GalaBid Reviews

Silent Auction on GalaBid Platform

Comments: Overall excellent and received many positive comments from supporters.

Pros:

Easy to use, provided bidders with instant information on their bids, whether or not they were outbid, what amount to bid next. Everything was clear and straightforward. Easy to add auction items.

Cons:

Setting up the billing trough Stripe. Sometime the URL did not work properly and people had to add half of the link.

Galabid

Comments: [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] is amazing and always really helpful. We love using Galabid each year for our Gala Dinner. The guests really enjoy using it and it is a very simple piece of software to use.

Pros:

Very easy to use Great video tutorials when you need help Easy to set up Great functionality and ability to incorporate Live and Silent Auction items

Cons:

It is expensive. Our event is a Gala Dinner to raise funds for the young people we support, and the Galabid bill is always the biggest bill for us. I am able to get discounts and free donations for everything else.

GalaBid

Pros:

It was easy to use and navigate. The Galabid team answered any questions I had as they came up and were very helpful.

Cons:

Visually when set up the auction platform looked a bit dated

Galabid Review

Comments: Overall, we had a good experience. We managed to raise a lot of money through the silent auction, enjoyed working with [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN], and found the platform was aesthetically pleasing and worked well! We also found it exceptionally helpful to be able to copy and paste from previous years! However, our experience could of been improved if training was more specific to our needs and the platform did not require payment details on set up. Overall, however, it was good and helped us raise more than we expected! Hooray!

Pros:

- We really liked how easy it was to use as a guest/user. Viewing the photos and description was straightforward and aesthetically pleasing! - I like the fact you could have both buy it now and auction items. This is the first time we had someone buy one of the high-priced buy it now items! - Really great to be able to copy and paste things from previous years. This was a huge time saver and help!! - In the training, [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] was kind and helpful. I found the template 'item descriptions' helpful to know what to put in the descriptions - I liked that you could have a backend for staff and a separate backend for volunteers, as well as guest view - I liked the amount of features e.g. raffles, fundraising scale, etc. Despite not using them this time round.

Cons:

- The training could of been more focused to what we wanted as an organization/event. We spent a lot of time covering 'set up', but we would have preferred to duplicate our previous set up and spend more time learning about notifications and alerts. A lot of the training was not applicable to what we wanted to do at the event. However, was good to learn about functionality, we had too short of a time frame! - At the end of the night, every total for how much raised was different, with no clear reason to why. This made it very confusing to tell the guests how much we raised and consequently we gave the wrong information about $ raised at the end of the night. In the end we had to manually work this out - For some reason, this time round, everyone who signed up were required to enter bank details. This put off a lot of guests as they deemed it too much information or too much hard work when they didn't 'plan' on buying anything. If this was easier (bank details on checkout), we are certain we could of raised more money/sold more 'buy it now' items. - Could of had clearer information on having a silent auction and live auction integrated. This was quite difficult to understand and was not set up until the event start time.

Streamlined payments which improved efficiencies at the end of the event

Comments: Great service, great user-friendly system and great customer experience.

Pros:

Having GalaBid set up to take payments for the Silent Auction truly simplified our payments at the end of the night, and although we quickly learnt that guests had to accept the invoice to pay it (or we could do it on their behalf) this definitely streamlined how the evening finished. We also had to extend the closure time twice due to varying delays, but this was simple to do, and the texts that were sent to guests to advise them of this kept the process clean and effective. We also used Buy Now for the first time to get donations towards Bedding Packs, Beds and Bunk Beds that could be donated to kids. This was very effective and people found the process very easy. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] was lovely to work with, she spent a lot of time going through all the benefits of the system with us before we loaded it and this helped us understand how to best use it for not only customer experience but efficiency.

Cons:

We would like to of set an Auction Online date/time like you can to turn it off. The reason being that we had shared this page with a few supporters and donators prior to it going to guests. He had it turned off, but the message which could not be edited said the Auction had Closed. Which was accurate. Having the ability to put a message there saying 'Auction available from Date/Time' and automatically switch on would have been helpful.

Excellent Tool for Charity On-Line Auctions

Comments: Our expectations have been exceeded and we would wish to work with GalaBid again if and when we run another auction.

Pros:

The GalaBid software was very easy to use making it accessible for our group of inexperienced volunteers. This meant more people in our team were confident in using the site from the outset enabling us to spread tasks around the group. Setting up the auction and loading lots was straightforward and intuitive. The structures of the dashboard menus were logically laid out and the inputs required were self explanatory (albeit there are helpful prompts attached to each field). The customer facing site was attractive and its ease of use resulted in excellent engagement and results. The automated alerts to the bidders helped raise additional funds for our charity. Managing the auction with the dashboard, KPIs and reports was made very easy. In short, our expectations were exceeded at every level and we appreciated the support and contact from our account director who took a personal interest in how we were proceeding.

