Frequently asked questions

Before launching your first auction, you must complete the 7 initial setup steps found on your merchant dashboard:

1. Configure notifications
2. Install the whapify widget
3. Enable bidding redirect on thank you page
4. Show auction product in order email
5. Add the whapify portal to the account page
6. Add portal link to order status page
7. Skip order confirmation for auction bids

Once all 7 steps are complete, you are ready to create and publish live auctions.

If you need help completing these steps, contact our support team. We set this up with you at no additional cost.

Contact support

Yes. The hide product page elements setting temporarily hides standard product pricing, quantity selectors, titles, descriptions and "Add to Cart" buttons while an auction is live, so buyers are never confused about how to buy.

Once your initial setup is complete, navigate to Start an Auction in your dashboard. Select your product, set a starting bid price, enter a past start time, and set an end time. Your auction will go live on your store as soon as you save it.

Yes. With Schedule an Auction, select your product, set a starting bid price, and select future start and end times. The app will automatically publish and launch the auction when the scheduled time arrives.

Yes. Temporarily change the product status in Shopify from Draft to Active, schedule your auction in whapify, and then switch the product back to Draft. The auction will remain safely scheduled as expected.

Yes.

Before start

You can update any auction detail, including the product, start and end times and pricing, directly from your merchant dashboard.

While live

You can adjust both the bid increment and the auction end time while an auction is running, to extend or shorten it on the fly.

Choosing End Now (Sell) ends the auction early and immediately sells the item to the current highest bidder by capturing the hold on their card. Until that moment the card is held, not charged. No manual draft orders or follow-ups are required.

Yes. Selecting Cancel an Auction (No Sale) instantly stops the auction. Every bidder's payment hold is released immediately, and no one is charged.

Power Auction is an automated setting in the app. When enabled, any product SKU that drops to 1 unit in stock automatically becomes a live auction at its listed retail price, following the rules you configure.

Anti-snipe automatically extends the auction end time by a specified number of minutes whenever a bid is placed within the final minutes of an auction. Anti-snipe settings can be configured during creation and adjusted while an auction is live.

The auction bidding block widget embeds the bid input box, live countdown timer, minimum bid and current highest bid directly on your product page. It updates in real time for every visitor without a page refresh.

Yes. Buyers can withdraw a bid through the customer account portal while an auction is live, up to 10 minutes before it ends. Withdrawing a bid releases the hold on their card and removes them from the auction.

The whapify portal embeds directly into your store's customer account menu, where shoppers can view their active holds, active bids and full bidding history.

whapify offers three storefront discovery widgets:

• Running auctions widget: Displays all active auctions with live bids and countdowns on your homepage or collection pages.
• Upcoming auctions widget: Displays scheduled auctions before bidding opens to build anticipation.
• You may also like auctions widget: Cross-promotes similar or related auction products to encourage additional bidding.

When placing their very first bid, buyers are directed to checkout to pay a one-time $1.50 registration fee. Once it is paid, their card is saved and they can bid on any auction across your store. Every bid is held, not charged, until the auction ends.

Yes. You can refund the $1.50 fee manually after an auction ends. Refunding it does not remove the customer's saved card, so they will not need to register or pay the fee again for future auctions.

No. Automatic payment capture captures the winning bidder's hold the moment the auction reaches its scheduled end time or is ended by the merchant. Until then their card is held, not charged.

Auto-order tagging automatically applies the tag auctionplus-winner to every Shopify order created by a winning bid, making fulfillment and reporting easy to filter.

Currently, whapify natively supports USD ($) as the primary currency for registration fees and bidding. If you need your bidding currency changed to GBP (£) or another currency, reach out to our support team. We can adjust the currency settings for your store.

When a bid reaches $5,000, the waterfall mechanism pauses and sets the auction to Awaiting Payment. You manage and send a Draft Order invoice (with product, tax and shipping) from the whapify admin for manual Shopify checkout. If it is unpaid before it expires, the waterfall resumes and promotes the next bidder.

Yes. The "Bid placed successfully" transactional email is sent immediately to confirm the buyer's bid details.

An automated "Customer is outbid" notification is sent the moment a higher bid lands, inviting the buyer to return and bid again.

The "Customer wins an auction" email is sent automatically when the auction ends, featuring a direct link to their completed Shopify order page.