Penny Auctions
ℹ️ What is Penny products?
A Penny product (also known as bidding fee) is a non-refundable product that customers must purchase in order to place bids in a penny auction.
Instead of bidding for free, customers use bidding turns. Each bid consumes one turn.
Simply put:
Customers buy Penny products
Penny products give them a number of bidding turns
Each bid = 1 turn
When turns run out, customers must buy more to continue bidding
Why use Penny products?
Using Penny products helps you:
Prevent fake or spam bids
Ensure bidders are serious and committed
Earn revenue from:
bidding fees and
the final winning bid
In many cases, the total revenue from bidding fees + winning bid can exceed the product’s original price.
🛠️ Admin: Set up Penny products
Step 1: Create Penny products in Shopify Products
Create penny products in Shopify Products
Example:
Basic
10 bids
$5
Advanced
30 bids
$10
Step 2: Add penny products in Tipo app
Go to the app > click Penny products > click Create new penny button
Enter product detail
In General session, enter the penny product Name and Number of bid
In Product session, click Select product to link button to link to the penny product created in the step
For example: link the penny products "Basic - 10 bids" with Shopify product "Basic - 10 bids"
Click Save
Admin can create multiple penny products and each one costs a certain amount of money and a certain number of bidding turn.
Step 3: Activate penny auction
Go to the app > click Auctions > open an auction you want to set up
Find Advanced settings > enable Penny auction
Click Save
✅ How penny products work?
When a customer tries to bid without enough turns:
A message appears asking them to buy Penny products
A popup shows available Penny product options
Customer selects a product and clicks Buyout
Example:
Scenario:
Customer buys Basic – 5 bids – $5
What happens:
Customer now has 5 bidding turns
Each time they click Place bid, 1 turn is used
After 5 bids → turns = 0
Customer must buy another Penny product to continue bidding
▶️ Tutorial video
🙋 Still need support?
If you still need help, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to assist you further.
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