Cons:

When registering as bidders, there is an option to use a landline or mobile (cellphone) number. I would only offer the mobile option as the spoken instruction is not as clear as the text instructions - a very minor point in an otherwise excellent product.

Highly recommend Galabid to any organisation looking to fundraise during COVID

Comments: For the past two years, I've utilised the Galabid platform for an online auction fundraiser at my work (the Werribee Football Club) due to the implications of the pandemic. As the auction has been a staple of our fundraising calendar for near-on three decades, I was naturally a little concerned as to whether we'd be able to replicate the success online as we had for our physical events. Two online auctions later and with over $70k raised, I can say unequivocally that the online auction format is a winner and Galabid have been instrumental in ensuring our success. The back-end is intuitive and super easy to use, and the Galabid team are great to work with. It's very easy as a consumer to register, bid and keep an eye on the items you're after which makes it a whole lot of fun - especially in the final hours. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of groundwork involved to source, upload items and then manage dispatch after the event (vs. a physical event where people can take their stuff home) and I recommend at least two people be involved with the initial start-up and management of an event if you have over 60+ items. [SENSITIVE CONTENT] and co. though have seen it all at this point and will be great assets to help things go smoothly for you.. I highly recommend Galabid to anybody who asks!

Pros:

- Ease of use - Great support - Easy payment process - Great communication options to bidders

Cons:

- I'd like an 'Save and edit next item' option when editing listings

First Time Galabid user

Comments: From the first enquiry I made until the end of the auction the customer service was excellent. Even though we weren't a 'big' customer, they never delayed in answering my questions and always replied within a few hours. They made the whole experience feel very exciting and easy! I would definitely recommend anyone wanting to do an online auction to use this company.

Pros:

It was very easy to navigate the back office to set up the auction. Lots of tutorials to help set up. Good lay out, so easy to find everything. When doing the auction we had really good feedback from the people making the bids. Very professional looking and easy and straightforward to use.

Cons:

Setting up the stripe account for our PTA was a little time consuming, but once that was done it was very straight forward how to link that with gala bid.

Good but not great

Comments: It's hard to beat free, so that's good, and customer support was responsive and knowledgeable. Needs a minor tweak, but I'll use it again.

Pros:

Overall I found the Galabid software easy to use. The automated checkout feature was handy.

Cons:

There needs to be two post-auction screens - one a concise list of everything that did not sell and another that lists everybody who bought something and what they purchased.

Mallee Eagles FNC

Comments: First time in the online auction scene - very happy with the Galabid experience. Customer service from [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] was first rate, they were both friendly and approachable and answered any questions in a short time frame. Training with [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] was step by step and easy. (I am not an IT expert, so this was great). Follow up directly before and after the auction was much appreciated as it reassured me that we were on target.

Pros:

Ease of Use - Practical menu driven. Well laid out.

Cons:

Only small things. Perhaps the wording Auction Closed before the auction had started could be changed to Auction Not Yet Open, or Auction Opens 05/09/20. Some people were a little confused where there are multiples of a particular item, not knowing if there were any left to bid on - not sure of the answer here, but just trying to avoid listed the items multiple times.

Easy to use

Pros:

the software is easy to use, we can add in our own products easily, add in donations, mix them up, send out links early to possible users/bidders. The team are great to work with, overall the simplicity is great, text function words well.

Cons:

We dont like that it is clunky to set up live projector display, it would be handy to have an honor roll type list of people who had donated, bought stuff. we can upload multiple pics into the gallery would be handy to have video as an option.

Great fundraising tool - especially during COVID-19

Comments: Excellent. Great customer support from the moment we starting planning for our online fundraising event. Really happy with the way our information was presented and the way the bidding strategy worked on the night. We received great advice to help us have a successful auction.

Pros:

The ease of use both for the back end set up and for the users in the front end. The photos and information in each item looks so professional and encourages participants to bid in silent auctions.

Cons:

It could be easier to move lot numbers without having to move things around and change the numbers. Hiding items is great, but it does mean that there are then gaps in the numbering for the items.

Easy to Use

Comments: Customer service from [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] was great. Will definitely use the product again

Pros:

Easy to upload, easy to set up, eventually got it looking professional (operator errors mostly - me)

Cons:

Found it difficult to get the colour options for the main page and the lot items right - it gives several options but none showed. Invoice was easy to create but buyers couldnt find it when they went to pay. Nobody had a notification to say the auction was over and only a few had one to tell them they were successful but this may have gone to spam. Stripe was not easy to set up for us and because all bidders were members and we knew them, I didn't need to use it in the end I set the clock for the auction to end at 19.00 with a 30 second overrun (which ended up being 300 due to my error) but the countdown started again after the 5 minutes was up! I had to physically stop it in the end!

