Bidra Auctions Pro is an add-on that extends the free Bidra Auctions for WooCommerce plugin — both must be active (free v1.0.1+ required — see Getting Started). Pro features switch on once your license is activated.
Store-wide Pro options live under WooCommerce → Auctions → Pro Settings; most can be overridden per auction in the product’s Auction tab.
Proxy (automatic) bidding
Bidders enter the most they’re willing to pay, and the store bids for them one increment at a time — only as much as needed to keep them in the lead. It’s how eBay works, and it keeps bidders engaged without them watching the clock.
- The maximum stays private; the public current bid only rises as far as competition forces it.
- When two bidders’ maximums collide, the bid rises to just above the lower one, and the earlier maximum wins ties.
- If a bidder’s maximum covers the reserve, the bid jumps straight to the reserve price.
- A leading bidder can raise their maximum at any time without increasing the current bid.
- Bidders get clear feedback: "You are the highest bidder at $X. We will bid for you automatically up to your maximum of $Y", or "another bidder’s automatic bid is higher — try a higher maximum".
- Automatic bids are flagged in the bid table and counted separately in Reports.
Turn it on: Pro Settings → Proxy bidding sets the store default; each auction’s Proxy bidding field can use the store default, or force it on or off.
Sealed-bid auctions
Blind auctions where nobody sees anyone else’s bid:
- Each bidder may place one confidential bid, which can’t be changed later.
- The current price, bid count, leader, reserve status, and bid history are hidden until the auction ends, then the full history is revealed.
- Outbid emails are not sent during a sealed auction, and the REST API hides the same data.
- The highest bid wins when the auction closes.
Turn it on: set Auction type to Sealed bid in the auction’s Pro options. The type can’t change after the first bid.
Smarter bid increments
Each auction’s Increment type can be:
- Fixed — the free plugin’s bid increment.
- Percentage — each new bid must add a percentage of the current bid (e.g. 5%), so increments scale naturally from $10 to $10,000 items.
- Tiered — the increment changes as the price climbs, using the site-wide Increment tiers table in Pro Settings. Example: from 0 → increment 1, from 100 → 5, from 1,000 → 25.
Anti-sniping (auto-extend)
Stops last-second "sniping": a bid placed inside the closing window extends the auction so others have time to respond.
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Anti-sniping | On | Extend an auction when a bid arrives in its final minutes. |
| Closing window | 5 minutes | A bid this close to the end triggers an extension. |
| Extend by | 5 minutes | Time each late bid adds. |
| Maximum extensions | 0 (unlimited) | Cap on extensions per auction. |
Bidders see the rule on the auction page ("Bids placed in the final 5 minutes extend the auction by 5 minutes"). Disable it for an individual auction with its Anti-sniping field.
Bid retraction
Let bidders take back a mistaken bid. With Bid retraction enabled, a Retract my bid button appears for the Retraction grace period (default 5 minutes) — but only while nobody has bid since. The auction is recalculated from the remaining bids.
Bidder rules
Control who may bid and how much — Pro Settings → Bidder rules:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Bids per auction | Maximum bids one user may place on a single auction (0 = unlimited). Overridable per auction. |
| Auctions led at once | Maximum running auctions one user may lead at the same time (0 = unlimited). |
| Minimum account age | New accounts must wait this many days before bidding (0 = off). Deters throwaway accounts. |
| Verified customers | Only customers with at least one paid order can bid. |
| Blocked bidders | User IDs, usernames, or emails (one per line) who can’t bid on any auction. Each auction also has its own blocked list. |
Automatic relisting
Put failed auctions (no bids, or reserve not met) back up automatically — Pro Settings → Automation:
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic relist | Off | Enable relisting store-wide. |
| Relist after | 1 hour | Wait between the failed auction and its relist. |
| Relist duration | 7 days | How long the relisted auction runs. |
| Lower prices by | 0% | Reduce the start and reserve prices on each relist. |
| Maximum relists | 3 | How many times one auction can be relisted (0 = unlimited). |
Previous bidders get the Relisted email. Exclude a specific auction with its Automatic relist → Never relist this auction field; the Auction tab shows how many times an auction has been relisted.
Relisting clears the previous listing’s bids, so the new listing starts fresh. Export bids from Reports first if you need a record.
Payment deadlines and second-chance offers
Follow up on winners who don’t pay:
- Payment deadline — days a winner has to pay (0 = no deadline).
- When the deadline passes:
- Do nothing — just keep reminding (if reminders are on).
- Offer the item to the next highest bidder — a "second chance" offer: the next highest bidder becomes the winner at their own bid and gets the You won email with a pay link. If every remaining bidder declines, it falls back to relisting when automatic relist is enabled.
- Relist the auction.
Any pending order the unpaid winner left behind is cancelled first.
Extra emails
Four WooCommerce emails, managed under WooCommerce → Settings → Emails alongside the free ones:
| Sent to | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Closing soon | Watchers and bidders | A set number of hours before the auction ends (default 24, configurable 1–168). |
| Payment reminder | Unpaid winner | Every N days (default 2) up to a maximum number of reminders (default 3). |
| Reserve not met | Highest bidder | The auction closes below its reserve. |
| Relisted | Previous bidders | A failed auction is relisted. |
Timing for the closing-soon and payment-reminder emails is set under Pro Settings → Notifications.
Reports and CSV export
WooCommerce → Auctions → Reports gives you auction analytics for any date range:
- Running now, Revenue (paid), Awaiting payment
- Sell-through rate (closed auctions that sold) and Average sale price
- Bids placed (including how many were automatic), Unique bidders, Bids per auction
- Most active bidders and Most popular auctions
Two export buttons download bids and auction results as CSV for the selected period (spreadsheet-safe — cell values are protected against CSV formula injection).
REST API
Build apps and integrations on your auctions with the bidra-auctions/v1 namespace — list auctions, read bid history, and place bids for the logged-in user. See Developer Reference → REST API.
Per-auction options
The Pro options section of each auction’s Auction tab:
| Field | Options |
|---|---|
| Auction type | Standard (highest bid wins) or Sealed bid. |
| Proxy bidding | Store default, Enabled, or Disabled. |
| Increment type | Fixed amount, Percentage of the current bid (with Increment (%)), or Tiered. |
| Anti-sniping | Use store setting, or disabled for this auction. |
| Automatic relist | Use store setting, or never relist this auction. |
| Bids per user | Override the store limit; empty uses the store setting. |
| Blocked bidders | Extra users blocked from this auction only. |
License activation
Your license key unlocks Pro features, automatic updates, and priority support. You’ll find it in your purchase receipt email and in your BeautifulPlugins account.
- Install and activate both plugins — free Bidra Auctions for WooCommerce and Bidra Auctions Pro.
- Go to Plugins and find Bidra Auctions Pro. Click its License link to open the license field under the plugin row.
- Paste your key and click Activate. The status changes to License is valid, and Pro features switch on.
The license is re-checked in the background, so renewals and expiries are picked up automatically. Use Check License to refresh it immediately.
Moving a site? Click Deactivate on the old site first, then activate on the new one. If the old site no longer exists, manage activations from your BeautifulPlugins account.
Troubleshooting
- Invalid key — copy the key straight from your receipt or account; watch for leading/trailing spaces.
- No activations left — your plan’s site limit is reached. Deactivate an unused site from your account, or upgrade.
- Expired — renew from your account to keep receiving updates and support.
- Updates not showing — confirm the license is valid, then visit Dashboard → Updates and click Check Again.