# Bid Beacon Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Bid Beacon the right Auction solution for you? Explore 19 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/230720/Bid-Beacon/reviews --- Bid Beacon 4.4 (19) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/230720/Bid-Beacon/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Bid Beacon Ease of use 4.5 Customer Service 4.5 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-19 of 19 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use AJ Amy J. Marketing Director Arts and Crafts Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Game changer for our fundraising auction! " June 8, 2022 4.0 Overall, this online tool is really amazing. I really like that it saves past auctions so you can compare years easily. Pros Easy to set up, easy for the users (older than baby boomers did struggle a bit), and even easier pick up process. Our company has used it two years in a row and it was a fantastic way to reach people, that otherwise wouldn’t have seen our items. Cons I think the price for adding on photos is absurd. We’re showcasing art and sometimes to get the full “picture” I need 3-5 photos per item. I quickly have to up the package-, and it’s pretty frustrating. I wish there was a feature that could show others that were looking at the items real time. It could build excitement and up bids. Reason for choosing Bid Beacon N/A this came recommend to us by someone on our team who had experienced it as a user in another online auction. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 13, 2022 Hi Amy, Thanks for your feedback! The nice thing is, in our packages you have flexibility to choose what you need, if choosing the ultimate package, you'd have 1000 photo's included right up front, and while we do describe it as 4 per item, you could have less items and more photo's per item if you wanted! I am interested to hear more about your idea on showing people watching the item in real time..sounds like a cool potential feature we could add! If you email me at support@bidbeacon.com I'd love to set up a call and chat more about it. Thanks! Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success Manager MH Mac H. Events Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "great product for easing the burden of typical silent auctions!" June 7, 2022 4.0 Great experience with Bid Beacon, we will definitely be using this for our silent auction every year. Pros Bid Beacon gave us the ability to do something we hadn't previously been able to do, which was have a silent auction without all of the cluttering around tables of miscellaneous items. We opted to make all of our silent auction items experiences, or coupons instead of tangible things. (For example, a 3 night stay in a nearby town vs a basket of wine and chips) Bid Beacon allowed us to make eye catching thumbnails for these experiences and all of them sold for more than what we were expecting. It's very user friendly, and even some of our older attendees were able to bid along. Cons There isn't a feature that allows you to format the text within the auction item description. This makes the description look like a hard to read wall of text. It would be a huge improvement to be able to bold text and add bullet points. Reason for choosing Bid Beacon Bid Beacon came recommended to us by somebody who had previously used it for a silent auction with high praises. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 9, 2022 Hi Mac, Hi Mac Thank you for this feedback! Great idea about formatting within descriptions on items. We have that in our product roadmap and it should be released in the coming months! Watch for updates or check in with us before your next auction and we'll be happy to keep you posted. Laurie - Bid Beacon Support EJ Erin J. Director of Development Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "CPN review " June 7, 2022 3.0 Pros It’s is very cost effective, and was pretty easy to figure out Cons Users should be required to enter credit card info before they start bidding, and then charged at auction closing for any items won. this would help in closing out auction items Alternatives considered [OneCause](https://www.capterra.com/p/145329/Fundraising-Software/) Reason for choosing Bid Beacon Cost Review Source Response from Launch57 June 9, 2022 Hello Erin, Thanks for this great feedback! We appreciate you trying us out. Good news! We do have the feature to require credit card to bid, and then run an autopay at the auction end - it's available using the Stripe integration at no additional cost. Hopefully for next time, you'll be able to use it! I'd love to offer you 15% off for next time, so you can try it out! Email me at Support@bidbeacon.com and I'll provide a promo code for future use. Thanks again, Laurie - Bid Beacon Support Manager CP Christine P. VP of Operations Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Good Product for a Good Price" June 16, 2022 4.0 Overall it works great for what we needed it for, just have to keep up with any changes or updates since we don't use it often. I would definitely use it again, and think it is a great product for the price. Pros The auction was easy to set up and I was able to figure out through the step-by-step instructions how to connect it to my PayPal account. It's great for the price and overall worked great. Cons We only use it about once a year, so the pricing structure and what was included changed from the last time I used it so had to make a few adjustments. I also had an issue and was disappointed that I had to use chat support over a phone call because it was not included in the package I purchased. We did have a slight issue with viewing items which were paid for after the auction, but were able to figure it after a slight frustration. Reason for choosing Bid Beacon The other was recommended but was way more expensive. