Stripe Stripe Payments

AuctionFlow uses Stripe Payment Intents with manual capture to place deposit holds on bidder payment methods at auction registration. The hold amount is configurable per auction — typically 10-20% of the estimated lot value or a flat deposit amount set by the auction house. When a bidder wins a lot, the hold converts to a charge for the hammer price plus buyer premium. When a bidder does not win any lots, the hold is released automatically within the configurable release window (default: 24 hours after auction close). This eliminates the manual deposit management that auction houses currently handle through spreadsheets and manual card charges, and reduces bidder complaints about held funds by providing clear hold and release timing through the bidder portal.

The buyer premium — the surcharge above hammer price that represents the auction house's primary revenue — is calculated automatically at the moment the lot closes. AuctionFlow supports configurable buyer premium structures: flat percentage (e.g., 20% of hammer price), tiered percentage (e.g., 25% on first $100K, 20% on the next $400K, 12% above $500K), and flat fee plus percentage combinations. The calculated premium is itemized on the winning bidder's invoice and collected in the same Stripe payment capture as the hammer price. For auction houses running multiple auction formats with different premium structures, the premium configuration is set at the auction level, not globally, allowing different rates for estate sales versus fine art versus vehicle auctions.

After the settlement hold period — typically 7-14 days to allow for lot delivery confirmation and dispute resolution — AuctionFlow disburses consignor proceeds through Stripe Connect. Each consignor is onboarded to Stripe Connect during the consignment intake process, with identity verification and bank account setup handled by Stripe's hosted onboarding flow. Settlement payouts deduct the auction house commission, buyer premium allocation, and any applicable fees (photography, cataloging, insurance) before disbursing the net proceeds. The consignor portal displays a detailed settlement statement showing each lot's hammer price, commission, fees, and net payout, with the Stripe transfer ID for bank reconciliation.

For auction houses with international bidders — common in fine art, jewelry, and collectibles — Stripe's multi-currency support allows AuctionFlow to present lot prices and accept payments in the bidder's local currency while settling to the auction house in their base currency. Currency conversion is handled at the Stripe level with transparent exchange rates displayed to the bidder before payment confirmation. This removes the friction of international wire transfers and reduces the payment abandonment rate for cross-border auction transactions.