Product roadmap · Draft for discussion

EmpireVault Auctions

An online auction platform for industrial surplus operators. It runs a sale from the first lot to the release document, and it connects to EmpireVault so buyers, bids and invoices reach your CRM without anyone copying and pasting.

What gets built, in order

Three stages. The first is a complete sale, start to finish. Each later stage adds sale formats, tools and connections on top of a platform that already works. The order below is our proposal and will follow what operators tell us matters most.

Stage 1 · In build

Run a full sale

Everything needed to take one timed auction from catalogue to collection.

Stage 2 · Planned next

Every way you sell

The remaining sale formats and the post-sale work that still happens off-platform.

Stage 3 · Later

Wider reach

Seller access, new kinds of operator and open connections.

Auction platform

Works on its own, with or without EmpireVault.
Stage 1 · In build · Run a full sale
  • Lots with fields that fit the assetPipe asks for joints, weight, length and grade. Vehicles ask for year, make, model and VIN.
  • Photos, documents and video links, with automatic lot numbers
  • Anonymous sellers and city-level locationsFull site details stay private until you release them.
  • One registration per buyerSale terms and buyer's premium are accepted on the first bid, not in a second form.
  • Timed bidding with maximum bidsYour increment table, staggered lot closing and a three-minute extension per lot.
  • Live closing dashboardEvery lot's status, current bid, extensions and reserve position on one screen.
  • Seller bid-approval report
  • Invoices with buyer's premium, one per buyer per sale
  • Wire payments recorded by financeMarking an invoice paid moves the sale forward. No email to the auction manager.
  • Release document generated and sent on full payment
  • Removal follow-up, and every document kept with the sale
Stage 2 · Planned next · Every way you sell
  • Sealed-bid sales and make-offer sales
  • Change a sale's format without rebuilding itAn auction that closes with no bids can continue as make-offer.
  • Award to the second or third bidderInvoices and post-sale documents follow the new award.
  • Per-ton and per-unit bidding
  • Spreadsheet import for large catalogues
  • One-step relisting of unsold lots
  • Seller net remittance with approval steps
  • Tax-exemption documents and VAT refunds on export
  • Sanctions screening of winning bidders
  • Inspection requests managed by your team
  • Text and WhatsApp notifications
  • Spanish and Arabic
  • Your own domain and a full theme editor
Stage 3 · Later · Wider reach
  • Seller portalSellers review their lots, approve bids and see their results directly.
  • Independent sellers listing and being settled on your site
  • Card and bank-transfer payments for operators who want them
  • Shipping and fulfilment for operators who ship goods
  • A consumer collectibles editionAuthentication details, fixed-price sales and shorter sale formats.
  • AI help with lot titles and descriptions from photos and nameplates

EmpireVault connections

Optional. Connect on day one or later, without re-entering data.
Stage 1 · In build
  • Buyers and their companies appear as EmpireVault contactsWith a visible sync status, and a person confirms any uncertain match.
  • One staff account for both productsExisting EmpireVault users sign in to Auctions with the account they already have.
  • Connection health pageAnything that failed to sync is listed with a retry button.
Stage 2 · Planned next
  • Auction history on the contact recordRegistrations, bids, wins, invoices, payments and removal.
  • Follow-up tasks for under-bidders on unsold lots
  • Buyer scorecard when approving a bidderLifetime purchases, payment history and defaults.
  • Marketing lists from bidding history"Email everyone who has bid on pipe" becomes one step.
  • Auction invoices in EmpireVault receivables
  • QuickBooks posting
Stage 3 · Later
  • Move between EmpireVault and Auctions without signing in again
  • "Current auctions" block for your website
  • Lot questions as support tickets, for operators who want them
  • Open API for custom integrationsERP asset-disposal lists, asset-tracking systems and other CRMs, built as needed.

What operators told us, and where it lands

The order above comes from practitioner review of earlier auction systems. These are the complaints we heard most, and the stage that answers each.

What went wrong beforeWhat Auctions doesStage
No dashboard, so a live sale was unmanageableLive closing dashboard with every lot's statusStage 1
Buyers registered twice: once for the platform, once per auctionOne registration; sale terms accepted on the first bidStage 1
Lot forms asked for year, make and VIN on a pipe saleFields set by asset categoryStage 1
Release documents and seller reports were built by handGenerated from the sale's own dataStage 1
Finance had to email the auction manager when funds arrivedRecording the wire advances the saleStage 1
Colleagues were refused registration under one companySeveral buyers can belong to the same companyStage 1
Buyer details were copied by hand into a separate CRMBuyers sync to EmpireVault contactsStage 1
Going to the second-place bidder meant deleting and rebuilding the invoiceRe-award with documents that followStage 2
Changing a sale from auction to make-offer meant a new saleChange the format in placeStage 2
Inventory lists were retyped into a rigid CSVSpreadsheet import with a preview of problemsStage 2
No way to email past bidders by categoryMarketing lists from bidding historyStage 2
No seller portalSeller portalStage 3

How it is built

Your brand, not ours

Buyers see the operator's name, logo and colours on the site, the emails and every document.

The server decides every bid

Whether a bid arrived in time is settled by one clock on the server, never by a buyer's browser or a delayed email.

A record of everything

Bids, approvals, changes and payments are written to a log that cannot be edited or deleted.