Wallet Auto-Charge
Automatically debit a winning bidder's wallet when their auction closes — no checkout flow needed.
What it does
When an auction closes with a winner and auto-charge winner is on:
- The plugin reads the winner's wallet balance.
- If the balance covers the winning bid, it debits the wallet for the bid amount.
- A WooCommerce order is created automatically and marked complete.
- The auction status flips directly to paid.
- The customer receives an "Auction won (wallet-paid)" email.
If the balance is short, the system falls back to the regular "Auction won, please pay" flow.
Why use it
| Benefit | Detail |
|---|---|
| Zero-friction win | Customer doesn't have to do anything to claim their lot |
| Higher conversion | No "winner ghosted" cycle — paid the moment they won |
| Faster fulfilment | Order is complete immediately; warehouse can ship same-day |
| Reduced support | No "I won but can't pay" tickets |
Best for stores with engaged repeat customers who maintain a wallet balance.
Configure
Auctions → Settings → Payments → Auto-charge winner — toggle on.
Once enabled it applies to every auction site-wide. A per-auction override is available on the Add / Edit Auction form.
Insufficient balance
If the winner's balance is below the winning bid, you have three behaviours to choose from:
| Behaviour | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Charge what's available, request rest | Wallet is debited up to the available balance; the remainder becomes an unpaid order |
| Fall back to checkout (default) | Standard "Auction won, please pay" email goes out for the full amount |
| Auto-relist immediately | Skip checkout entirely and trigger auto-relist right away |
Order details
The auto-created order has:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | Completed |
| Payment method | Wallet |
| Currency | Your site currency |
| Line items | 1 × auction product at the winning bid amount |
| Customer | The winner |
| Billing / shipping | From the customer's profile |
The order appears in the customer's regular My Account → Orders list.
Refunds
If the auction is cancelled or disputed after auto-charge:
- Admin clicks Refund to wallet on the order.
- The original debit is reversed with a fresh credit row in the ledger.
- The customer receives a "Wallet refunded" email.
The original debit row is preserved for traceability — refunds are written as an offset, never as a delete.
Notifications
| Trigger | |
|---|---|
| Auto-charge succeeded | "Congratulations — auction won (paid from wallet)" |
| Auto-charge failed (low balance) | Standard "Auction won — please pay" |
| Refund issued | "Wallet refunded for auction #N" |
Reporting
Reports → Payment status tracks:
- Auto-charge success rate (% of wins paid via wallet)
- Auto-charge failure rate (% with insufficient balance)
- Average wallet balance among winners (predictor of auto-charge success)
Use cases
"Frequent-bidder rewards"
Encourage customers to maintain a wallet balance:
- Free top-up bonus (e.g. add $20 → get $25)
- Discount on auction fees when paying from wallet
- Loyalty points for wallet-paid wins
Combined with auto-charge, this creates a tight engagement loop: customer tops up → wins auctions → tops up again.
"B2B / vendor marketplace"
Auctioning to known business buyers:
- Pre-funded wallets with credit terms
- Auto-charge ensures bid commitments are fulfilled
- Disputes are rare since business buyers are vetted
"Charity event"
Auto-charge ensures donations are collected immediately:
- Reduces post-event collection workload
- Tax receipts can be issued instantly (since payment is confirmed)
- Higher net donations (no "we'll pay later" friction)
Edge cases
| Scenario | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Winner deleted before close | Auto-charge skipped; auction marked failed |
| Wallet disabled site-wide | Auto-charge disabled implicitly |
| Winner is admin / system user | Skipped (admins can't auto-charge themselves) |
| Multi-currency mismatch | Skipped; falls back to manual checkout |
| Concurrent auction wins | Sequential — the first win locks the wallet, the second checks the remaining balance |
Common questions
"What if the user wants to use a different payment method?"
By default, auto-charge runs unconditionally when the balance is sufficient. To allow opt-out, surface a per-auction toggle ("Pay manually instead of auto-charging").
"Can I auto-charge to a saved card instead of wallet?"
That requires a different mechanism — see Stripe Connect for card-on-file auto-charge.
"What about taxes / shipping?"
Auto-charge debits the winning bid amount only. Taxes and shipping are handled by the auto-created order using your standard WooCommerce tax and shipping configuration. If shipping needs customer input, the order may be created as pending instead of complete.