Auction Invoicing Software: Invoices, Payments and Settlement

What goes on an auction invoice?

An auction invoice is the bill a winner pays after the sale: the hammer on each lot won, then the buyer's premium, sales tax and any shipping. On Auktia, the auction's Invoices tab lists every winner's invoice built from those same parts, which bidders already saw on each item (lot) page before they bid.

Worked example: a winner takes two items at an auction with a 15% buyer's fee and 8.25% sales tax, with winning bids of $60 and $40, both pickup. The invoice reads $100 in winning bids, $15 buyer's fee, $9.49 tax on the $115, and $124.49 to pay. Nothing on it is a surprise at the pickup table, because the item pages showed the same math.

How do I invoice winners after an online auction?

Everything happens on the auction's Invoices tab, which sits next to Items, Auction settings, the Live board and Bidders. Once the auction closes, work down it like this:

1. Open the auction and tap the Invoices tab. Every winner's invoice is listed with winning bid, buyer's fee, sales tax and shipping.
2. If the auction ships with one combined amount, enter each winner's shipping amount. Their Pay button appears once it's in.
3. Tap Email all invoices to send every winner their bill, or Print all invoices for the pickup table.
4. Let winners pay by card on Auktia, straight to your Stripe account. For cash, check, Venmo, Zelle or anything else taken in person, tap Mark paid and pick how they paid.
5. Tap Pause reminders for any winner you've agreed will pay at pickup, so the automatic reminders stop for them.
6. Ship paid items with Mark shipped (carrier and tracking) or Scan label. The winner sees the tracking on My bids.
7. Tap Export CSV when the auction is settled, for your books or your accountant.

How do card payments reach the auction house?

On Auktia the seller is the merchant. Winners pay invoices by card, or by bank/ACH where the seller offers it, straight to the seller's Stripe account, and Stripe pays out to the seller's bank. Winners pay the seller directly.

To turn card payments on, go to Card payments → Connect your Stripe account. Auktia takes its fee from each card payment. When an auction closes, Auktia holds its fee on the card the seller added for Auktia's fees, and about 4 days later charges only what card payments didn't already cover.

Sellers who don't want Stripe can run cash-at-pickup auctions instead: winners pay at pickup and the seller taps Mark paid. Those auctions are pickup only.

What happens when a winner doesn't pay?

Auktia sends winners payment reminders automatically, so nobody on your team has to chase routine late payers. Unpaid wins also pause a bidder's bidding, and new bidders can hold no more than $2,500 of bids and unpaid wins until they've paid an invoice online.

From day 3, you can tap Report non-payment in the Invoices tab for a winner who still hasn't paid. It pauses that bidder's bidding across Auktia, not just at your auctions. You can also block the bidder from one auction or from all of your auctions in the Bidders tab; see approving and blocking bidders.

How does shipping work on an auction invoice?

Each auction is pickup only, ships at a price shown on each item, or ships with one combined amount you add after the auction. Per-item shipping is already on the invoice. For combined shipping, weigh and quote each winner's items after the auction, enter the amount in the Invoices tab, and the winner's Pay button appears.

When the box goes out, Mark shipped records the carrier and tracking number, or Scan label adds tracking from the label. The winner sees it on My bids, so they don't have to email you to ask. The shipping modes are covered in shipping auction wins.