Custom Auction Platform Pricing, Published.

What you pay before you launch, what you pay at launch, and what you pay after. All in writing, on this page.

Before Launch:

What you pay to build the platform

Two line items, depending on scope. Pre-launch development hours at $75/hour, scoped against a written quote before work starts.

For complex or specialized builds, a paid Discovery Engagement comes first: a flat-fee, scoped phase that produces a documented requirements roadmap before any code gets written. For more straightforward builds, the Discovery fee may be waived.

At Launch:

The one-time setup fee

$5,000 one-time account setup. This is what you see on the pricing page. It covers staging your dedicated platform instance, the configuration interview, and unlimited private training sessions for your team all the way through go-live. Distinct from Discovery.

After Launch:

Monthly fee and ongoing development

A base monthly charge (starting at $1,500/month), starting the day you go live, not the day we sign.

$125/hour post-launch development, typically structured as a block of hours drawn down against requests. Any post-launch add-ons you’ve turned on bill on top of the monthly charge. This is the picture the pricing page shows.

How We Quote Work

Every development request gets a written quote before work starts: scope, hours, cost, timeline. If scope changes mid-build, we requote before continuing. If hours run long because we missed something, we absorb it.

The full request-to-deployment workflow (how user stories and acceptance criteria get written, how work moves through QA, how priorities get triaged) lives on the Engagement Process page →

The Monthly Fee

The monthly charge is what’s published on the pricing page. Here’s what’s inside it, what bills on top of it, and when the floor moves.

Included in the base:

Platform & Infrastructure: Dedicated standalone instance, distributed hosting with separate client database, maintenance, security updates, auto-scaling, 100% uptime guarantee with automatic service credits.
Support & Training: US-based Pro tech support via email, ticket, and phone; weekly Synergy sessions; 1:1 expert training on request; priority support access.
Auction Operations: Simulcast streaming, Consignor Management, SMS notifications, Invoice Auto-Pay, attribution-free footer, Mailing List Integration, Past Auctions Page.
Commercial Terms: No per-transaction fees, no percentage of sales, full data export any time in any format.

Add-Ons available on Custom Solutions, sometimes billable separately (see Pricing for additional details):

Affiliate / hub-and-spoke option
Mirrored Database (for BI tools)
EasyPost (shipping carrier integration)
Multi-Language / Weglot
Non-Preferred Payment Processors
Plus: Avalara (advanced tax), Userway (accessibility widget), HubSpot (CRM), Snowflake (BI), Smarty (address verification), Perpetual License, Concierge Data Migration, and many more.

When the base charge floor moves:
The monthly fee can be higher if what we've built into your platform requires more infrastructure or third-party resources. Examples: dedicated regional servers, AI/LLM integrations that consume API credits, or other resource-intensive customizations.

If a development request will move your monthly fee, we tell you in writing before the work starts. No surprises after go-live.

Schedule a Call

Why Two Development Rates?

Pre-launch: $75/hour
Before your platform goes live, we want your scope to be big. The lower rate is an incentive to front-load features, test workflows, and iterate on the build before go-live. The math should make it easier to say yes to a scoping conversation instead of scope-cutting yourself into a platform you'll outgrow in six months.

Post-launch: $125/hour
After you go live, every change is to a running platform. That means change management, regression testing, scheduled rollouts, and live deployment support. The higher rate reflects the additional care required to ship safely. And it encourages explicit prioritization, which produces better roadmaps.

After launch, hours are typically structured as blocks drawn down against requests rather than billed per-change. Block sizing matches your roadmap and tops up whenever you need it.

Pricing Explained - What the Month Includes

Years building auction software

Custom auction builds delivered

100

Platform uptime

min

Average support response time

Modest

Customization

$8K–$15K pre-launch dev

Typical client: specialty operator (single-vertical liquidator, niche category house, or estate dispersal operator) moving off a constrained platform.
Typical scope: branded UI, multi-state sales tax handling, custom consignor intake form, shipping carrier integration.
Timeline: ~2 months scope to launch.

Moderate

Build

$20K–$45K pre-launch dev

Typical client: multi-location auction house with workflow complexity beyond what templated SaaS handles.
Typical scope: timed format with vetted commenting, seller-side messaging, category-specific intake rules, custom bidder registration flow.
Timeline: ~3–5 months scope to launch.

Complex Enterprise Build

$60K–$120K+ pre-launch dev

Typical client: corporate surplus operation, internal sales division, or large auction company with system integration requirements.
Typical scope: ERP integration, SSO for internal users, audit-ready reporting, API-driven lot ingestion, Mirrored Database for BI integration.
Timeline: ~6–9 months scope to launch.

Frequently Asked Questions About Our Custom Auction Software Costs and Development

The questions that come up on every scoping call.

