Best Online Auction Platform for UK Charities in 2026: 8 Options Compared

The best online auction platform for most UK charities in 2026 is the one that runs the whole auction in a browser, keeps platform fees low, and pays funds straight into your own account. GalaBid, Emma Live, Eventgroove and Charity Hive do that. Jumblebee holds your funds in a client account until every winner has paid. GiveWheel pays out monthly. Givergy, now trading as momoGood, is priced per event and quoted after a call.

This guide compares eight platforms on what they cost in the UK, what card processing adds, where your funds sit after a winning bid, and who each one suits. Pricing was checked in September 2026 against each vendor's published UK rates and Trustpilot or Capterra listings.

The Best Online Auction Platforms for UK Charities Compared

Review scores are from each platform's Trustpilot UK, Capterra or GetApp listing as of September 2026. Most UK-only platforms have few or no reviews on the software directories, so treat small counts with care. Vendor pricing changes, so confirm current rates before you commit.

What Makes an Online Auction Platform Different From Silent Auction Software

An online auction platform runs the entire auction on the web. There is no ballroom, no bid sheets, and no closing time tied to a dinner. Supporters bid from their phones over days or weeks, wherever they are, and pay online the moment they win.

Silent auction software is built around an event. It still uses online bidding, but the features that matter most are check-in, table plans, pledge moments and a fast close before the speeches. If that is your event, read our UK silent auction software comparison instead.

For a fully online auction, four things decide the result: how easy bidding is on a phone, what the platform takes, where the funds land, and whether you can add ticketing, raffles or donations to the same campaign without paying twice.

The 8 Best Online Auction Platforms for UK Charities Reviewed

1. GalaBid: Best All-Round Online Auction Platform for UK Charities

GalaBid is the best fit for most UK charities running an online auction because every feature is included on every plan, and funds never pass through a holding account. Bidders register by text or email, bid from any browser, and pay by card on the spot.

Pricing in the UK is simple. The Free plan carries no platform fee and is funded by optional supporter tips, with 10% of those tips shared back to your cause. If you would rather your supporters never see a tip prompt, the Pro plan charges 4.9%. Larger campaigns can arrange a flat fee upfront. Details are on the GalaBid pricing page.

Payments run through Stripe at Stripe's own UK rates with no markup, and you choose whether to pass processing fees on to participants. Because Stripe is connected to your account, funds settle straight to your bank on Stripe's normal schedule. GalaBid never touches them.

The bidding tools are built for auctions that run without a room. Overtime extends the close by a set number of seconds whenever a late bid lands, so nobody wins by sniping in the final moments. Max bidding lets a supporter set a private ceiling and have the platform bid for them in increments. Sealed bids hide all bids until close, which suits high-value items where you want one best offer. Live leaderboards show top bidders and new activity to keep the campaign visible.

Fulfilment is handled too, which matters when nobody collects in person. You can add postage costs per item, collect winners' addresses at checkout and mark items as dispatched. A Buy It Now price lets a supporter skip the bidding war. Reserve prices protect high-value items, and anything that stalls can be sold after the auction closes. Winners can add a donation at checkout, which is where Gift Aid can apply.

Support comes from real people rather than chatbots, round the clock, from setup through the final close. GalaBid is not a US platform with a UK price list: a co-founder and part of the development team are based in the UK, so product decisions and support reflect how UK charities fundraise. The same campaign can sell tickets, run a raffle and take donations, so a supporter who misses out on an item can still give. Rated 4.9 on Trustpilot from 160 reviews, 91% of them five-star, and 4.8 on Capterra from 55. That is the highest Trustpilot score and the second-largest review count in this comparison. See the online auction platform in detail.

2. Emma Live: Best for Gala Event Operations

Emma Live is the strongest alternative if your online auction sits inside a bigger event. Ticketing, table plans, check-in, pledging and card pre-authorisation are all part of the platform, and support is hands-on. Reviewers rate it 4.8 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, the highest score of any UK-only platform here after GalaBid.

The Essential plan has no upfront cost and charges a 4% platform fee. The published pricing does not say which transactions the 4% applies to, so ask before you sign. Enhanced is a single-event subscription from £1,295 with three hours of dedicated support. Annual is a bespoke proposal. Emma links your own Stripe account and charges no payment fees of its own, so funds reach you direct at Stripe's rates.

3. GiveWheel: Best Free Option With a Monthly Payout

GiveWheel charges no platform fee on auctions and puts no limit on lots. It is funded by an optional contribution supporters can add at checkout. Card processing is 1.2% + 20p on UK cards, which is below Stripe's standard rate, and 2.5% + 20p plus 2% FX on European cards. Rated 4.6 on Trustpilot from 98 reviews.