A Must Have Auction Platform

Comments: Excellent, Efficient and a pleasure to use.

Pros:

This was an incredible platform and i am so pleased that we used it. It was easy to use and upload items and it was easy for people to register and use! I was fundraising in lockdown for my best friend and i had no idea how i was going to run and distribute my auction. Then i contacted [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] who was amazing and i honestly could not have asked for a better tool. It allowed me to reach a global audience with ease and it without a doubt more than tripled what i would have raised without it! For me this platform is a no brainer and a must have for an auction! All my contacts found it easy and a lot of fun to use.

Cons:

I didn't find any, it was easy to use and had lots of great tools to use.

Excellent tool for running online silent auctions

Comments: Excellent service.

Pros:

GalaBid is very easy to setup and administer.

Cons:

Manual interface to our back-end transactions processing requiring us to enter payments separately.

Great software!

Pros:

Easy to use for both administrators and users, great customer support

Cons:

more flexibility with some parts of the software

Fundraising made easy with Galabid

Comments: Excellent experience two years in a row. Makes the event professional, promotes maximum bidding and audience engagement.

Pros:

so easy to load items, and to launch event, and manage the event during the auction, easy to keep people engaged, helped us get through the first COVID event cancellation because we could run the event remotely.

Cons:

FOrmating of text is a bit limited. Otherwise it was great.

Excellent auction software

Comments: Excellent and would use again and recommend.

Pros:

This software was so easy for me to use for a nonprofit online auction. It was easy to upload items and then provide a link. The support was amazing. I opened chat and connected with someone who provided correct answers right away.

Cons:

Nothing, but I am not a sophisticated user.

Excellent product, even better service!

Comments: We have just moved to using GalaBid after being unhappy with the UK market leader, and we are so pleased we did! Their software is the most upto date on the market, it looks wonderful with faultless performance, and our account manager was very helpful offering expert advice whenever we needed.
The night was a success raising just shy of 72k, 30k of which we had already raised prior with the pre event auction bidding feature. The post event support was just the same as before, excellent. Helping us both manage and collect outstanding payments, guests addresses, with regular reconciliation updates, all payments were in and monies transferred by the following week.
Look forward to working with them next year, I thoroughly recommend using them for any of your fundraising events. S

Fundraiser Auction for sports team

Comments: Excellent, the whole experience was a great success. Thanks !

Pros:

Really was very easy to set up and there were lots of great videos if you did get stuck. Help via email was also fast, efficient and friendly. The site looked professional and was easy to update

Cons:

Would have liked to have added more than 4 photos for some of the items.

GalaBid Review

Comments: For a small non-profit that cannot afford higher end online auction/fundraising platforms, GalaBid was the perfect solution. We chose to pay GalaBid a small percentage of our receipts which was very economical and well worth the money. Easy to set up, had no issues with bidders downloading or utilizing the platform. Currently considering utilizing their donation option as well.

Pros:

GalaBid was economical for our small non-profit community theater. It was easy to setup on the administrative end. Ease of use for auction bidders.

Cons:

GalaBid requires an account with Stripe. It was easy to create an account and enter bank information for payment. It was just one more step to setup. Not a deal breaker by any means as once set up, everything worked smoothly.

Sumptuous Sounds

Comments: We really valued the phone support, friendly team, assistance with graphics and posters, and having the option of onsite support at our event was a God-send. Managing the software (while relatively easy) on the night while knee-deep in event management would have been additional stress and burden. We enjoyed working alongside with the customer representatives who was familiar with our venue and full of tips and tricks and practical advice.

Pros:

-Intuitive and straightforward to navigate back-end -Uploading photos simple -Our supporters found it easy to use too! -Front end very slick and professional, easy to share across socials -text messages and prompts sent to bidders helped build excitement on night

Cons:

Price. We negotiated a reduced rate. Full price for a charity our size would not have been feasible.

GalaBid review

Comments: Great

Pros:

Ease of use. Link and updates to text messages was great.

Cons:

Nothing. Overall couldn't fault anything.

Wonderful fundraising tool

Comments: Great

Pros:

Use of use Great live support Great email support

Cons:

Nothing to report here it all functioned well

Excellent Platform

Comments: From start to finish [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and the team made our journey extremely pleasant, and were extremely helpful and helped us raise a significant sum of money for our charity this year.

Pros:

Very easy to use, and easy for the end user to navigate

Cons:

Nothing - - it really is simple to use and just works!!!!