Silent Auction Pro Reviews

Summary: First time using an auction platform and very glad we went with Silent Auction Pro! The staff is extremely supportive and always were able to help regardless of the day!

Positive: The tremendous support and friendliness of the staff was definitively a pro. The easiness of the program was great. Our pictures portrayed extremely well. The supporters found it extremely easy to use.

Negative: Would like more flexibility in moving from one event to another. I had to delete unsold items and renter in order to repost them for a second event. Would like to be able to reminder without starting over.

Summary: Great software, fantastic customer service, and I would highly recommend it. We hope to use it during our live event in 2021.

Positive: The customer service from Silent Auction pro is top-notch! There are so many amazing features in the software and it worked fantastic for our needs.

Negative: There are so many things you can do that it takes some time to go through the website, but this is actually a pro too!

Summary: We are a hypothermia shelter that houses 12 guests during the coldest months of the year, and have a fundraising gala every 2-3 years. At the beginning of our planning process for our February 2020 gala, we wrestled with the question "Do we really need an auction and event planning package for our little event?" At the end, there was no question that Silent Auction Pro was a HUGE reason why our event went so smoothly and exceeded our fundraising goals!

Positive: I cannot say enough good things about our experience using Silent Auction Pro. Some of the key things that we liked:

Event Coach. From the beginning, we were assigned an event coach, and she proved incredibly helpful in both understanding Silent Auction Pro as well as anticipating what other issues might come up before, during, and after our event. She checked in regularly, and was available even on weekends.

Training Videos. Silent Auction Pro has a large number of training videos on YouTube that were very helpful. Admittedly, they seemed difficult to understand when I viewed them before we actually signed up, but once I was on Silent Auction Pro and able to play around, they made much more sense, and proved very helpful.

Pricing Structure. At first, it seemed expensive to pay $800 and still give up 2% of our proceeds to Silent Auction Pro. However, the 2% is only out of auction proceeds, and not things like tickets or sponsorships. That kept the 2% cost down to under $300, for a total cost of $1,100. Comparing that to the many, many hours of time saved, the ability to start the auction before the event, ability to easily sell tickets, and all the communications tools made it worth the money many times over!

Usability. While I would not call Silent Auction Pro the most user-friendly website in existence, it is user-friendly, and with a minimal amount of practice it becomes very easy to get around. The reports are also very useful and easy to generate.

Negative: There were a few very minor bugs, but that was it. I didn't care at all for WorldPay, which is one of the two credit card processors that Silent Auction Pro works with. They had horrible customer service and wanted to know WAY too much personal information about me in order to open an account. But that isn't Silent Auction Pro's fault ...

Summary: This was my first year working with the system. My co-worker used it last year. But I was able to dive in and learn it pretty quickly. Again, the support provided was the best part. We were able to do weekly zoom calls to learn what to do. I even got an email from a support member on the day of the event when she noticed a problem we'd overlooked.

Positive: Our school's annual fundraiser of course had to change this year due to covid. We normally host an in-person event with silent and live auctions. This year, we were able to move everything to Silent Auction Pro. Thanks to the support of Becca and her team, our school seamlessly transitioned to a livestream event. The best feature of Silent Auction Pro is the support. I also loved the ease of sending communications to our bidders.

Negative: The only downside I see is the appearance on the phones. It looks old and basic compared to what it can actually do.

Summary: I have used Silent Auction Pro for 4 years. Like a good wine, every year it gets better with age. They are always adding new functionally and that only makes things easier.

Positive: Customer service is like none other. They are always there when you need them. I can email them in the middle of the night and have a response by early morning. I have a great relationship with the team and enjoy speaking with them and now zooming with them!

Negative: There really isn't that stands out as a con. I have used this program for years and anything I have an issue with, they resolve and resolve it quickly.

Summary: The experience went very well. Our auction was a huge success.
Even though we had never done on online before, it turned to be the most successful fundraiser our Club had ever done.
We couldn't have done it without the wonderful team at SAP.

Positive: Software had a great deal of functionality and features.
We conducted an online auction + requests for donations to
fund several community projects.

Customer service was amazing. The SAP team went above and beyond in assisting us in getting the auction catalog up and periodic messaging during the auction.

Negative: For a novice the communication/messaging area took a little time to learn but we were able to send timely messages to our participants.

Summary: SAP was really helpful in helping us adapt from an in person Gala to a virtual Gala. They helped us think through the entire event and was with us every step of the way through the live Gala and auction.

Positive: Silent Auction Pro Coaches are friendly, understanding and take the time to thoroughly answer your questions. They are even available on the weekends!

Negative: There are a lot of features to get use to but the coaches are great at helping you figure everything out.

Summary: Our rep Dana was great and answered questions anytime!! She checked in frequently and made sure we had the tools we needed to make our event work.

Positive: Great service from during Covid cancellations. Our event raised even more when we went all virtual! We were going to have a party with the online bidding, but had to switch during the pandemic. I've already recommended Silent Auction Pro to another organization that I work with - since their event has to go all virtual as well.

Negative: No overall complaints. Occasionally we had issues with some features that didn't pertain to our organization - a small PTA.

Summary: Overall, amazing. Would highly recommend Silent Auction Pro to anyone looking for silent auction software.

Positive: The features and capabilities are incredible! The software is very powerful. It allows you to do so much analysis and data tracking. As well, the interface was nice and easy to use. But by far the best thing was the customer service. I called and emailed many times and they always answered.

Negative: I wish they had the capability to use more pictures for each product. But, I have been told by the team that they are working on getting this feature up and running soon.

Summary: One huge plus is the ability to use saved donations for repeat donors from prior events. After the first year, much of the catalog's setup is already in place.

Positive: We can go fully virtual. Our events are outdoor festivals in a park. Lugging items in and out was arduous. Couple that with items not picked up that required tracking down the winner and collecting the proceeds. Now, gift certificates are mailed, and merchandise is available for pickup at the donor location. That drives foot traffic to our donors. We started in 2021 at the end of COVID and would never go back to our traditional silent auction model..

Negative: The site is a little complicated to navigate. The cost of the upfront package, the backend percentage, and the financial institution's transaction fees take a healthy bite out of the bottom line.

Summary: It has been a great experience these last two years of using SAP. Like any system, it can take some getting used to but their customer support while planning the event and having the best event coach has made us happy with our decision to switch and keep using them. They are open to suggestions and have enhanced their software applying our suggestions. I can trust them as our partners with our event. I highly recommend having an event coach to be part of the actual event.

Positive: Cost, features and most of all the great customer service. Once you get used to it, it's not that difficult to use. When we come across some challenges, our event coach and customer reps are helpful in finding a solution.

Negative: Some reporting features can be enhanced. Not all reports are exportable as an excel/cv file although they can be exported as PDF.