Auction Settings

Overview

PHP Pro Bid — Full Auctions settings page in admin showing all auction configuration options with sidebar navigation

This page covers the general auction settings found in Admin → Listings → Settings → Auctions that are not covered by their own dedicated documentation pages. For specific features, see:

Auction Sniping — anti-sniping / automatic auction extension settings
Bid Retraction — bid retraction settings
Proxy Bidding — proxy bidding settings
Bid Increments — bid increment table
Make an Offer — offer settings

Enable Auctions

Enable Auctions — the master switch for the auction listing type. When unchecked, sellers cannot create auction listings on the site. Only product and classified listing types will be available. Check this to enable auctions.

Auction Editing Time Limit

Time Limit — the number of hours before an auction ends after which the seller can no longer edit it. For example, setting this to 12 means that once an auction has fewer than 12 hours remaining, the seller cannot modify the title, description, pricing, or any other listing details.

This protects bidders from last-minute changes to listings they have already bid on. A lower value gives sellers more flexibility; a higher value gives buyers more confidence that the listing won’t change after they commit.

Change Duration on First Bid

PHP Pro Bid — Change Auction Duration when a Bid is Placed setting with enable checkbox and new duration in days

Enable Feature — when checked, the auction duration is automatically adjusted after the first bid is placed.
New Duration — the duration (in days) to reset the auction to. If the time remaining on the auction is greater than this value when the first bid is placed, it will be reduced to this duration.

For example, with a new duration of 1 day: if a seller creates a 30-day auction and a buyer places the first bid on day 2, the auction end time is shortened to 1 day from the time of that bid. This prevents long auctions from sitting idle with an early bid and no competition.

This setting only affects the first bid. Subsequent bids do not change the duration (unless auction sniping extends it near the end).

Close Auctions Before End Time

Enable Feature — when checked, sellers can end their auctions early even when there is a high bid.

By default, auctions can only be closed ahead of the scheduled end time if there are no bids or the highest bid is lower than the reserve price. Enabling this setting removes that restriction, allowing sellers to close an auction at any time regardless of bidding activity.

Allowing early closure with active bids can frustrate bidders who expect the auction to run its full duration. Enable this only if your marketplace requires it.

Limit Bids / Offers per User

PHP Pro Bid — Limit Number of Bids / Offers per User setting with enable checkbox

Enable Feature — when checked, sellers can set a maximum number of bids and/or offers a single bidder can place on their auction. Proxy bids are not counted towards this limit.

This helps prevent bid manipulation and excessive bidding by a single user. When enabled, the limit is configured per listing by the seller during listing creation.