Auction Software for Estate Sales & Consignment Shops
For antique dealers, estate-sale companies, consignment shops, and non-profits that periodically run live, silent, or absentee-bid auction events — not just fixed-price sales. Take lots in, assign each one to a consignor, record the winning bid, and let Resell4.me calculate the payout and print the settlement report, using the same consignor-payout engine that runs the rest of your shop.
What Auction Software Means in Resell4.me
Resell4.me is not an online auction marketplace and is not natively integrated with sites like eBay or LiveAuctioneers. What it does instead is let you run your own bid-based auction event — live, silent, or absentee-bid — inside the same system you already use for consignment and buy-outright. Instead of a fixed asking price, an auction lot sells for whatever the winning bid turns out to be, and everything downstream of that (recording the sale, calculating the consignor's cut, generating a settlement report) works the same way it does for a regular consignment sale. Custom integration with a third-party auction platform is available on request if your shop needs it, but that is a separate services engagement, not a built-in feature.
How the Auction Workflow Works
- Intake and lot-number each item. Items coming in for an auction event are entered and tagged with a lot number just like any other piece of inventory — description, condition, and a photo if you want one, entered by voice, touch, or keyboard.
- Assign a consignor to each lot. Exactly like a consignment item, every lot is linked to the person or estate it came from, along with the split rate you've agreed to pay them.
- Register bidders and issue paddle numbers. Track who's bidding at a live or silent event, or who submitted an absentee bid ahead of time, so winning bids tie back to a real buyer at checkout.
- Record the winning bid as the sale price. When the gavel falls (or the silent-auction sheet closes, or the absentee deadline passes), you enter the winning bid instead of a pre-set price — everything else about closing the sale works the same as a normal transaction.
- Resell4.me calculates the consignor payout automatically. The same commission-split math that runs your everyday consignment sales applies to the winning bid, so the consignor's share is computed the moment the lot is marked sold.
- Generate the settlement report. Each consignor gets a report showing their lots, the winning bid on each, your commission, and their payout — the same settlement document your shop already produces for consignment sales, just built from auction results.
Because auction lots live in the same inventory and consignor records as the rest of your shop, you don't need a second piece of software or a separate spreadsheet to reconcile after the event. A shop that runs three consignment sales a month and one auction a quarter manages both from the same login.
Auction vs. Consignment vs. Estate Sale — What's the Difference?
These three sale formats often involve the same inventory and the same consignor relationships, but they're structurally different events, and precision here matters for both your workflow and your marketing:
Auction
Bid-based. The price is unknown until the event ends — items sell for whatever the highest bid turns out to be, whether that's a live auctioneer taking bids, a silent-auction sheet, or absentee bids submitted ahead of time. Lots may be consigned or shop-owned.
Consignment
Fixed-price. You and the consignor agree on an asking price up front, and the item sells whenever a buyer is willing to pay it — could be the same day, could be months later. See our consignment software page for the full mechanics.
Estate Sale
A walkthrough, fixed-price event, usually held over a weekend at the deceased's or downsizing owner's home, with items individually priced (and often discounted as the sale progresses) rather than sold to the highest bidder. See our estate sales software page for that workflow.
In practice, an estate liquidation company might run a walkthrough estate sale for most of a household's contents and pull the higher-value pieces — art, jewelry, rare furniture — into a separate bid-based auction event. Resell4.me handles both without forcing you to pick one model for your whole business: the same consignor, the same inventory system, just a different sale mechanism per item.
Who This Is For
Auction functionality in Resell4.me is built for shops running their own in-person or absentee-bid events, not for competing head-on with an online marketplace. That typically means antique and estate-sale companies liquidating higher-value pieces, consignment shops holding periodic specialty auctions for jewelry or art, and non-profits running fundraiser auctions where items were donated or consigned. If your primary business is fixed-price consignment or retail with only the occasional auction event, this runs as one more sale type inside the system you already use — see antique mall software if booth vendors and dealer commissions are more central to your operation than auctions are.
Pricing
Auction support is included in every Resell4.me plan — it isn't a separate module or add-on fee. Essentials starts at $49/mo (or $1,470 one-time); Professional is $89/mo (or $2,670 one-time). Both are cloud-based, run on any device (phone, tablet, or PC) with no special hardware, include automatic consignor payouts and settlement reports, and come with free data migration if you're switching from a previous system. No long-term contract — month-to-month, cancel anytime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Resell4.me integrate with online auction sites like eBay or LiveAuctioneers?
No, not natively. Resell4.me is built for shops running their own in-person or absentee-bid auction events, not as a connector to online auction marketplaces. Custom integration services are available on request if your business needs to bridge to a third-party auction platform, but that's a separate services engagement rather than a built-in feature.
Can I run a silent or absentee-bid auction with Resell4.me?
Yes. Resell4.me supports live, silent, and absentee-bid auction formats. You register bidders and assign paddle numbers, take lots in with a lot number just like inventory intake, and record the winning bid as the sale price once the event closes — whether that close happens at the fall of a gavel, the end of a silent-auction sheet, or an absentee-bid deadline.
How are consignor payouts calculated for auction items?
The same way they're calculated for a regular consignment sale — Resell4.me applies the agreed commission split to whatever the winning bid turns out to be, rather than to a pre-set asking price. Once a lot is marked sold, the consignor's payout is calculated automatically and rolled into their settlement report.
What is the difference between an auction and a consignment sale?
Consignment is fixed-price: you and the consignor agree on an asking price, and the item sells whenever a buyer pays it. An auction is bid-based: the price is unknown until the event ends, and the item sells to the highest bidder. Resell4.me runs both through the same consignor and payout system, just applied to a bid price instead of a fixed price for auction lots.
How is an auction different from an estate sale?
An estate sale is a fixed-price, walkthrough event, typically held at the home over a weekend, with each item individually priced. An auction is bid-based — items sell to the highest bidder rather than at a set price. Estate liquidators often run both: a walkthrough estate sale for most of a household's contents, and a separate auction for higher-value pieces.
How much does auction software cost?
Auction functionality is included in every Resell4.me plan at no extra cost. Essentials is $49/month (or $1,470 one-time) and Professional is $89/month (or $2,670 one-time). Both are cloud-based, work on any device, and include automatic consignor payouts, settlement reports, and free data migration, with no long-term contract.
Related pages
Run Your Shop on Resell4.me
Cloud-based consignment software from $49/mo. Talk-and-touch inventory and automatic consignor settlements on any device, with an online consignor portal on the Professional plan. Free data migration, month-to-month, cancel any time.