Editing email templates.
Bidsquare sends a range of system-generated emails — verifications, bid notices, approvals, invoices and more. Every one is an editable template. This guide shows you where to find them, how each one is triggered, and how to edit and test them safely.
Where to find your templates
All editable emails live in one place in your admin.
Bidsquare has a range of system-generated emails that you can edit as templates. Each one is sent automatically (or, in a few cases, manually) in response to something a buyer, consignor, or staff member does. You control the wording and subject line of every one.
Open the Email Settings page and you'll see the full list of templates, grouped into sections — General, Auction General, Live Auction, Timed Online Auction, Buy Now Auction, Invoicing, User, Header & Footer, and Notifications. The reference tables below list every template, when it's sent, and which plans it applies to.
Editing what your emails say happens here, in Email Settings. Controlling the address they're sent from is a separate step — see the SMTP Email Relay Setup guide.
Three things to know before you edit
Read these first — they explain behavior that surprises people.
1 · Foreign-language translations in default templates
Some default templates include additional foreign-language translations. These translated versions are only sent to users who have selected that language as their default in their account, and only if your website is configured for multi-language support. If you're editing a template, you can safely ignore these blocks or remove them entirely, leaving only the English-language version.
2 · Bidsquare and White-Label users both receive these
Templates are sent to both Bidsquare and White-Label (your own branded site) users, if you list events on both. The header and footer branding adapts to where the action happened: an email triggered from an action on Bidsquare.com carries Bidsquare branding, while White-Label emails carry your own branding, separate from Bidsquare's.
3 · How "Send Test" behaves
When you use Send Test, the email is sent as though it had been triggered by a Bidsquare user — so it's there to let you verify the copy and subject line, not the final branding. You may see a slight difference between the expected White-Label branding and the test email. Test emails also ignore dynamic content, so you may see merge tags (for example {first_name}) where real content would normally appear.
Editing and testing a template
A safe, repeatable routine for every change.
{first_name} or {invoice_html}) exactly as they are — they're replaced with real content when the email is sent.Merge tags in curly braces are placeholders for real data. Deleting or mistyping one (for example {invoice_html} in the Email Invoice template) can break the email. Edit the words around them, not the tags themselves.
Every template, and when it's sent
What triggers each email, and which plans it applies to.
Bidsquare comes in three tiers — Bidsquare Marketplace, White-Label and Vault. The Plans column shows where each template applies. All plans means Bidsquare Marketplace, White-Label and Vault; some templates are Vault-only or apply to your White-Label and Vault tiers (White-Label · Vault).
General templates
| Template | When it's sent | Plans | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email Verification | When a user creates their own account on the website | All plans | |
| Password Reset | When a user wants to reset their password | All plans | |
| Welcome Email | When a user completes signing up on the website | All plans | |
| Complete Registration | When a user's profile is incomplete | All plans | Can also be triggered manually with Send Sign-Up Email — for example, when uploading users in bulk. |
| Invalid Mobile Number | When a user adds an invalid phone number and opts in to SMS reminders | All plans |
Auction general
| Template | When it's sent | Plans | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Registration | When a user registers for an auction | All plans | Only sent if the user does not qualify for auto-approval (CC-Verified or Preferred Bidder). Once approved, they get an approval email based on the event type (below). |
| Auction Registration Unapproved | When you unapprove a user's registration | All plans | |
| Absentee Bid Confirmation | When a user places an online absentee bid | All plans | |
| Absentee Bid Outbid | When a user is outbid on an item | All plans | |
| Regular Bid Confirmation | When a user places a straight bid online | All plans | |
| Regular Bid Outbid | When a user is outbid after placing a straight bid | All plans | |
| Lot Updated Notification | When an item on a user's watchlist (or one they've bid on) is updated by the auction house | All plans | |
| Bidder Review | When Bidsquare adds a Bad Bidder flag — sent to the seller's admin primary account email | All plans | |
| Lot Share | When a user shares a lot by email from the lot detail page | All plans | |
