Resources to help your auction succeed

Get help

Real people answer the phone at 1-855-202-4404 x1, Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm Eastern, and by email at support@mobilbid.ca. If you're running an auction right now, call for the fastest help. Help during your event can be arranged in advance.

Every account includes phone and Zoom training, and access to our searchable help centre. If you're a client and don't have the help centre link, contact support and we'll send it.

Training videos

The MobilBid Learn tutorial library walks you through setting up an auction, in the order you'll do it: registering guests, uploading items, messaging, invoicing and closing. Clients get the full library with their account. Start with these two:

• Introduction and how to use the tutorials (1 minute 23 seconds): what the MobilBid Learn videos cover and how they're organized.
• Create your first auction (2 minutes 28 seconds): the first steps of setting up an auction.

Planning guides

Plain, practical guides for Canadian charities, schools and nonprofits:

• How to plan a charity silent auction: a timeline and checklist, getting items donated, and setting starting bids and increments.
• Charity silent auctions with mobile bidding: paper bid sheets vs phones, and how the night works.
• Online and hybrid charity auctions: choosing a virtual auction platform, setup, timing and delivery.
• Proxy (maximum) bidding explained: how maximum bids play out, with worked examples.
• Closing a silent auction and checkout: timing the close, winners, payment and pickup.
• Silent auction software in Canada: how to choose: pricing models, features and questions to ask.

See all guides on the guides page, and every feature on the features page.

Printable tip sheet

10 ways to maximize your silent auction results (PDF, 299 KB): tips shared by organizers who run auctions with MobilBid, from checking the venue's phone signal to timing your last messages before the close. For an up-to-date list of what's included in every account, see pricing.

Event partners

These independent professionals work with charities and non-profits across the GTA and beyond. Contact them directly; they set and invoice their own fees.

Have your auction run for you

If you don't have the time or people to set up and run a MobilBid auction, an Auction Assist partner can do it with you. You provide the dates and times, logos, item photos and descriptions, starting bids and increments, and pickup or delivery details. They set up, preview and run the auction, remotely or, in the Toronto area, in person. Their fee depends on the number of items and the scope of the work, and is separate from MobilBid's fee.

• Silent Auctions Canada: a full-service charity auction company in Newmarket, serving Toronto, the GTA and Southern Ontario. It runs in-person, live and virtual auctions, or a combination, and can supply auction items.
• Cassidy Event Management: an event strategist working with charities and non-profit organizations of all types.

For the evening around the auction

• Layne, The Auctionista: a benefit auction specialist and live auctioneer for live, virtual and hybrid events.
• Fairhart Productions: a GTA video production house offering event video and virtual streaming.
• LuxGive: villa and travel experiences for benefit auctions.

Are you an event professional who works with MobilBid? Call 1-855-202-4404 x1 to talk about being listed.

Customer stories

• Hockey Helps the Homeless: seventeen auctions a year in seven provinces.
• Beyond the Pale Brewing: an online auction of 236 artist-decorated skateboard decks in 2023.
• Youth Singers of Calgary: a ten-day online auction for a virtual gala.
• What organizers say: testimonials from charities, schools and event planners.

“From our first contact through presentation, first class training, fast, phenomenal customer service, and easy billing, MobilBid offers a professional business model to be envied.”

Common questions