Getting Started.
Welcome to Bidsquare. This is your map — the few tools you'll use to teach yourself the platform, the order to do things in, and the one rule that keeps you safe while you practice. No experience needed: read it once, then start clicking.
Welcome — your first 30 minutes
What to use, the order to use it in, and the one rule that keeps you safe.
You'll teach yourself the platform using three things — an interactive Training Tool, a set of Guides, and this Docs Hub. It's entirely self-paced, and you practice in a safe sandbox where nothing is real. Read this page once, then start clicking. No prior experience needed.
All your training happens in Demo (demo.bidsquare.com/seller) — a full copy of the system with no real data. It is completely separate from your live Production site, so you can't break anything. Full detail in The one rule below.
What you'll use
An instructor, the lesson plans, and the reference shelf.
Three things, each with a job — think of an instructor, the lesson plans, and a reference shelf.
| What | What it is | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| The Training Tool | Interactive walkthroughs that run inside the real Bidsquare admin. | Learning by doing — it highlights the exact button and tells you what's next. |
| The Guides | The 23 task-based workflows the tool walks you through — covering the same ground as the 50 modules in the User Manual, grouped into broader end-to-end flows. | Following one specific workflow start to finish. |
| The Docs Hub | This written reference, plus the Quick Reference cheat sheets. | Looking things up any time, during onboarding and after. |
The Tool teaches you live. The Guides are what it teaches. The Docs Hub is where you come to remind yourself. You'll spend your first days in the Tool.
See What's in your plan — the full auction workflow across all three Bidsquare tiers, showing exactly what each plan includes at every stage.
The one rule that matters most
Two separate systems: a practice one and a live one.
| Aspect | 🧪 Demo — your practice sandbox | 🚀 Production — your live business |
|---|---|---|
| Address | demo.bidsquare.com/seller | bidsquare.com/seller |
| Purpose | All training and practice | Real auctions and real payments |
| Data | Sample data — nothing is real | Your live bidders and money |
| Login | Separate | Separate |
| Can you break it? | No — reset to clean any time | Yes — it's live, treat with care |
The two systems don't sync. Anything you create in Demo — staff, settings, auctions — will not appear in Production. You'll rebuild your real setup there at go-live, and we walk you through it. For now: if the address bar starts with demo., you're in the right place.
Your Demo doesn't disappear once onboarding is done — it stays yours for the entire time you're a Bidsquare customer. Long after go-live, it's the place to train new team members, rehearse an unusual sale before it happens for real, or try a new feature safely before switching it on in Production. Whenever you're unsure how something behaves, practice it in Demo first.
How the Training Tool works
One step at a time, guided on screen.
Open your Demo admin and the Training Tool overlays the screen, highlighting one thing at a time with a short note. Move with Next and Back — some steps advance on their own once you complete the action. Every step is one of four simple kinds:
| Step type | What you do |
|---|---|
| 🔗 Navigate | Click the highlighted link — the page changes. |
| 🖱️ Hover | Point at a control to see what it does. |
| 👁️ Observe | Read the note, then click Next. |
| 🗺️ Explore | Free-roam — look around on your own. |
The tool doesn't lock any modules. In Demo, every learner has full access to everything in your account, and can work through the guides in any order. The Where to focus by role guide further down is about where to focus first — not what you're allowed to open.
The tool covers the whole Bidsquare platform, including features that not every package includes. Depending on whether your plan is Bidsquare Marketplace-only, white-label, or Vault, a few guides may point to parts of the admin that aren't part of your setup — that's completely expected, and nothing is wrong. If a step refers to something you don't see, it simply isn't included in your package: skip that guide and carry on. Not sure whether a feature should be there? Your onboarding manager can confirm in a moment.
Your admin account & your team
You're the primary account — get your team set up for training.
When we provision your admin access, we create a single login for you — and that account is automatically your primary account. The primary account is the only staff account that can create and manage other staff profiles, so getting your team into the system starts with you.
There's no need to restrict anyone during training — it's genuinely useful for the whole team to see how the platform fits together end to end, from intake through to the money side. Save the granular, per-person decisions for Production, where they protect your real data.
Where to focus by role
Everyone sees everything — this is just where to start.
In Demo, everyone has full access — the tool gates nothing. Not everyone needs to study all 50 modules in depth on day one, though, so use this as a guide to where each role should focus first. The numbers below match the module numbers in the full User Manual. Anyone can explore the rest at any time.
| Role | Where to start | Day-to-day work |
|---|---|---|
| Admin / Manager | All 50 modules — start at 1 | Full system access |
| Cataloger | 11–12, 25–33 | Items, cataloging, lot numbers & labels |
| Registrar | 34–37 | Bidder vetting, approvals & flags |
| Auctioneer / Clerk | 16–17, 38–39 | Sale setup & Live Console |
| Finance | 7, 18, 40–50 | Invoicing, settlements, refunds & reports |
| Consignment Mgr | 18–24 | Consignors, consignments & charges |
Follow the order
From empty system to finished sale.
Bidsquare builds on itself — an item needs a consignment, a consignment needs a consignor, a consignor needs a commission rule. Do the modules in order and everything you need is already in place when you get there.
Each block is a natural stopping point. Many teams split it by person and day — set-up and cataloging first, then a dedicated live-console session, then finance.
Your onboarding timeline
Prep, train, go live.
Training is one part of the journey from sign-up to your first live sale. Your onboarding manager confirms your exact dates — the timings below are typical.
| Phase | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| We prepare your Demo | Before you start | We stock Demo with ready-made practice data, so you're never on a blank screen. |
| Your website is built | First few weeks, in parallel | Your branded (white-label) site is designed and launched in Demo first. |
| You self-onboard | Your training window | Work the guides in Demo at your own pace. This is the part this page is about. |
| Go live in Production | When you're ready | Set up Production with a go-live checklist — including a test payment — with our support on your first sales. |
Bulk user upload (Module 13) and bidder vetting & approval (Module 34) only work once your Demo website is live and connected. If those modules look unavailable early on, your site is still being built — carry on with the earlier modules and come back to them.
Do this right now
A few minutes to get going.
When you're stuck
You can't break anything in Demo — but here's where to turn.
| Resource | URL / Contact |
|---|---|
| Docs Hub | docs.bidsquare.com — written reference & Quick Reference |
| Demo Admin | demo.bidsquare.com/seller |
| Phone | 1-800-657-0092 (7 days, 9am–5.30pm ET) |
| support@bidsquare.com |
Everything here happens in Demo, and Demo is yours to keep. Practice as much as you like — break it, reset it, try again — today and for as long as you're with us. When you're confident, we'll help you carry it across to Production and go live. You've got this.