the bidder and the promise contributor that the highest bidder will settle the amount with the contributor at the time the promise is fulfilled.  The contributor agrees that funds collected are paid on receipt to the auction owner.

Funds can be collected for promises using PayPal, Auction of Promises does not charge any commission.

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