Handbid Reviews & Product Details

Handbid is a premium silent auction software and mobile bidding platform with concierge-level service — auction and event technology for organizations that can't afford to have their most important moments go wrong. One online auction platform serves three worlds: nonprofit fundraising and charity auctions (from black-tie gala fundraisers to grassroots campaigns), enterprise and luxury brands (fully white-label auction software), and commercial auction operators (liquidation, surplus, consignment, and specialty auctions at scale). Handbid powers mobile bidding, event ticketing and registration, guest check-in, text-to-give, and payment processing across in-person, online, and hybrid events — including live auctions, silent auctions, and sealed-bid auctions. White-label branding puts your URLs, emails, and interface front and center. Invite-only access controls gate who registers and bids. Real-time bidding data, fundraising reporting, and payouts keep decisions moving during the event, not after it. What sets Handbid apart from other auction software is delivery: concierge onboarding means our team configures your auction items, access rules, and payment flows — you host, we handle the software. APIs and integrations with Stripe, CRMs, and check-in tools fit your existing workflow, with compliance and security built in. Trusted by nonprofits, schools, universities, professional sports foundations, healthcare organizations, and enterprise auction houses, Handbid has powered thousands of fundraising events and auctions — from intimate board dinners to 3,000-guest galas.

Seller

Handbid

Discussions

Handbid Community

Languages Supported

Arabic, German, Greek, English, French, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese (Traditional)

Solution Type

Best-of-Breed

Overview by

Jeff Porter

Value at a Glance

Averages based on real user reviews.

Time to Implement

1 month

Return on Investment

4 months

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Top-Rated Alternatives

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User Insights

Average based on 218 real user reviews.

Implementation Time

1 month

Perceived Cost

$$$$$

Handbid Integrations

(5)

Integration information sourced from real user reviews.

G2 reviews are authentic and verified.

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Peggy M.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

2/16/2023

"JFCS of Minneapolis review of Handbid."

5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

The Handbid team is kind, responsive, helpful and remains on top of any issue until it is resolved. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

Not knowing how to explain to an outside user, our donor, ways to make it easier for them to donate. Believe we all interact with technology differently. So, would like guidance on how to explain and direct my donors more efficiently. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Kristen Wheeler of Handbid

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Wow, we are humbled and honored for your review, Peggy. We are creating these resources as we speak, and look forward to sharing them with you. Thank you so much for this, and for being a loyal Handbid customer.

Verified User in Automotive

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

8/8/2023

"Handbid Has Made It Easy for me to manage as a first timer"

5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

The Most Helpful Thing About Handbid is their fast communication on anything about the software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

How it does not transfer guest list to the new auction each year Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Stefanie Mason of Handbid

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Thank you so much for your feedback. Guest data can be transferred and we'd love to show you how. Please contact our customer support team.

Verified User in Hospitality

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

8/22/2023

"make this go away"

5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

ease of use and recognizable throughout our area Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

that this stupid questionnaire won't go away Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Stefanie Mason of Handbid

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Thanks so much for your feedback. We appreciate your bringing the questionnaire issue to our attention. If you're still receiving the pop-up, please email us right away at service@handbid.com

Jill F.

Development Director

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

12/9/2022

"Handbid is great for small organizations"

5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

Loved using Handbid for mobile bidding and our guests loved bidding via their devices. Loved being able to charge and send receipts very easily. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

The learning curve was steep and there are some quirks. I don't understand why there needs to be separate bidder & guest lists. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Kristen Wheeler of Handbid

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Thank you for leaving us this review, Jill! We appreciate that you are a Handbid client, and we're always working to make the software better and easier for you to use.

Rebecca B.

Director, Revenue Operations

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

10/10/2022

"Best first Silent Auction Experience- Great customer Service!"

5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

The training and customer services was a 10/10. The night itself, they answered every call I had during the late hours. I will be choosing Handbid again! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

A lot of the features I needed during the event weren't enabled on the iphone and only on a computer / ipad. I believe they are working on updating their tech to do this! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Kristen Wheeler of Handbid

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Thanks so much for this review, Rebecca! Yes, we are always improving our technology and processes, and feedback like this is helpful. We look forward to continuing to work with you on your future events!

Reed M.

