How to Sell through DPW Auctions

Selling through DPW Auctions

DPW Auctions are a more affordable option to eBay auctions. Instead of a sales commission of 9% or more, DPW auctions only charge a 3% sales commission. Selling through a DPW Auction also lets DPW track the bids, mark the work as sold and paid, and pull in the buyer's information.

To sell through DPW Auctions, you need to create a DPW Auction for each work or art you want to sell through auction.

While true with other selling methods, such as PayPal Links, it is especially important that you do not list a work on another website for sale if you are selling it through a DPW Auction. Instead, copy the URL to the DPW Auction from the Artwork Links item in the I Want to... menu in your Art Tracking Grid and paste it into wherever else you are showing your work.

How to Create a DPW Auction

1. Select "Create Auction" in the "I want to..." Menu in your Art Tracking Grid.

The I want to... menu also appears in the pop-up that opens when you click/press a thumbnail of one of your artworks.

2. Fill in the DPW Auction form that opens.

Fill in required values

When you create a DPW Auction, you will be telling DPW at what amount do you want bidding to begin (starting bid) , when the auction will start , and how many days you want the auction to last (between 3 and 7). You also specify at what time you want the auction to end . Pick a time you believe is convenient for the majority of your buyers.

Then, tell DPW how many times to automatically re-list (restart the auction) when the auction ends without a bid. There are no listing or relisting fees with DPW Auctions.

Save as a Template

When the form is completely filled out and before clicking the Submit button, you can click the Save as Template button, if you like, which will save the current form values as a template for all new actions. This is for your convenience. You will be able to change these values, as needed. As with the Submit button, an error message will appear if you have not filled in all the required values.

DPW will fill in the Price in the Art Tracking grid

When selling a painting through a DPW Auction, do not fill in the Price value in the Art Tracking grid for the painting. DPW will automatically populate this value with the highest bid, as bidding progresses. When your painting sells, DPW will mark it as sold.

The Sale is through PayPal

DPW Auctions use your PayPal Account that you specified when you set up your PayPal checkout. DPW manages the auction and bidding, however the transaction is only between you and the buyer. DPW bills you once each month for any auction listing and commission fees. DPW creates a PayPal button for you, which will be available to the winning bidder both on the auction page and in the email they receive when the auction ends.

DPW Auctions do not have a Reserve Price

Unlike eBay auctions, DPW Auctions do not have a reserve price, which is a hidden minimum bid that has to be met before the auction ends in a sale. The reason for this is reserve prices are not very buyer friendly. The goal of a reserve price is to pull buyers into bidding, but then hides from them the actual minimum bid required for them to win the auction. This can be very frustrating and feel manipulating and so DPW Auctions do not offer a reserve price feature. Instead, be sure to set your auctions starting bid to no lower than what you want to sell your work for.

You can read more about DPW Auctions here .