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 27, 2022 Hi Christine, Thank you for this great feedback! We appreciate your honest review and take all comments into account as we work to improve our support and product over time! Thanks again! Laurie JH Jeff H. Committee Member Primary/Secondary Education Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "On line auction" June 13, 2022 4.0 Pros Easy to put pictures and information onto the site Cons You could not enlarge the pictures Some of the bid functions did not work properly. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 21, 2022 Hi Jeff, Thanks for sharing your feedback! I totally understand where you're coming from with the frustration on expanding images. Happy to share that has been fixed and images can now be expanded on all devices. We are always testing and fixing issues as they come up, so hopefully it's smooth sailing for you next time! Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success Manager KA Kathryn A. Director of Development Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Affordable Fundraising Solution" June 20, 2022 5.0 Bid Beacon has been the best choice for our organization's needs and has made it possible to run our silent auction more easily and with fantastic results. Pros Bid Beacon has been a game changer for our annual silent auction. This is our organization's primary fundraiser and Bid Beacon has made it possible for us to reach an entirely different group of bidders who may not attend our in-person event. We can't imagine using anything else! Cons It would be great to have a few more customizable options, particularly the colors of the auction pages for those who pay for the highest tier. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 27, 2022 Hi Kathryn, Thanks for your amazing feedback! We are thrilled you enjoyed using Bid Beacon for your fundraiser! I am excited to share that brand colour customization is coming in our next release, which is just a few weeks away. Thanks again! Laurie - Bid Beacon Support MC Melanie C. Director, Donor Relations Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Bid Beacon Review" June 7, 2022 4.0 overall very happy. Customer service has been excellent. I really appreciate being able to set up a zoom call with the developers to talk about the specific needs we have. Pros very simple to upload new items to the auction easy to switch between using the mobile app and the desktop version Amazing customer service! Cons not always straight forward to join the auction depending on what operating system you're using would like to be able to sort report by bidder - not just by item Reason for choosing Bid Beacon price Review Source Response from Launch57 June 9, 2022 Hey Melanie, Thank you for the feedback, we are so grateful for your continued business and support of Bid Beacon! Luckily, the exportable reports are in CSV format and can be sorted by any column you wish!! Hopefully in the future you'll find that a useful tactic to slice and dice your auction data. Laurie - Bid Beacon Support JM James M. School Administrator Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great online auction app" June 8, 2022 4.0 Pros This product is super easy to setup and was a great benefit to our fundraising Cons The user management portion was a little buggy for our admin users. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 13, 2022 Hi James, Thanks for the review! We appreciate the feedback and will definitely look at user management to squash any bugs we can find! Thanks Laurie - Bid Beacon Support Manager KV Karen V. finance admin. Primary/Secondary Education Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Bid Beacon review" June 7, 2022 4.0 Overall has been a good experience. We've use this platform twice to have an online auction. Pros User friendly, having multiple admin users. Cons 1\. Ability to generate a receipt (invoice) before the bidder comes to pay would be a nice feature. 2. Lot # on receipt (invoice) would be helpful. 3. Email of winners - didn't seem to have a rhyme or reason to order. Alphabetic would be handy. 4. Has issues with systems running very slow near end of auction. Some people's website quit working. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 13, 2022 Hi Karen, Thank you for the review, we are glad you enjoyed Bid Beacon! I am pleased to share that in our newest release, 6.1 published June 6, we have added the invoice feature you mentioned in your cons. We appreciate your feedback and have noted it for future roadmap planning! Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success Manager KD Kesha D. President Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "BID Beacon is the clear choice" June 13, 2022 5.0 My experience been great! 2020 was our first year utilizing the software. We came back last year and we will be back in 2022. I like the fact that basic info was saved and it gave our stats/success numbers. Pros Ease of use, quantity of features makes this a no brianer to utilize. Cons Honestly, nothing. Keep up the good work. Reason for choosing Bid Beacon Don't remember. They were all more expensive and offered less. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 21, 2022 Hi Kesha, Thank you so much for this amazing feedback! We are thrilled you enjoy using Bid Beacon and appreciate your business. Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success JB Judy B. Admin Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Bid Beacon made our online auction easy!" September 29, 2020 5.0 Our organization has used Bid Beacon with success. We appreciate the ease of use, and the quick response from the support team. Bid Beacon is our go-to online auction support, and we recommend their services to anyone wanting to have a cost-conscious manageable platform. Pros The ability to purchase a bundle most suited to needs is imperative to any cost conscious organization. No financial surprises, sending invites is easy. Admins will appreciate the ease of managing the status of winning bids with downloadable general reports. Cons Setup: Little more documentation on what photos (for items) dimensions for ease of viewing on web/android/iphones. Push Notifications need a bit more capacity. