BidWrangler Company Settings: What Each Field Does

Company Settings in BidWrangler hold the defaults that apply to every auction you run, and Bidding Configuration is the section inside it that controls how bidding, registration, and invoicing behave. Each field is a default rather than a hard rule, so an auction-level or item-level setting will override it for a specific sale or lot. Most fields ship with values that work for a standard auction, and the ones that cause support tickets are usually not the ones people expect.

Two things account for most of the confusion around these fields. The first is the settings hierarchy. A Company setting is the baseline, an Auction setting overrides it for one sale, and an Item setting overrides both for a single lot. If a setting behaves differently on one auction than your company default says it should, check whether it was overridden at the auction level before assuming the company default changed.

The second is that some changes only apply going forward. Numbering fields in particular do not reach backward and rewrite values that have already been issued. Number field changes will only apply to future auctions that have not yet opened for registration.

Enabling Smart Increment keeps bids landing on your defined increment even when a max bid or an unusual starting bid would otherwise knock them off schedule. When it is on and you change your increment, the system adjusts the next ask to pull bidding back onto the new schedule rather than continuing off-pattern.

Here is what that looks like in practice. If the current high bid is $1 and you set the increment to go up by 10s, the system sets the next increment to $9, which brings the ask to $10. Once the high bid reaches $10, the asks that follow are $20, $30, and so on. Without Smart Increment, that same change would leave you asking $11, $21, $31.

Changing your increment partway through an auction does not alter bids that have already been placed. It only affects what the system asks for next.

Default Questionnaire sets a registration questionnaire that applies to every auction rather than attaching one auction by auction. You can build the questionnaire yourself in the Admin Portal under Marketing, then Questionnaires, with up to five questions, each marked required or optional. Bidders see it as a "Tell Us More" popup immediately after they finish registering, and you can review responses in the Admin Portal or export them as a CSV.

Enabling Company / Organization adds an optional field at registration where bidders can note the company or organization they represent. The value is for your internal reference. It does not gate registration or change anything a bidder can do.

Default Credit Card Amount is the amount a bidder's card is checked against for available funds before their registration is approved. It sets the company-wide default, and each Terms and Conditions set can override it with its own amount. Your credit card verification level, ALWAYS, REUSE, or NONE, is configured on the Terms and Conditions set rather than here.

Online Starting Paddle Number and Live Starting Paddle Number sets where paddle number assignment begins for online and live registrations in a single auction. The important behavior is what it does not do: changing this value never retroactively reassigns paddle numbers that have already been issued. Lowering it also will not pull the next assignments down into the lower range, because the new range could overlap with numbers already in use and create duplicates.

This is worth knowing before an auction opens, because a company that sets a starting number after registrations have already come in often sees numbers continue from where they left off rather than restarting where they expect. If permanent paddle numbers were assigned by mistake and need clearing, that is a separate bulk process rather than a settings change.

Starting Seller Number works the same way for seller numbering, and can also be set at the auction level. If you leave it blank, the system assigns numbers for you starting at the next available number.

View All Items by Default controls whether the catalog opens showing every item regardless of status, or filters to active items only. The default suits a standard timed auction, where closed lots dropping out of the default view is usually what bidders expect.

TV Options configure Auction TV, the bidding display shown alongside the auctioneer's screen. Auction TV was designed for live auctions and is not available for timed sales, so these fields have no effect on a timed-only platform. The options to customize the appearance of the Auction TV screen include TV Photo Display Count, TV Show High Bid, and TV Show Ask.

Clerk Messages are preset messages available from the Clerking Notifications section of the Online Clerking Panel. They are banner-style messages a clerk sends to active bidders during a sale, so they come into play in live and simulcast auctions rather than timed ones. They are separate from Bid Notification Emails, which handle outbid and winning-bid alerts automatically.

Enable Auto Invoice Creation is off by default. When you enable it, BidWrangler generates invoices automatically as items sell, so you do not need to run Create Invoices or regenerate an invoice to pick up newly sold lots. If a bidder wins more than one lot in the same auction, each additional win is added to that bidder's existing invoice rather than creating a second one.

1. Log into the BidWrangler Admin Portal.

2. On the left-hand side menu, choose Settings under the Company section.

3. Click the pencil icon to open the Edit screen.

4. Update the relevant settings and Save your changes.

Please note: You'll need Admin permissions to view or edit Company Settings. If this area is not visible to you, your acco likely does not have that permission level.

If we change bid increments mid-auction, will it change bids that are already placed?

No. Adjusting your increment partway through an auction has no effect on bids already placed. It changes what the system asks for next. If Smart Increment is enabled, the system also adjusts the next ask to bring bidding back onto your new increment schedule.

I changed the starting paddle number, but bidders are still getting numbers from the old range. Why?

Changing the starting paddle number does not retroactively reassign numbers that have already been issued, and it will not pull the next assignments down into a lower range either. This prevents newly assigned numbers from overlapping with numbers already in use. Changes made to this setting will apply to the next future auction once it opens for registrations.

Can I use Auction TV for a timed auction?

No. Auction TV was built for live auctions and is not available during a timed sale. The clerking panel and the standard bidder view are the ways to follow a timed auction in progress.

Does Enable Auto Invoice Creation combine multiple lots into one invoice?

Yes. When a bidder wins more than one lot in the same auction, each additional win is added to their existing invoice automatically instead of generating a separate invoice per lot.

Do I need to configure every field in Company Settings before my first auction?

No. Most of these fields either apply only to live and simulcast auctions or already carry a working default. Enable Auto Invoice Creation is the one most companies benefit from turning on deliberately.

Where do I actually create the questionnaire that Default Questionnaire points to?

In the Admin Portal under Marketing, then Questionnaires. Create it there first, then either set it as your company default or attach it to a specific auction from that auction's questionnaire dropdown.

How do I remove permanent paddle numbers that were already assigned?

That is handled through a user export and Bidders Import rather than a Company Setting. See How to Bulk Remove Permanent Paddle Numbers, and note that the Bidder Number cell must be left completely blank rather than set to 0.

• Hierarchy of Settings

• How Do I Adjust My Bidding Increments?

• How Do I Enable Smart Increments?

• How Do I Enable Automatic Invoice Creation?

• How Do I Create a Questionnaire?

• How Do I Administer Terms and Conditions for My Auction?

• How to Bulk Remove Permanent Paddle Numbers

Have more questions? Please reach out to helpdesk@bidwrangler.com.