How much does a custom auction platform typically cost?
Will my monthly fee ever go above $1,500?
What’s the difference between Discovery and the setup fee?

The setup is for staging a dedicated instance of the software: your platform, on your servers, configured to your specs. It applies to every Custom Solutions engagement. Discovery is separate. It’s a paid, scoped engagement we use for complex or specialized builds, where we spend dedicated time understanding your operation before any code gets written. Discovery is priced based on time, methodology, and depth (on-site, remote, or document-based). For more straightforward builds, the Discovery fee may be waived.
What additional costs aren't covered by the costs outlined above?

Third-party service fees (payment processor charges, shipping carrier fees, SMS, email delivery above free tiers). Domain registration and SSL certificates (we can set these up for you). Third-party subscription costs if you bring your own CRM, accounting, or BI tool. Your team's time in requirements, testing, and training. LLM/AI usage costs if we build AI features into your platform (providers charge per token).

When any of these apply, we call them out explicitly in the firm quote so there's no confusion about what's ours versus what's someone else's.
Is there a minimum project size or required annual contract?

No required annual contract. The monthly charge is month-to-month post-launch. You can cancel with 30 days' notice, and your data leaves with you. For smaller projects, our standard SaaS platform usually fits. AuctionMethod's standard SaaS platform is genuinely powerful. It includes a full-featured bidding engine, configurable auction settings, bidder registration and management, payment processing, email and SMS notifications, and a self-service admin interface — everything most independent auctioneers need to run a professional online auction operation.

If custom isn't the right call, we'll tell you on the scoping call.
What if the project goes over the estimated hours?

Our company conducts hundreds of auctions annually, and AuctionMethod has been a steadfast provider by furnishing online auction software that is dependable and in addition to developing features that have helped our operations grow. AuctionMethod’s web-based auction software is extremely robust, and its development team is very knowledgeable. They are open to hearing our ideas and are fast to respond to what is required to make our *feature* dreams into a reality. If you're in the process of evaluating auction software options for your online auctions, in-person bidding, webcasts, and live simulcasts, I highly recommend reaching out to AuctionMethod.”

Jotham K.

Marketing Manager

"We have used Auction Method's services for three years now and I can honestly say the platform is easy to use, reliable, and priced well for our small business. What really stands out though, is their customer service. After all these years I still feel like we're learning new tricks and tips to fully utilize the system. It's got a lot to offer, we're very happy with it, and they're constantly making it even better. I appreciate the fact that whenever we have questions, we get help quickly from real people who actually understand auctions. That's huge. Solid platform. Great support. Two thumbs up."

Jodi A.

“In 2018 we began experience growing pains and our website auction software was unable to handle the amount of traffic and items we had on a weekly basis. I'm very slow for change but after our site kept crashing and we had to restart auctions I decided to reach out and find out what AuctionMethod was all about. I am very very thankful we did the switch. Our site was able to look the same with way more features and accessibility. We love it! Bidding is more fun than having to refresh a page constantly. We have a lot of volume of items weekly so we've pushed the software as hard as we can. The price and excellent service at AuctionMethod is what keeps us raving about the product. We've been using the software for going on 6 years now and look forward to continuing with the product!"

Custom Auction Platform Pricing, Published.

What you pay before you launch, what you pay at launch, and what you pay after. All in writing, on this page.

Three Pricing Windows. All Published.

Custom auction software development has three places money changes hands: while we build it, when you go live, and while you run it. Each one is structured differently because each one is doing different work.

Before Launch:

What you pay to build the platform

At Launch:

The one-time setup fee

After Launch:

Monthly fee and ongoing development

How We Quote Work

The Monthly Fee

The monthly charge is what’s published on the pricing page. Here’s what’s inside it, what bills on top of it, and when the floor moves.

Why Two Development Rates?

Real Custom Builds, Real Track Record

Over ten years of auction-specific software development experience, with the operational numbers to back it.

What Custom Auction Software Costs

Every project is different, but most fall into three rough size bands. None of these are quotes. They're representative ranges. Your firm written quote comes after we've scoped your specific requirements.

Modest

Customization

$8K–$15K pre-launch dev

Moderate

Build

$20K–$45K pre-launch dev

Complex Enterprise Build

$60K–$120K+ pre-launch dev

Frequently Asked Questions About Our Custom Auction Software Costs and Development

The questions that come up on every scoping call.

How much does a custom auction platform typically cost?

Will my monthly fee ever go above $1,500?

What’s the difference between Discovery and the setup fee?

What additional costs aren't covered by the costs outlined above?

Is there a minimum project size or required annual contract?

What if the project goes over the estimated hours?

Ready to Scope Your Project?

Teams Love Building With AuctionMethod

Winning words from our custom auction software development partners.

Jotham K.

Marketing Manager

Jodi A.

Kyle P.

Auction Specialist