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 13, 2022 Thank you for the review, Judy! We appreciate the feedback and definitely will take it to our product planning sessions! LB Laurianne B. Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Love Bid Beacon" June 13, 2022 5.0 Pros I love that our supporters can bid from anywhere, they don't have to be physically at the event to bid on items and it makes it so much easier for us to raise more by simply engaging our email list and social media followers alongside the people who actually get tickets and come to the event. Cons Overall Bid Beacon made this auction so successful and fun! Review Source Response from Launch57 June 20, 2022 Thank you Laurianne, for this fantastic feedback! Laurie BW Becca W. Vice President Education Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Wonderful value and product " June 13, 2022 5.0 Wonderful - easy to use without much training and when I had questions I got prompt attention. Pros I loved the feature where we could auto bill all winning bidders in lieu of tracking down bidders to collect payment. The system was turn-key and easy to use. Cons I didn’t like how you could reorganization sections in the auction. They appear in the order you create them and you don’t always know what sections you want in advance. We had a section for donations, gift cards, items and experiences. I always wanted donations at the top. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 20, 2022 Hi Becca, Thank you for sharing this feedback! We are so glad you enjoyed using Bid Beacon and some of it's features. I am thrilled to share that as of early June's release, you can now re-order your categories. See you next time! Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success Manager HD Hayley D. Project manager Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Ever active schools" June 13, 2022 5.0 Pros Easy to use for all . Payments and bids were both easy Cons Nothing we liked everything we used. Maybe verify emaols Review Source Response from Launch57 June 20, 2022 Hi Hayley, Thank you for the wonderful feedback! Great to see that new organizations are trying and enjoying Bid Beacon. Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success JG Jessica G. Events Hospitality Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Amazing!" June 13, 2022 5.0 We were able to close out our silent auction a lot faster, and take payment directly from the app. Pros I loved that we were able to upload all our items, and number the items to be easier to find within the app. Plus the ability to be able to set a max bid on different items was a huge sucess! Cons Our only issue we had was some people had issues getting thru the firewall to be able to pay online at the end, or even be able to bid. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 21, 2022 Hey Jessica, Thank you so much for this valuable feedback! We are thrilled you were successful using Bid Beacon! Laurie - Customer Success Manager MW Mark W. Credit Manager Banking Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Capterra user" June 17, 2021 4.0 Pros This software was easy to understand and use. Cons Some of the features were a bit clunky compared to software I’ve used in the past. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 30, 2021 Hi Mark, First off, our team would like to thank you for providing us with this review. Customer feedback is invaluable and will help us continue to improve the Bid Beacon product. We are sorry to hear that you found some of our features "clunky". Our team is working on a major refresh of the Bid Beacon product which will include improvements to many of the existing features. We hope that once these changes go live, the 'clunkiness' that you had previously experienced will be resolved. Once again, thank you for your honest feedback. We hope that you decide to host an auction with us again in the future! AV Amy V. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Easy to use" June 10, 2022 5.0 I thought it worked really well. I'm very happy with it. Pros The software was easy to set up and easy for our silent auction guests to use. As a non-profit, I appreciated the flat fee for per use. Cons I was worried about the checkout process because you can't preview it. It didn't look quite like the youtube videos online, but it worked! Reason for choosing Bid Beacon Price was the biggest factor. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 20, 2022 Hi Amy, Thanks for the feedback! We are glad you found setup easy! I will work with my team on creating a new checkout process video to keep things up to date, thanks for the idea. Laurie - Customer Success Manager Bid Beacon EA Emilie A. Head Instructor Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Fast, Simple, Easy to use! " June 21, 2021 5.0 Really enjoyed it! Super easy to navigate! Pros Super easy to navigate! Good quality images. Cons I have not come across anything that I would consider for this section Review Source Response from Launch57 June 30, 2021 Hi Emilie, Thank you so much for taking the time to give us a review. We are extremely happy to hear that your experience with Bid Beacon was a positive one. Hope to see you back soon! BW Brandy W. Chapter Leader Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Great tool for our events" June 20, 2022 4.0 Great customer service. Pros Managing bids is so much easier than using paper for bids. Cons I don’t like the user interface being different from the administration. Review Source Response from Launch57 June 27, 2022 Hi Brandy, Thank you for the feedback! We appreciate your willingness to recommend Bid Beacon. Laurie - Bid Beacon Support Manager Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.