Understanding Item Types and When to Use Each

Every item in your catalog is assigned a "Type", and that choice matters more than it might seem. Type determines how an item is sold, where it can be offered, and which Item Number it's assigned — so it's worth choosing carefully from the start.

What "Type" controls:

  • How an item is sold (competitive bidding vs fixed-price)
  • Where an item can be offered
  • The initial Item Number assigned

Bidding Style and Pricing fields are conditional and display appropriately for the Type selected from the dropdown menu.  

Since Type controls numerous conditional fields, Types are fixed and cannot be added/edited within the menu or bulk edited across items. 

Designed Uses for each Type:

  1. Live:  For items to be sold to the highest bidder by an auctioneer at a gala or virtual event.  
  2. Silent:  For items to be sold to the highest bidder via printed bid sheets and/or online/mobile bidding.
  3. Raffle:  For "tickets" sold for any game of chance. Because games of chance are never tax-deductible, no portion of a Raffle purchase can be reported as a charitable contribution. Note: most states regulate or prohibit online raffles, so Raffle-type items cannot be sold online. If your state's requirements are met, you can use Type = Sellable with FMV = Price to offer raffle tickets online instead.
  4. Sellable:  For items to be sold at a fixed-price to one or more people.
  5. Signup:  For fixed-price, per-person participation in a party or activity. Signup works identically to Sellable, except it also generates a ready-made report of participant information to share with the event host.
  6. Paddle Raise: For all types of cash donations. These report as 100% charitable contributions.
  7. In Kind: For items to be used/consumed during the event rather than sold.