The trade-off is timing. Even with your own Stripe connected, GiveWheel initiates payouts on the 1st of each month, arriving within two working days. The Charities Trust route costs 2.5% and takes five to ten working days, with a further 4.5% if Charities Trust reclaims Gift Aid for you. Bank transfer is a lump sum around three months after the page closes. For a charity that needs the funds in the week after close, plan around the calendar.

4. Jumblebee: Best for Consignment Lots

Jumblebee's beeClassic plan runs an online auction for 5% + VAT of the total winning bids with no setup cost. The beeFree live event plan has no platform fee if you include ten or more Buzz items, which are Jumblebee-sourced consignment lots sold on a split. The staffed beePro plan is a fixed fee that is not published.

If Jumblebee collects payments through its own Stripe, processing is 2.4% + 20p, and winners are offered the chance to donate that fee back to your cause. Funds are held in Jumblebee's FCA-regulated client account and transferred to your bank once all payments are collected, not as each bid is paid. Jumblebee has no Capterra or Trustpilot listing we could verify, so independent review data is thin.

5. Eventgroove: Best for Raffles and Auctions Together

Eventgroove offers two ways to pay. Tip pricing costs you nothing and asks supporters for an optional tip at checkout. Percent pricing charges 4.9% on auction proceeds, capped at £100 per item, and 7.5% on other campaign types. Eventgroove's own auctions page quotes 7.5% for auctions, so confirm which figure applies to your account.

Processing runs through your own linked Stripe account at 2.2% + 20p for charities, and funds are not routed through Eventgroove at any point. You can pass the processing fee to supporters on percent pricing but not on tip pricing. Eventgroove has two GetApp UK reviews and almost no Trustpilot presence, so there is little independent signal on support.

6. Charity Hive: Best Low-Cost All-in-One for Small Charities

Charity Hive is a Kent-based platform that bundles a website, donations, ticketing, shop, raffle and auction lots under one pay-as-you-earn fee: 1.5% on donations and 3% on everything else, with no monthly or setup charges. Gift Aid is excluded from the fee.

Payments run through your own gateway account, so funds land directly as each payment is made. Charity Hive quotes a processing rate of around 1.1% + 15p, though its worked examples show 20p, so check the current figure. Rated 4.2 on Trustpilot from 9 reviews.

7. Givergy, Now momoGood: Best for Fully Managed Galas

Givergy combined with US firm Tatango in March 2026 to form momoGood, and its UK pricing page now redirects there. Pricing is per event with no percentage of funds raised, quoted on guest count, features enabled and support level. Three tiers run from software only up to a fully managed service with on-site staff and item sourcing. No figures are published.

Card processing rates and payout terms are not published either. Trustpilot shows 3.8 from 217 reviews, with 73% five-star and 9% one-star, which is the widest spread in this comparison. For a single online auction with no event attached, it is more service than most charities need.

8. CharityBid: Flat Per-Event Pricing

CharityBid is a small UK platform priced from £150 per event with no commission. Its site publishes very little beyond that: no package details, no processing rates and no payout terms, and it has no Trustpilot or Capterra listing. It may suit a small silent auction where a fixed fee is the priority, but ask for everything in writing before committing.

Where Your Funds Go After a Winning Bid

Whether the platform holds your funds is the most overlooked difference between online auction platforms, and it splits this list cleanly.

GalaBid, Emma Live, Eventgroove and Charity Hive connect to your own Stripe or payment gateway, so each payment settles to your bank on the gateway's normal schedule. GiveWheel also uses your own Stripe but releases funds monthly. Jumblebee collects into its own client account and pays out once every winner has settled. momoGood and CharityBid do not publish their payout terms.

A holding account is not always a problem. It becomes one when a grant match, a venue deposit or a programme payment is due in the days after the auction closes, or when a disbursement fee eats into a small campaign. Ask any vendor for the payout timing in writing before you sign.

Gift Aid and Online Auctions

Gift Aid does not normally apply to winning bids. HMRC treats a winning bid as payment for the item or experience rather than a gift, so the platform cannot turn it into a Gift Aid claim. Where Gift Aid can apply is on a separate donation a supporter adds at checkout, or on the part of a bid above an item's market value where HMRC's conditions are met. See HMRC's guidance on what you can claim Gift Aid on.

