Auction Manager

Auction Manager
▶

Grace Auction Manager is a complete auction packing and shipping management tool designed to connect three parties in one centralized system:

Included in Grace Complete

This is an advanced tool, included in the Complete plan — the full power of Grace.

Voice
Not in this tier
Growth
Not in this tier
Complete
✓ Included

Everything, in one organized flow

✓

Auction houses upload auctions by CSV (date, lot, description, dimensions, weight, photos)

✓

Buyers request a packing & shipping quote before they bid — removing bidding uncertainty

✓

Win, accept or modify the quote, and combine multiple lots into one order

✓

Pay online or by approved card authorization; the house is told which items to release

✓

Organized pickup lists and digital pickup verification (photos, video, signature, chain of custody)

✓

Packing keeps every customer, auction and lot properly organized

✓

Tracking auto-shared with buyer and house; claims handled with full documentation

✓

Three dashboards — auction house, customer and store — with full transaction visibility

Why Auction Manager

The Auction HouseThe Customer / Auction BuyerThe Packing and Shipping Store

The goal is to make the entire process—from requesting a shipping quote before an auction to pickup, packing, shipment, tracking, and historical records—as organized, transparent, and friction-free as possible.

For the packing and shipping store, Grace Auction Manager creates an opportunity to build stronger relationships with auction houses by providing a professional, efficient, and highly organized shipping process that auction houses can confidently recommend to their buyers.

Before the Auction

Auction houses can upload information about upcoming auctions directly into Grace Auction Manager.

Instead of manually entering every item, the auction house can upload a CSV file containing its auction inventory, similar to the information it already prepares for online auction platforms.

The uploaded information can include:

Auction dateLot or item numberItem descriptionDimensionsWeightPhotosOther information needed to prepare a packing and shipping estimate

The auction house can then place the participating packing and shipping store’s Grace link directly on its website, auction listing, buyer instructions, or other communications.

This gives prospective bidders an easy way to request a packing and shipping quote before they bid.

Knowing the estimated packing and shipping cost before the auction can help customers determine how much they are comfortable bidding and removes one of the biggest uncertainties associated with purchasing items remotely.

Customer Quote Requests

The customer selects the auction and item or items they are interested in and submits a request for a packing and shipping quote.

The store receives the request and prepares the quote using the information provided by the auction house.

The customer can then review the quote through their Grace Auction Manager dashboard.

If the customer wins the item, the process does not have to start over.

The customer can simply:

  • Accept the original quote
  • Request a modification if necessary
  • Add additional items they won
  • Combine items from the same auction
  • Add items from different auction dates when appropriate

This allows multiple auction purchases to be organized into one customer workflow instead of creating disconnected transactions for every item.

Quote Approval & Payment

Once the customer is ready to proceed, they can approve the packing and shipping quote.

Depending on the payment options available to the store at that time, the customer may be able to:

Pay online, orSubmit an approved credit card authorization

Once the quote has been approved and the appropriate payment requirements have been satisfied, Grace automatically coordinates the next step.

The auction house receives notification that the specified item or items have been released to the designated packing and shipping store.

The store is also notified that the order has been approved and is ready to move forward.

Auction House Pickup Coordination

The store and auction house can communicate through Grace to coordinate pickup.

Grace creates an organized pickup list identifying exactly which items the store is authorized to collect.

The auction house receives the corresponding list so its employees can prepare the items in advance.

Instead of employees searching through records, emails, invoices, and handwritten notes when a driver arrives, both parties are working from the same information.

This can make auction pickups significantly faster and more organized.

Digital Pickup Verification

When the store picks up the auction items, employees can document the condition and transfer of the merchandise.

The store can:

Take photographsRecord videoAttach documentation to the individual item or orderConfirm the items receivedDigitally sign for the pickup

Grace records the date and time of the pickup, creating a documented chain of custody.

The auction house, customer, and packing and shipping store can all see that the merchandise has moved to the next stage of the process.

This documentation can also become valuable if questions about an item’s condition or handling arise later.

Packing & Order Management

When the merchandise arrives at the packing and shipping store, Grace helps employees immediately identify:

  • Which customer owns each item
  • Which auction the item came from
  • Which items belong together
  • Which order the item belongs to
  • The packing requirements associated with the quote
  • The current status of the transaction

Employees can then pack the items and move the order through the store’s normal shipping process.

