Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing a product through one of these links generates a commission for us at no additional expense to you.
We’ve all heard of eBay.
While auctions certainly used to be more popular, they’re still an incredible way to monetize a website.
If you have a great idea for building an auction website, you’ll love the plugins picked out here.
These plugins can be used to create a platform for your own auctions, or a complete auction marketplace where anyone can register and list new auctions.
Keep reading to see why we picked these plugins.
Don’t have a design yet? Visit our collection of auction WordPress themes before you go.
Auction WordPress plugins
Only highly-rated and feature-packed plugins made the cut here. You’ll find a mix of both free and premium plugins, so we’ll leave it up to you to select the solution that fits your budget best.
Here are the top picks for the best auction WordPress plugins.
1. WooCommerce Simple Auctions
Plugin Description
WooCommerce Simple Auctions adds a comprehensive auction system to your website and for just $29, it’s a steal!
This auction plugin allows you to create auctions from your WordPress dashboard just like you’d publish a new post. You can adjust the starting price, reserve, and buy it now in seconds. Add images for the product along with the title and detailed description.
Since the plugin is integrated with WooCommerce, you get access to a variety of popular payment processors like PayPal and Stripe. WooCommerce is used on over four million sites so it’s an extremely reliable choice as your eCommerce engine. We have more auction plugins made for WooCommerce if you intend to use this eCommerce tool on your website.
WooCommerce Simple Auctions includes widgets and shortcodes for outputting lists of auctions and individual auctions throughout your site. We’ve barely scratched the surface of what this awesome auction plugin can do, so click the link below to see more.
2. Dokan
Plugin Description
Dokan is an incredible plugin that adds complete multivendor capabilities to your website. That means visitors can register as customers or sellers. Sellers get their own dashboard where they can list products and make money on your site. In this case, they would be creating auctions.
Dokan doesn’t have the auction functionality you need included on its own. Instead, you’ll want to get a copy of WooCommerce Simple Auctions as well as the Dokan Simple Auctions plugin. There’s no better solution for building a robust auctions platform with WordPress.
The benefit of using Dokan is that it creates an entirely front-end experience for your members. They’ll never even know you’re using WordPress! It also scales well and provides a ton of monetization options. You can charge members to list auctions or upsell options to highlight their auctions. Or, charge a monthly subscription for access to your site – the options are endless with Dokan.
3. Ultimate WordPress Auctions
Plugin Description
Ultimate WordPress Auctions is the best free option for creating an auction website. It includes all the base functionality you need, and there is a premium version on the way which will have tons more features.
With Ultimate WordPress Auctions, visitors can register on your site and place bids on any auction. All of the auctions you create can have starting prices, Buy Now options, and reserve prices. Integrate with PayPal for all payment processing, set minimum bid increments, and include multiple images for every product.
On top of these essential auction features, Ultimate WordPress Auctions comes with a great assortment of automated emails. For instance, bidders will receive notifications whenever they place a bid and whenever someone outbids them. These emails are excellent for increasing engagement and creating bidding wars on your website.
Overall, Ultimate WordPress Auctions is a full-featured auction plugin and a great option to get started with.
4. Auction Plugin
Plugin Description
Hosting auctions on your site is a great way to monetize a market. However, you might have auctions listed on eBay already, so why not just add them to your site? That’s exactly what Auction Plugin does.
With Auction Plugin, you can include all of your active eBay listings on any page of your WordPress site. There are plenty of filters so you can set the number of items, category, and add keyword-based search results. This provides a ton of control so you can drive traffic to your most profitable and exciting listings.
In addition to your auction listings, you can embed your eBay profile. It includes details like your feedback rating, account registration date, and badges. The feedback section includes full reviews from your previous customers.
Which auction plugin is best?
Using WooCommerce as the backbone for purchases is very smart, and that’ss why WooCommerce Simple Auctions is our top recommendation. Also, it’s extremely comprehensive so you won’t find it lacking any features.
If you want to build an auction marketplace like eBay, we still recommend using WooCommerce Simple Auctions, but pair it with Dokan too. The Dokan plugin will add all the marketplace functionality you need.
You can get started with Ultimate WordPress Auctions if you’re looking for a free alternative instead.
Anyone who prefers to simply feature their existing eBay listings on their site should go with the Auction Plugin.
Have a question about one of these auction WordPress plugins? Post in the comments section below.