Create and run a timed auction (administrator)

At a glance

Audience: Site administrator. Difficulty: beginner. Time: about 25 minutes.

Create a timed auction from admin (Classic Editor) or the submission UI. Link or create a WooCommerce product, set title, description, gallery, category, starting price, optional reserve, optional Buy Now price, increment, start/end times, visibility, and terms.

2. Moderate if needed

If workflow requires review, approve the auction so it can schedule or go active.

3. Publish schedule

Ensure start and end times are correct in store timezone understanding; server stores UTC canonically.

4. Monitor bidding

Watch bid audit screens as needed. Soft close may extend the end time near close.

5. Closing and award

At end, the server determines winner, reserve result, award, and payment deadline. Confirm Action Scheduler jobs if close seems delayed.

6. Payment and completion

When the winner pays via WooCommerce, order events update auction, award, and settlement state.

7. Buy Now and Relist

Optional Buy Now ends an active timed lot immediately for eligible buyers and creates an award at that price. After a lot finishes, use Relist in the admin list to open a fresh draft with new dates.

States

draft
pending_review
rejected
scheduled
active
paused_admin
closing
ended
reserve_not_met
payment_pending
paid
completed
unsold
cancelled
payment_defaulted

States that accept bids

active

Create and run a timed auction (administrator)

Prerequisites

Steps

1. Create the auction