GiveWheel, Charity Hive and Emma Live mention Gift Aid collection on donations. GalaBid lets winners add a donation at checkout and exports the transaction data you need for a claim. No platform in this comparison determines your Gift Aid position for you, so check with your finance team or HMRC.

How to Choose an Online Auction Platform

Check the Real Cost, Not the Headline

Most platforms on this list advertise a free plan (UK). The cost sits elsewhere: supporter tips, percentage fees, disbursement charges or card rates above the Stripe standard. Stripe's published UK rate is 1.5% + 20p on UK cards. Jumblebee charges 2.4% + 20p through its own Stripe, and Eventgroove 2.2% + 20p. Work out what a £15,000 auction would cost on each plan, including processing and VAT where it applies, and compare that figure.

Test the Bidding Experience on a Phone

Most bids in an online auction come from a phone. Register as a bidder on a demo, place a bid, get outbid and pay. If any of those steps takes more than a few taps, supporters will drop out at the same point.

Look for the Features That Matter Without a Room

In an event-night auction, the auctioneer and the clock create urgency, and winners collect their items on the way out. Online, the software has to do both jobs. Five features carry most of that load.

Overtime, sometimes called auto-extend or anti-sniping, pushes the closing time back by a few minutes whenever a bid arrives near the end. Without it, bidders wait until the last ten seconds and the item closes below what people were willing to pay.

Max bidding lets supporters set the most they will pay and have the platform bid on their behalf in increments. It keeps people in the auction when they cannot watch their phone, which over a week-long campaign is most of the time.

A live leaderboard and outbid alerts by text turn a quiet page into a contest. Sealed bids are worth having for one or two headline items where a single best offer beats a public bidding war.

Postage is the one most platforms ignore. An online auction needs postage costs on each item, the winner's address captured at checkout, and a way to track what has been sent. Without it, your team is chasing addresses by email for a week after close.

Not every platform in this comparison offers all five, and some reserve them for higher tiers. Ask before you commit.

Count the Features You Will Need on Every Plan

Ticketing, raffles, donations and SMS notifications are often add-ons or reserved for higher tiers. If you plan to run more than an auction, a platform that includes everything on every plan avoids a surprise upgrade halfway through the campaign. If a raffle is part of the plan, check the UK raffle rules first, because an online auction needs no gambling licence but a raffle may.

Confirm Payout Terms in Writing

Ask where funds sit, how long until they reach your bank, and what each disbursement costs. The table above gives the published position for each platform, but terms change and some vendors do not publish them at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Best Free Online Auction Platform for UK Charities?

GalaBid, GiveWheel and Eventgroove all offer a plan with no platform fee in the UK, each funded by optional supporter tips or contributions. GalaBid includes every feature on the free plan and pays funds direct to your own Stripe account as each bid is paid. GiveWheel pays out monthly. Eventgroove pays direct but will not let you pass processing fees to supporters on the free plan.

How Much Does an Online Auction Platform Cost in the UK?

It ranges from nothing beyond card processing to several thousand pounds a year. Tip-funded free plans sit at one end. Percentage plans run about 3% to 5% of proceeds, sometimes plus VAT. Single-event subscriptions from Emma Live start at £1,295, and managed services from momoGood are quoted per event. Card processing of 1.5% + 20p or more applies on top in almost every case.

Do I Need a Gambling Licence to Run an Online Auction?

No. An auction is a sale to the highest bidder, not a game of chance, so it sits outside the Gambling Act 2005. Raffles and prize draws are different, and the rules depend on how and where tickets are sold. Our guide to UK raffle rules covers when a licence or registration is needed.

Can Supporters Bid on an Online Auction From Their Phone?

Yes. Every platform in this comparison supports mobile bidding through a browser, and some also offer an app. GalaBid bidders register by text or email and bid from any phone without downloading anything, which removes the biggest barrier to first-time bidders.

How Long Should an Online Auction Run?

Seven to ten days works for most charities. That is long enough to promote the auction twice and let bidding wars build, but short enough to keep urgency. Platforms that support outbid notifications by SMS keep supporters engaged across the full window.

Can I Claim Gift Aid on Auction Bids?

Generally no. HMRC treats a winning bid as payment for the item or experience, not a donation. Gift Aid may apply to a separate donation added at checkout, or in limited cases to the part of a bid above the item's market value. Check HMRC's guidance or ask your finance team before claiming.

Run Your Next Online Auction on GalaBid

Every feature, on every plan, with funds going straight to your own Stripe account. Set up your online auction in minutes, or talk to the team about which UK plan fits your campaign.

‍