| High Bidding Limit Notification | When a bidder tries to bid over their limit — sent to the admin primary account email | All plans | |
| Conditional Report Download | When a user presses "download condition report" on an item detail page | All plans | The auction house must have uploaded a condition-report file to the item for this to work. |
| Auction Reminder for Consignor | Manually triggered for selected consignments from the Consignment tab batch action | Vault | Only available when the auction is Upcoming or Started. Sent to selected consignors with details of their items in that event. |
| Post Auction Sales Report for Consignor | Manually triggered for selected consignments from the Consignment tab batch action | Vault | Only available when the auction is Closed. Shows each consignor their items, including hammer price where sold. |
Live auction
| Template | When it's sent | Plans | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Registration Approval | When you approve a user's registration | All plans | |
| Auction Registration Reminder | When a Live auction the user registered for is about to start | All plans | |
| You Won Notification | When a user wins an item | All plans | Triggered the moment an item is sold to a registered bidder from the Live Console. This template can be disabled. |
Timed online auction
| Template | When it's sent | Plans | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Registration Approval | When you approve a user's registration | All plans | |
| Auction Registration Reminder | When a Timed auction the user registered for is about to start | All plans |
Buy Now auction
| Template | When it's sent | Plans | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Registration Approval | When you approve a user's registration | All plans | |
| Auction Registration Reminder | When a Buy-Now event the user registered for is about to start | All plans | |
| Buy Now Confirmation | When a user buys an item from a Buy Now event | All plans | |
| Buy Now Seller Notification | When a user buys from a Buy Now event — sent to the auction house primary admin account email | All plans |
Invoicing
| Template | When it's sent | Plans | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email Invoice | When you send an invoice to a winning user | All plans | The body contains an HTML rendering of the user's invoice via the {invoice_html} merge tag. |
| Payment Confirmation | Sent to the buyer after they pay the invoice amount | All plans | Can also be triggered manually when recording a manual payment against an invoice in the admin. |
| Invoice Payment Reminder | Sent automatically per the thresholds set in your Invoice Reminder settings | All plans | |
| Email Settlement | Sends the settlement statement to the consignor | Vault |
User
| Template | When it's sent | Plans | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| User Flag | When you add a Bad Bidder flag to a user's account — sent to the user | All plans | |
| CC Verification | When a user adds credit-card information that cannot be verified — sent to the user | All plans | |
| Phone Bidder Confirmation | Available to trigger manually when phone bids are added | All plans |
Header & footer
| Template | What it does | Plans | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Header | Adds your custom branding to the header of White-Label and Vault emails | White-Label · Vault | Regardless of what you add here, Bidsquare users always receive Bidsquare-styled emails containing the auction house's logo and branding. |
| Footer | Adds your custom branding to the footer of White-Label and Vault emails | White-Label · Vault | As above — Bidsquare-triggered emails keep Bidsquare branding by default. |
Notifications
| Template | When it's sent | Plans | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add Preferred Bidder | When you mark a user as a "Preferred Bidder" | All plans | Also triggered when uploading or updating user accounts by CSV if the Preferred column is filled. |
Translation tags
Thai and Chinese blocks, and how to handle them.
Many default templates contain Thai and Chinese translations alongside the English content. These only appear to bidders whose account language is set to Thai or Chinese — every other bidder sees the English version only. No other languages are provided by default.
If you don't serve Thai- or Chinese-speaking customers and prefer cleaner templates, you can safely remove the translation tags from any template when editing it — leave only the English content and it will display correctly for everyone.
To add a translation for a different language, follow the same tag structure used by the Thai and Chinese blocks, with your translated copy. This is an advanced customization — if you need a hand with the tag format, contact support before you start.
Need a hand?
We're happy to walk you through any template before you change it.
Email support@bidsquare.com or call 1-800-657-0092 (9:00am–5:30pm). If you're also setting up your own sending address, pair this with the SMTP Email Relay Setup guide.