One of the most important decisions you’ll make when setting up an online auction is how your lots will close. In most online auctions today, soft close rules are used to keep bidding fair and prevent last-second sniping. You may also hear this referred to as extended bidding or sniper protection.
Here’s how it works: If someone places a bid in the final moments before a lot is set to close, the system extends the lot’s closing time. This gives other bidders a chance to respond instead of getting shut out by a split-second bid.
AuctionMethod gives you flexible tools to customize how your soft close works. You can set:
Soft Close Threshold - This defines how close to the end of a lot’s countdown a bid has to be in order to trigger a time extension. For example, if the threshold is set to 2 minutes, any bids placed within that window will extend the lot.
Soft Close Interval - This is the amount of time a lot gets extended when the rule is triggered. If it’s set to 2 minutes, bidding pushes the clock back by 2 minutes.
Soft Close Type - You can choose between:
Reset Time (default): Resets the countdown to the full Soft Close Interval (e.g., back to 2 minutes).
Add Time: Simply adds that interval onto the existing time remaining (e.g., adds 2 minutes even if only 10 seconds remain).
These rules give your bidders a fair shot at winning a lot and they can also boost final prices by encouraging more back-and-forth.
But sometimes, fairness means thinking beyond a single item.
Soft Close Groups take that same concept and apply it across multiple lots. If a bid is placed on any item in the group within the soft close threshold, all the lots in that group have their timers extended.
This helps when lots are related (like a set of tractors, matching collectibles, or parcels of land) because bidding on one may change a person’s interest or bidding strategy on others.
Soft Close Groups aren’t something you need in every sale. But when you do need them, they can make or break the experience for your bidders - and improve your results as a seller.
Let’s walk through a few scenarios.
You’re auctioning a package of machinery: a combine, 2 grain heads, and a header trailer. A few bidders want individual pieces, but one bidder’s looking to take the whole setup back to their farm.
If each item closes on its own schedule, that buyer might win two but miss out on the third. That’s frustrating and can tank the value of the other two pieces. Using a Soft Close Group ensures that if bidding is active on any one of the items, all three stay open. That gives everyone the same visibility and time to adjust.
Use it when: You’re selling related or complementary equipment that buyers may want to assemble into a package.
Imagine a petroliana sale with multiple porcelain signs, oil cans, gas pump globes, and tins from from the Sinclair Oil Corp. Bidders might be targeting one or two specific pieces - or trying to win the entire collection.
If one item gets a flurry of bids and closes before the others, it can throw off the buyer's strategy. Maybe they were only going to spend big if they could win the whole set.
With Soft Close Groups, if bidding heats up on one item, the rest get extended too. It keeps the playing field level and encourages buyers to stay engaged until the end.
Use it when: You’re offering lots from the same collection or theme that are likely to attract set builders or serious collectors.
Let’s say you’re auctioning off multiple lots of land in the same development, or neighboring houses. A developer might want all of them. A family might just want one.
Without a group-based close, one hot lot could close before a bidder knows whether they have a shot at the others. Soft Close Groups keep all those parcels open together, letting bidders adjust based on what’s happening across the group.
Use it when: You’re selling multiple related properties that could be bought together or influence each other’s value.
Not every auction benefits from grouping.
If your sale features unrelated items (like a general surplus or warehouse clearance), closing lots independently makes sense.
If you’ve already spaced lot closing times far enough apart, bidders may have plenty of time to react.
If you only have one lot, well... no group needed!
Soft Close Groups don’t just protect your bidders - they also protect your results. When used in the right situations, they help maintain momentum, avoid bidder frustration, and support stronger closing prices.
If you're not sure whether to use them, think about how your lots relate to each other. If bidding on one item could affect interest in another, grouping them is probably the way to go.
Need help deciding how to configure your next sale? Come to one of our Synergy Sessions and talk to an expert.