Insurance Sales

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

8/24/2022

"Excellent Service & Expertise"

5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

Handbid is the best. They provide a simple, easy-to-use software to administer our auction and ticketing for our fundraising events. Both using the site self-service and with the assistance of the managers and on-site support couldn't be better. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

There is very little we dislike about Handbid. We find their fees to be appropriate. The site works well and we will continue to partner with them for the years to come. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Kristen Wheeler of Handbid

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We are honored for this review and for your business, Reed. We look forward to continuing to work with you on your future events!

Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/16/2022

"Collegiate Man of the Year"

5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

Very easy to collect and close the auction and the staff was great to work with. They really walk you through the process. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

Not much of anything we don't like. We are excited to find out some New ways to work with them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Handbid:

It streamlines the auction process. If you are a small organization like we are with a large event, it makes event day a lot less stressful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Handbid solving and how is that benefiting you?

Ease of registering, collecting, and checking out the silent auction. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Melissa Glissmeyer of Handbid

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Great to hear Handbid helped make your event less stressful! That is our goal. While we do have many auction management features on our smartphone app, we would love to hear your specific feedback on what we could improve. Thanks for using Handbid to power your event; we look forward to hosting your silent auction again next year!

Michael P.

Founder

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5/24/2022

"Handbid knocks it out of the park for my annual event"

5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

There is so much to like. From the easy check in of guests, to the check out and reconciliation of purchases but the #1 thing is it makes us look professional. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

I've been a customer of Handbids for over 3 years. They are always improving the platform. So it's hard to say what I don't like at this time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Elaine M.

Volunteer auction co-chair/HandBid Queen

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/17/2022

"GHS Third year was more challenging"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

We like the reporting and the item templates Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

Google address lookup was an intensely frustrating and on-going problem for our potential ticket purchasers and registered bidders. We have no idea how many people didn't continue to pursue browsing/ticket purchases because it was so difficult. It was very hard on the staff to try to troubleshoot, make purchases from the back end and not introduce errors when purchasing tickets for others. Exhausting and time consuming and potential loss of income. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Handbid:

Aside from the Google Address lookup and a Caribbean cell provider blocking password reset requests, new users probably found it easier to register than those who had accounts they tried to reactivate from the two prior years. We also had people register without buying tickets but show up to the event thinking they had purchased tickets. We also had some phones at the event get stuck in a category and couldn't get back to the rest of the categories without closing the app and going back in. Prevented some bid placement and standup scholarship bids. Not convenient for some of our elderly, low tech benefactors. Our hybrid livestream event with Virtual Assistant was great last year, but This year was far more glitchy than the last two years. If the school stays with Handbid next year, we will probably not do the live stream. Last minute equipment change led to very poor and slow transmission quality. No bids generated through livestream participation. Want to continue with Handbid but the next administration will probably streamline. Reporting is great. Support was helpful but couldn't solve all of our challenges. Great program if all going smoothly! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Handbid solving and how is that benefiting you?

Handbid is planning to have the next update include an option to disable the Google address lookup based on our issues with many non-standard addresses. Note that our benefactors have addresses from all over the country that were affected. This was not limited to St John, USVI addresses. Fix us too late to help us this year. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Melissa Glissmeyer of Handbid

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Thank you for your review, Elaine. We are glad to hear that you enjoy our reporting and item templates. Touche on the Google address lookup issues. Our goal was to improve the quality of addresses captured from registered users. However, we quickly realized (too late in your case) that Google does not have the best coverage for addresses in the US Virgin Islands. We have since corrected this process so that users can either opt to use Google address lookup or enter their address manually. Now that this solution is in place, we are confident your users will not have issues adding their addresses in the future. Also, as you mention, Hybrid events can be tricky if you do not have adequate internet where you are generating your livestream. We appreciate your business over the years and our team is committed to making your next event even better!

Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5/18/2022

"Easy to Use Auction Software"

5/5

What do you like best about Handbid?

Ease of use internally and externally. It was very easy to upload items. In our previous software, the items had to be uploaded more than once and on more than one platform. It was also a good experience for our guests - the mobile view was high quality and easy to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Handbid?

*donation increment amounts - We would have preferred to be able to also add those to the mobile auction and change the way the increments were.

*reports -The CVS reports were done well and had the information that we needed, but the PDF reports were too long (took up too many pages). We would prefer to have a detailed report showing all bidder purchases but not taking one page per bidder.

*deposit after - It took longer to process the deposit from Handbid after the event than we would have liked. The email response from Handbid after they sent the settlement report was signed took close to two weeks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.