Bidders & Phone Numbers
There are several ways to associate a Cell Phone Number with a bidder. Note, that if there is a Phone Number entered for the bidder it will also be considered their Cell Phone Number unless a specific number is entered for their mobile device.
A bidder record has two fields for "phone" numbers: Phone Number and Cell Phone Number. The Cell Phone Number may be technically considered optional if the Phone Number entered is the bidder's Cell Phone Number. If the Phone Number is the only one entered it will be used as the Cell Phone Number to send text message notifications to and to accept bid requests from.
NOTE
It is recommended suggesting your guests use their cellular phone number, if they have one, when using the Bidder Registration form as it only accepts a single telephone number which, by default, is treated as a cellular phone number for the Text Messages feature set.
You can see the current phone numbers on the bidder details page under Contact Information
You can associate a Cell Phone Number with a bidder in the following ways.
Manually Add the Cell Phone Number
When adding a bidder via the bidder check-in page you can enter the Cell Phone Number.
If a bidder has a cell phone number entered this is also shown on the check-in page:
Enable Bidders To 'Claim' Their Bidder Number
If you are doing a traditional check-in and assigning bidders a bidder# but don't want to have to take the time to enter their cell phone number, or risk data entry errors, you can allow bidders to Claim their bidder# by texting the auction phone number the claim command.
This feature needs to be enabled under Communication > Text Settings
You can then provide your bidders with instructions to text: claim <their bidder#> to the auction phone number ... for example, claim 20.
The bidder will receive an acknowledgement that they are now associated with the bidder#. If the bidder# already has an associated cell phone number then they will instead get an error message.
Enable Registration by Text
You can go a step further and allow bidders to register by text, too. Under Communication > Text Settings enable the Allow bidders to register by text message setting.
A bidder can then text Register <firstname> <lastname> to the auction phone number to register. For example: register John Smith
The system will automatically assign a new bidder# to them.
Enable Automatic Registration by Text
The easiest option allows bidder to be registered automatically, they just need to text a bid in and the system will create a new bidder for them.
Under Communication > Text Settings, enable the Automatically register bidders when they bid/donate setting.
A bidder can then participate without any prior steps and just text bid <amount> for <item#>.
Last reviewed: January 2023