Auction Night, and the Figures Are Done by the Time You Stand Up
The bidding happens in the hall, the way it always has. The moment the winning ticket and the bid are entered, the commission, the dividend and the net prize are worked out.
What is on the screen at seven o’clock
Scheduled auctions sit on a list by date. Open tonight’s, and the group’s unprized tickets are the only ones you can pick from.
Only tickets that can win
A ticket that has already taken its prize is not on the list. The oldest mistake in the trade cannot be made.
The bid, checked
The winning bid is tested against the group’s minimum and ceiling before it is accepted. A bid outside the limits does not go in quietly.
Minutes, typed there and then
The minutes of the auction go in on the same screen while people are still in the room. Not from memory on Thursday.
Who approved it
The auction result carries the name of the person who approved it, along with the time.
The arithmetic nobody does on a calculator any more
Your commission comes out of the bid at the group’s rate, and what is left is divided across the group’s tickets as this month’s dividend. Next month’s due for every ticket is raised with that dividend already deducted, and the following auction goes on the calendar. The prized ticket gets a pending payout for the net prize, waiting on security.
What it will not do
It does not run the bidding. The shouting, the pauses, the subscriber who raises his hand and changes his mind: all of that is still a room full of people and a foreman who knows them. The software starts when somebody says a number out loud and it is written down.
Frequently asked questions
Does it calculate the dividend and our commission?
Yes. Enter the winning bid and the commission is taken at the group’s rate, with the remainder split as dividend across the tickets. Every ticket’s next due already has the dividend taken off.
Can we record an auction the next morning?
You can, though the minutes are better typed while the room is fresh. The entry carries the auction date, so a late entry does not pretend to be a timely one.
What if we entered the wrong bid?
Read the bid back to the hall before you save it, because saving is what closes the auction. That one entry credits the dividend, raises next month’s due for every ticket and schedules the next auction. A wrong figure is not a field you can go back and retype, so ring us and it is put right on the records, with the correction visible.
Can two groups hold an auction on the same evening?
Yes. Each auction belongs to its group, and the dues and dividends raised afterwards stay inside that group.
Tell us what you need.
Send a short brief and one of our engineers will come back to you — usually the same day.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private