News & Updates
May 22, 2022: In response to many requests, we've released the first version of "Item Information Sheets", the ability to download and print a page per auction item that can be displayed on the table in front of each item at in-person events.
March 4, 2021: Added the ability to "tag" auction payments with a custom ID, which is passed to Stripe, allowing you to easily identify MobilBid auction transactions versus other sources.
December 29, 2020: Yesterday, our 1200th auction was run - Thank you to Certus Sports Management!
December 16, 2020: Due to evidence of malicious use, we've tuned the sending of email from the MobilBid platform. Effective today, "incomplete" profiles (those with no name) will no longer receive Preview or Running Notifications, as well as manual or scheduled Custom Message Broadcasts. And all email notifications will have a mandated "unsubscribe" link - when pressed by the recipient, both the ALERT and GENERAL notification options will be unchecked for that patron. The patron will no longer receive any email messages from the platform from that moment onwards.
April 17, 2020: New feature - the ability to pre-schedule the sending of Custom Messages. You can now compose a custom message within the existing Message Templates, and can now label each one (e.g. "10 Minutes Remaining" replacing the "Custom Message 1" label.) Within the Broadcast Message section there is a Schedule Settings sub-section where you can select a message, select the recipient group, and enter the date/time in the future you wish the message to be released. The ability to send compose and send messages on-the-fly remains as before.
February 3, 2020: Yesterday our 1000th auction was run. Thank you to Fondation Martin-Matte for their support.
October 24, 2019: Introducing MobilBid Learn - 15 training videos to guide new clients how to get up to speed and tips on the best use of the MobilBid platform. Access it through the help files.
October 21, 2019: Yesterday our 900th auction was run. Thank you to the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation for their ongoing support.
September 16, 2019: Added a new feature, the ability to add an extra fee, such as a "bidder's premium", "administration fee" or taxes. You configure the labels and percentage and the system calculates and adds the percentage to each invoice at closing, and charges credit cards on file.
June 4, 2019: Another milestone - last evening our 800th (and 801st, and 802nd) auctions were run. A big shout out to Ronald McDonald House (Montreal), North York General Foundation and Banque Nationale - you support wonderful causes.
April 22, 2019: Added specific on-screen, CSV and PDF reports for Multi-Sale Items.
February 15, 2019: Another milestone - last evening our 700th auction was run. Many thanks to our clients, and congratulations on your success in raising more for your causes.
October 26, 2018: Released an option to help clients who run regular auctions within the same organization and have come across "dead-beat" patrons, who don't pay for their winnings. A "lock" option within a patron profile enables the administrator to prevent that patron from bidding.
October 18, 2018: Another milestone - last evening our 600th (and 601st) auctions were run. Thank you to all our clients, and to your success in raising more for your amazing causes.
September 11, 2018: Re-organized the Auction General Settings, splitting it out into a companion Auction Status Settings, found on the left-side menu. At the same time, we removed all the control buttons from menus and dashboard and consolidated them within the new Auction Status Settings page.
September 6, 2018: Added option (in General Auction Settings) giving the admin the option of requiring a patron email address or not.
August 20, 2018: Released a new feature - the option to not show the names of bidding patrons on the leaderboards, and within the bidder history at the bottom of item details. Names remain visible to administrators, on reports, etc. The option can be chosen from the Auction General Settings for each auction, and can be enabled/disabled at any time (e.g. during the middle of an auction.) If enabled, names will be replaced by "Bidder 1234" (each with their unique bidder number.)
July 23, 2018: Improvements to the leaderboards: The sponsor images can now be up to 1200 pixels high, which will more than fill the entire height of the right-side column. Admins may need to crop images prior to uploading to optimize them for their particular TV or projected screen, as MobilBid cannot anticipate all the variations in resolution and size. In addition, the Donation display is no longer "sticky" at the top of the All Items display, it now cycles through once per all items.
July 18, 2018: Improvements to the "URL registration page" that patrons fill in to generate a link that allows them to access an auction. The image/logo configured on the Landing Pages is now displayed on the registration page, improving branding. The name of the auction is now displayed, and the colour theme chosen for the auction is used. Priority is given to the field for mobile phones, but patrons can choose to enter an email if they prefer.
July 9, 2018: Major improvements to the patron import/upload process. Errors now result in the skipped records being displayed, while all valid and unique (email and/or cell phone) records are appended (prior to this, a single invalid number/email or duplicate resulted in the entire file being rejected.)
June 6, 2018: Improved the error message reporting when uploading a CSV list of auction items - it should be clearer now if you made a typo in an important place!
June 5, 2018: Updated Stripe capabilities to fully accept USD currency transactions. You can assign CAD or USD at the organization level and any duplicated or new auction will be configured to the currency assigned. No existing auction is affected.
May 10, 2018: Give us a pat on the back! Our 500th auction was run tonight (and 501st...)
April 25, 2018: Added in the ability to place an image at the top of the list of items for patrons to see - ideal for selling a sponsorship. You can upload the image from the left-side menu >> Settings >> General Auction Settings.
April 18, 2018: Added in a unique timezone option for Arizona (which does not go on Daylight Savings Time, and remains on MST year-round.)
April 12, 2018: Updates to the leaderboards - enlarged the images and font sizes and the relationship amongst the various elements on the screen. The "Latest Bids" leaderboard now transitions automatically to the "All Items" display just after closing.
April 6, 2018: Updates to the patron bidding interface to make it clearer and more intuitive. Removed the "quick bid" button as that was confusing many patrons (who never discovered the item detail pages.) Added a visual "tab" on the right of each item that is green when you are the winning bidder, red when you have been outbid and is grey if you have not bid on the item. Returning from the item detail page positions you on the list of auction items at the item you had just looked at, saving much scrolling down the list.
March 29, 2018: Added the ability to bulk upload item images. There is now a "Photo Edit" tool on the drop-down list accessed from Auction Dashboard >> Items >> Advanced ("gear") on the right. See the FAQ for details.
March 23, 2018: A big update - added in the ability to create two new item types; Live Auction and Multi-Sale. See Terminology & Definitions. These new item types required the redesign of the internals - each patron now has an "order" (e.g. a shopping cart, or a "tab") with all their winnings, donations, and purchases. An administrator can add/remove bids, donations, purchases as well as assign live auction winning bids to any patron using the "Edit Activity" button within a patron profile.
March 19, 2018: Added a training video to help new administrators get oriented: Getting Started Video
February 28, 2018: Updated the https://mobilbid.ca website with new information on MobIlBid - feel free to share with your colleagues!
February 27, 2018: Added the ability to bulk delete all patrons from an organization. It has been deliberately hidden, look under the right-side menu Organization Settings.
February 21, 2018: Added this help function to the MobilBid Admin pages. We'll be adding articles over time. If you can't find an answer online, please use the "send message" option!