This helps eliminate one of the biggest operational challenges associated with auction shipping: keeping multiple customers, auctions, lots, pickups, and packages properly organized.

Shipment & Tracking

Once the shipment is processed, the store can scan or enter the tracking number directly into Grace Auction Manager and associate it with the appropriate transaction.

Grace can then automatically provide the shipment information to the customer and auction house.

The customer can see that the order has shipped and access the tracking information without repeatedly calling the store.

The auction house also has confirmation that the merchandise it released has been processed and shipped.

Claims

If a shipping claim occurs, the store is notified and can handle the claim according to its normal claims procedures and the requirements of the applicable carrier.

The transaction history, pickup documentation, photographs, videos, order information, shipment information, and tracking records maintained within Grace can help keep the information surrounding the shipment organized.

Three Connected Dashboards

Grace Auction Manager gives each participant access to their own appropriate dashboard.

Auction House Dashboard

The auction house can view and manage information related to its auctions, including:

Upcoming auctionsAuction inventoryQuote activityItems awaiting releaseItems scheduled for pickupItems picked upItems shippedTracking informationPrevious transactions

The auction house can search and filter its historical activity whenever information is needed.

Customer Dashboard

Customers can:

  • Request quotes for future auctions
  • Review existing quotes
  • Approve quotes
  • Add additional auction winnings
  • Follow the status of their items
  • See when items have been picked up
  • View shipment and tracking information
  • Search previous auction transactions

Instead of relying on multiple emails and phone calls, customers have one organized location for their auction shipping activity.

Packing & Shipping Store Dashboard

The store can manage the complete auction shipping pipeline, including:

Quote requestsQuotes awaiting approvalApproved ordersAuction house communicationsPickup schedulingPickup listsItem documentationPacking statusShipping statusTracking numbersClaimsHistorical transactions

This gives the store visibility into every active auction order and allows employees to quickly understand what needs to happen next.

Complete Transaction Visibility

One of the most important benefits of Grace Auction Manager is that the auction house, customer, and packing and shipping store always know where an item is and what stage of the process it has reached.

A transaction can move through a clearly defined pipeline such as:

Upcoming Auction → Quote Requested → Quote Provided → Auction Won → Quote Approved → Payment Completed → Released by Auction House → Pickup Scheduled → Picked Up → At Store → Packing → Shipping → Shipped → Delivered

Instead of information being scattered across phone calls, emails, spreadsheets, paper pickup lists, and employee notes, Grace creates one centralized record of the transaction.

Helping Auction Houses Grow

Grace Auction Manager is not simply a shipping management system.

It can become a business-development tool for both the auction house and the packing and shipping store.

Auction houses want to focus on what they do best:

finding merchandise, attracting bidders, conducting auctions, and selling items.

They do not want their staff spending valuable time answering repeated questions about packing, shipping, pickups, tracking numbers, and shipping estimates.

By partnering with a packing and shipping store using Grace Auction Manager, the auction house can provide its buyers with an organized shipping solution while reducing the amount of administrative work its own employees have to handle.

That efficiency may allow the auction house to conduct auctions more frequently, serve more remote bidders, and provide a better buyer experience.

Helping Customers Bid With Confidence

For buyers, Grace Auction Manager removes much of the uncertainty surrounding remote auction purchases.

Before bidding, customers can understand what packing and shipping may cost.

After winning, they already have a direct connection to the company responsible for packing and shipping their merchandise.

From quote request through delivery, they have one place where they can follow the transaction.

This creates a much more organized and frictionless way to participate in auctions from anywhere.

Helping Stores Build Recurring Auction Business

For the packing and shipping store, Grace Auction Manager transforms auction shipping from individual, unpredictable transactions into a structured business relationship.

A store that consistently provides auction houses with:

Fast quotesOrganized pickupsClear documentationReliable communicationProfessional packingShipment visibilityTracking informationExcellent customer service

can become the auction house’s preferred packing and shipping partner.

That relationship can generate a recurring stream of packing, shipping, freight, crating, and related service opportunities.

Grace Auction Manager connects the auction house, buyer, and packing and shipping store in one organized workflow—making auction shipping easier for everyone while creating a powerful recurring-business opportunity for the store.

See Auction Manager on your own store

Book a live demo and we'll walk you through it with your store in mind — or start your free trial today.

Grace — The AI Toolbox built for pack, ship & print / mailbox retail stores like yours  ·  Terms  ·  Privacy