The 5 Best WordPress Auction Themes to Sell Cars, Coins, Sports Memorabilia, and More

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Ben Sibley

“These themes are hand-picked for their outstanding design quality, features, and customer reviews.”

I’ve got good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there are only a few decent themes for auction sites. To be honest, most WordPress themes made for online auctions are hard to use, ugly and dated, or flat out broken. But luckily, some really great themes have been released in recent years, giving you some excellent new options.

The themes included here integrate with premium plugins for page building and all of the auction functionality. Rather than rely on the theme itself for auctions, you’ll get a professional solution integrated with a popular existing eCommerce platform, like WooCommerce.

You can build the auction site of your dreams with any of these top themes, so keep scrolling to see our picks.

If this is your first website, follow our guide on how to create an auction website to get started.

WordPress Auction Themes

These themes are responsive and up-to-date with the latest version of WordPress.

They’re all excellent choices for a site that needs to add auctions, handle bids, and process sales.

Here are my top picks for best auction WordPress themes for 2024.


  • 1. iBid by Modeltheme (Themeforest)

    iBid

    View theme now Get hosting

    Theme Description

    I’ve been waiting for someone to make the quintessential WordPress auction theme, and it’s finally here.

    iBid includes a huge variety of styles for different niches. The screenshot above showcases an example of a sports memorabilia auction site. Still, there are demos prepared for artwork, coins, cars, military & historical items, comic books, heavy machinery, electronics, commercial medical products. You can use the Elementor page builder or WPBakery plugin to import and customize any of these pre-made designs.

    On top of the extremely customizable platform, iBid offers integrations with numerous auction plugins. It works with four top marketplace plugins, including Dokan and WFCM Marketplace. There’s even a plugin bundled for free if you want to create a freelance marketplace site like Upwork. Most other themes only integrate with one plugin and force you into the integration, so it’s awesome that iBid provides so much freedom.

    iBid enjoys a 4.85/5 rating from 39 customer reviews. Many of them cite the developer’s helpful and fast customer support, which only makes iBid an even better choice for your auction website.

    Learn more

  • 2. Essential by ProspektDesign (Themeforest)

    Essential WordPress auction theme

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    Theme Description

    Essential is an excellent theme for running auctions with WordPress. Its beautiful and modern design integrates smartly with the WooCommerce Simple Auctions plugin. While this theme lets you run auctions, it does not have built-in capabilities to let members signup and add their own auctions.

    How it works

    Essential uses WooCommerce, the most popular WordPress eCommerce plugin, to handle sales. It also integrates with the WooCommerce Simple Auctions plugin to convert regular product listings into auctions so that visitors can place bids. You might also want to check out our list of WooCommerce auction plugins that can work with any theme.

    Other benefits

    Essential comes bundled with WooCommerce Simple Auctions ($21) and WooCommerce Simple Bulk Discounts ($19).

    Top features

    • Two homepage templates
    • Easy to use theme options
    • Two customizable sliders
    • Compare and wishlist functionality
    • Unlimited color schemes

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  • 3. Auction by Dex Themes (Themeforest)

    Auction WordPress theme

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    Theme Description

    This unique theme was made to create online auctions. In particular, it was designed for auctioneers to sell cars. If you want to start a website for a car dealership with auctions and bidding, this is the perfect theme for you.

    The Auction theme is compatible with WooCommerce for handling all aspects of eCommerce. It includes an extensive, user-friendly options panel for you to customize your site with. For multilingual websites, you’ll appreciate the WPML integration too.

    There are plenty of theme options included to brand the site, and you’ll be impressed by the top-notch ratings this theme is getting. It currently has a 4.87/5.00 average rating from its first 15 ratings.

    Don’t be intimidated by the complexity of this auction theme. You can get started immediately by importing the demo content XML file. The import process will quickly set up your WP site, just like the live demo featured in the screenshot above.

    Learn more

  • 4. Adifier by Spoon Themes (Themeforest)

    Adifier classified ad theme

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    Theme Description

    Adifier is a gorgeous modern theme for classified ad websites. I know what you’re thinking – that’s not the same as an auction! Luckily, Adifier includes a built-in auction system to convert your WordPress install into an auction website.

    With auctions enabled, sellers can choose from a few new ad types. Instead of a plain classified ad, they can create a new auction that viewers can filter out from regular advertisements. You can only enable auctions if you want to create an auction marketplace like eBay.

    The built-in advanced custom fields let sellers include all sorts of formatted info about the products they’re selling. You can also accept payments from virtually every modern payment processor, including PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.Net, and Paystack.

    When it comes to monetization, you can charge sellers to list ads for set periods of time and upsell ad promotions that get their auction listings highlighted. You can earn a lot more by allowing members to “bump” their listings higher too.

    Learn more

  • 5. Online Auction Theme by PremiumPress

    Online Auction Theme

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    Theme Description

    PremiumPress is known for its incredibly robust and featured-packed themes. Online Auction Theme (OAT) is no exception. It includes everything you need to publish auctions or charge members to list their own products. OAT can be used to run your auctions and allow visitors to signup and list auctions too.

    How it works

    You can add auctions in OAT the same way you publish posts. There’s an interface on the site so members can list auctions (“Add Auction” screenshot above) which you can review and edit/approve in the WordPress admin dashboard. Members can use built-in auction tools to customize and promote their listings and increase bids.

    Other benefits

    Online Auction Theme has dozens of child themes for quickly transforming the site’s design and a private messaging system for your users.

    Top features

    • Live auction countdown
    • Auction reserve prices
    • Buy now buttons
    • Commission rates
    • Feedback system

    Learn more

Want to save a few bucks?

Themeforest always has popular themes on sale.

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Themes on sale

Which auction theme is right for you?

If you’re not sure which theme to pick, here are a few closing thoughts.

iBid got the #1 recommendation because it has attractive designs and integrates with all the best auction plugins. You can use a modern page builder like Elementor with it and select from any of the four top auction solutions.

Essential is my former top recommendation for building an auction site with WordPress. While iBid integrates with more modern tools, Essential is still an excellent choice because of its sharp, modern design and integration with WooCommerce.

Thanks for browsing this list of the best auction WordPress themes. Please share it with someone else if it helped you out today.

Ben Sibley
Ben Sibley
This article was written by Ben Sibley. He is a WordPress theme designer & developer, and founder of Compete Themes.