atgPay: Autopay

This article describes the automatic payments process for applicable events using atgPay, including how to enable Autopay, when Autopay will run, and how to pause or delay Autopay. 

This article contains the following sections:

• What is Autopay?
• Enabling Autopay
• Eligibility
• Bidder Impact
• Pausing/Stopping Autopay

What is Autopay?

Autopay is a feature that an auction house can use to automatically charge a winning bidder for their purchase if they have not already paid their invoice within 24 or 72 hours. The auction house determines whether cards will be automatically charged 24 hours after invoices are sent, or 72 hours after invoices are sent.

Enabling Autopay

Invoices that are sent to winning bidders prior to enabling Autopay will not be eligible for Autopay unless they are sent out again after Autopay is enabled.

1. atgPay must be enabled on the event in order to use Autopay.
2. Select one of the Enable Autopay options on the event's Payment & Terms page:
   1. No Autopay (this is the default selection)
   2. Enable Autopay: 24 hours (Autopay will run 24 hours after the invoice is sent)
   3. Enable Autopay: 72 hours (Autopay will run 72 hours after the invoice is sent)
3. Update the Payment Instructions field to inform bidders that Autopay is being utilized for the event.
   • Example: "The Buyer's Credit Card on file will be automatically charged within 72 hours if the invoice has not already been paid."

Please note, re-sending an invoice before Autopay runs will restart the 24/72 hour Autopay "clock" for that invoice.

If an invoice contains shipping fees, Autopay will assume the bidder is using house-arranged shipping and will include those shipping fees in the total it collects from the bidder.

• If the bidder would rather pick up their items, the shipping fee can be refunded.

Eligibility

The below conditions below need to be met in order to utilize Autopay:

1. The winning bidder must have a valid credit card on file (Bank Transfer (ACH) payments are not currently eligible for Autopay)
   • If neither condition is met, the winning bidder will need to manually pay their invoice. 
2. If an invoice contains shipping fees, Autopay will assume the bidder is using house-arranged shipping and will include those shipping fees in the total it collects from the bidder.
   • If the bidder would rather pick up their items, the shipping fee can be refunded.
3. If Credit Card Limits are being used for an event, Autopay will not work for invoices with a hammer amount over the selected Credit Card Limit.

Bidder Impact

When invoices are sent to eligible winning bidders, they will see a notification at the top of their invoice stating that they will be automatically charged, along with the timeframe (ex. 24 hours) and the last 4 digits of the credit card to be charged.

If the bidder wishes to use a different method of payment, they will need to pay their invoice manually.

Bidders can establish a default credit card for for use with future automatic payments. For more information, see atgPay: Managing Payment Methods.

For more information relating to how Autopay impacts bidders, see atgPay: Automatic Payments.

Pausing/Stopping Autopay

The Autopay timeframe can be delayed/paused/stopped in three ways:

1. Marking an invoice as "Paid".
   
   • Manually marking an invoice as "Paid" in AuctionBuilder will prevent Autopay from running for that invoice.
   • If the invoice marked as "Unpaid" after Autopay runs, the bidder will be able to manually pay their invoice. 
   • If the invoice is marked as "Unpaid" before Autopay runs, Autopay will still run as scheduled, unless the invoice is re-sent to the bidder.
2. Re-sending the invoice.
   • Re-sending an invoice to a bidder re-sets the Autopay "clock" if the invoice is re-sent before Autopay runs.
   • This means that the 24/72 hour period will start again each time the invoice is re-sent to the bidder, as long as Autopay has not already run for that invoice.
3. Disabling Autopay for the event.
   • Going back into the event's Payment & Terms page and selecting No Autopay will turn off Autopay for the event.
   • Invoices sent before Autopay is re-enabled will not be eligible for Autopay unless they are sent again after Autopay is re-enabled for the event.