AuctionMethod vs Fish Auctions

AuctionMethod is white-label auction software for setting up events and managing lots, consignors, bidders, and sales. It supports timed online, simulcast, blind timed, catalog-only, fixed-price, and perpetual events. Management tools cover cataloging, bidder registration, invoices, taxes, payments, and reports. The Auctioneer Toolbox app for Android and iOS supports item cataloging, photos, and pickup management. Payments can use Fiserv, Stripe, Authorize.net, or eWay, with proceeds going to the customer's own merchant account. Users can export bidder, listing, and report data, upload by CSV, or connect through APIs. Named integrations include Mailchimp, GA4, Google Tag Manager, Avalara, EasyPost, Smarty, and UserWay. Plans include unlimited auctions, bids, lots, items, photos, and admin users. Growth costs $100 a month with a one-time $250 account activation; Scale is $750 a month with a one-time $2500 activation. Custom Solutions starts at $1,500 a month with a one-time $5000 activation. There is a 30-day trial, and subscriptions are month to month and cancelable at any time. The company says it charges no commissions or per-lot, event, or photo fees.

Fish Auctions is a free web service for clubs running auctions for fish, reptiles, amphibians, food cultures and other pet-keeping supplies. Clubs can hold traditional in-person auctions or run them online. Online bidding supports proxy bids, and an auction can extend when bids arrive in its final 15 minutes. Organizers can manage lots, set reserve and buy-now prices, add labels, and project lot pictures during in-person events. Auction creators can give other users admin permissions to add users, edit lots, and view or export invoices. The site generates invoices automatically, but clubs handle payment collection themselves. Square payments are available to approved accounts, and invoices can be exported for PayPal import. CSV exports include breeder-point information, and lot images can include YouTube links. The site says online auctions can accommodate 200–300 simultaneous users without slowdowns in practice; larger use may slow it. Direct person-to-person sales outside a club auction are not permitted.