What do bidders see, and do they need an account?

Bidders are members of your website. A free member account is enough: on a lot page a signed-out visitor sees a Sign in to bid card, enters their email, and the sign-in link brings them straight back to the lot. No password is needed. Manage members under Members.

The lot page shows the photos, description, provenance and condition, the current bid or the starting amount, the number of bids, the closing time in the visitor's own time zone with the auction's zone named beside it, the minimum next bid, the state (Preview, Open, Closed, Unsold, Awaiting payment, Settled, or Canceled), your fulfillment terms, and the bid history. History shows each bidder under an alias (a first name and initial, or Bidder and a number), never an email. The page refreshes itself every 20 seconds while bidding is open and says so if a refresh fails.

A bidder who is outbid gets an email with a link back to the lot. Your own view of the bid history, under Auctions, shows every bid asked for, accepted or refused, with the member's email beside the alias.