This video walks through the full Add/Edit Auction workflow in the Maxanet Admin panel. If the video does not load, open it directly on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDFCosfUV_w.

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Creating a new auction in Maxanet is done from the Current Auctions page with the green Add button. Every auction has four required fields (Title, Start Date, End Date, Auction Type) and many optional settings that control bidding behavior, public visibility, fees, and payment requirements. This article is a full field-by-field reference for the Add/Edit Auction page, covering what each field does, what values are valid, and when to use it.

When you log into your Maxanet admin panel, the default page is your Current Auctions. Click the green Add button near the upper right of the page to open the Add Auction form. The same form is used for editing existing auctions — either click the 3-dot Actions menu on an auction row and choose Edit, or click into the auction dashboard and use the Edit option from the menu.

The Auction Title is the name of your auction as it appears to bidders and in the admin panel. You can change the title at any time, even after the auction has ended and moved to the Past Auctions page. Keep titles descriptive enough that bidders can tell auctions apart at a glance (for example, March Estate Auction — 200+ Lots instead of just March Auction).

The Start Date controls when the auction moves from the Future Auctions to the Current Auctions tab on your public website. It also determines whether the auction appears in the Draft Auctions or Current Auctions tab in your admin panel. Important: both Start Date and End Date must be entered by the admin in Central Time regardless of your own time zone. This is the only area of Maxanet that requires time zone calculation — bidders never see Central Time because the public auction page displays countdown timers in the bidder's own browser time zone.

The End Date sets the exact time the first item in the auction will close. If you set the End Timer to 8:00 PM Central, the first item's countdown ends at 8:00 PM Central. Subsequent items close at the Staggered Ending rate (see below). End Date is required.

Choose one or more Auction Types from the dropdown (Online Only, Real Estate, Personal Property, etc.) or click the green Add Type button to create a new type on the fly. Multiple types can be assigned to a single auction. See the Auction Types article for how bidders use types to filter the public calendar.

Maxanet can optionally enable four additional date fields — Preview Start Date, Preview End Date, Pickup Start Date, and Pickup End Date — on the Add/Edit Auction form. Contact Maxanet support to turn this feature on for your account. When enabled, these dates display on the public Auction Details page so bidders know when they can preview items in person and when pickup is scheduled.

The Auction Fees field lets you assign Global Fees at the auction level — any fee assigned here is automatically applied to every item in the auction. Useful for auction-wide Buyer Premiums, Sales Tax, and custom fees that should apply across the board. You can still add, edit, or remove fees at the individual item level even when auction-level fees are set.

This field controls where the auction appears in the default sort order on the public calendar. In most cases, keep this number at its default value. See the related Re-arrange Auctions article for how to override display order manually with drag-and-drop.

Auto Extend Time (in minutes) controls Maxanet's anti-sniping behavior. Default = 3. With 3 minutes set, if any bid is placed on an item with less than 3 minutes remaining on its countdown timer, the item automatically extends to 3 minutes remaining. A bid placed at 0:01 extends the item to 3:00. A bid placed at 2:55 also extends to 3:00. This prevents last-second sniping and keeps the auction fair for all bidders. Set Auto Extend Time = 0 to disable auto-extend entirely (items end exactly at their countdown timer).

If you use Maxanet's QR Code photo upload system, the Custom Text field adds a line of custom text to the bottom of every QR lot sticker printed for this auction. Most clients enter their website URL or company name so pickup crews can identify the source at a glance.

Staggered Ending controls how fast items close after the End Date is reached. The default is 3 items per 1 minute — meaning after the first item closes at your End Date, items 2 and 3 close within the next minute, items 4-6 in the minute after, and so on. Adjust the staggered rate based on how many items are in the auction and how much buffer time you want between closings.

For more precise control, check the Custom Staggered Ending box to reveal a Staggered Ending in Seconds input. Enter the exact number of seconds between item closings — for example, 20 means 1 item closes every 20 seconds. This is useful for auctions where you want a custom closing pace that doesn't match the preset options.

Display Format controls the bidding UI bidders see. Four options:

The Auction Dashboard has a Gallery tab for auction-level highlight photos. Add, edit, or delete gallery photos directly from that tab — these images display on the auction's public listing page, separate from individual item photos.

You can edit any field of an auction at any time. Go to the Auctions page in the admin panel, click the 3-dot Actions menu in the far right column, and choose Edit. Alternatively, click the auction name to enter the Auction Dashboard and select the Edit option from the menu there. All changes save immediately and apply going forward — existing bids and item data are preserved.

Central Time. This is the only area of Maxanet that requires time zone calculation — bidders see countdown timers in their own browser time zone automatically.

Most likely because 'Display in Public Page' is unchecked (it's unchecked by default). Open the auction's Edit page and check that box.

It prevents last-second sniping. If a bid is placed with less than the auto-extend minutes remaining, the item's countdown extends to that many minutes. Default is 3 minutes. Set to 0 to disable.

Open Bidding shows two boxes (next bid + max bid). Maximum Bidding shows one box that can be used for either. Hidden Bidding is sealed-bid. Price List has no bid boxes at all.

Yes. Title is editable at any point, including after the auction has moved to Past Auctions.

Staggered Ending controls how fast items close after the End Date. Default is 3 items per minute. Slower stagger (custom seconds) gives bidders more time to react between items; faster closes the auction quicker.

Use the Clone feature from the Auctions page Actions menu. Clone copies all settings (fees, increments, terms, formats) into a new auction, which you then re-title and re-date.