1. If the Administrator has set the Event Website Access to "Public" (Admin > Event Settings > Event Details in the Control Center), then when anyone visits your event website, they can view the catalog; and if they choose to bid, they can sign up for an account. In this case the system will automatically send the person an 'invitation' email with instructions for clicking the button in that email to establish a bidding account.
   
   
2. With the Event Website Access set to "Public," "Private," or "By Request," (Admin > Event Settings > Event Details), auction staff can add bidders to the Control Center (Patrons > Everyone > Add) and then send them invitations to bid using the "Actions on Bidders" menu at the bottom of the Patrons > Bidders > Manage page. A person receives the invitation email and follows the instructions to set up his/her bidding account.
   
   
3. At Event Check in (@Event > Check-In), the system default is to email the bidder either an invitation to set up his/her bidding account, or if that person previously established a bidding account, then simply a Welcome Email with the link to the auction website.
   
   
4. If a walk-in guest does not have access to his/her email and therefore cannot receive the invitation by email, he/she can register by way of a Bidding Station. Whether the person must first check in is up to you, the Administrator. You can control that from Admin > Event Settings > Bidding Stations. If the bidder must first check-in, then when checking him/her in, you must convey to him/her the Bidder Number he/she is assigned by the system. This will be required for him/her to register from a Bidding Station. .... At the Bidding Station, the Bidder should click the "Favorites" tile. Then in the upper left corner, click "Create Account."
   
   To experience how Bidding Stations work, go to Admin > Event Settings > Bidding Stations for the instructions for setting up a bidding station. *** If you are doing so on your own computer, be sure to open and do so in a different browser than the one you're using for the Control Center.
   
   
5. If someone arrives at the event having already registered, but does not have access to his/her email and did not bookmark the website on his/her phone, then he/she can use a shortcut to access your event website. The short cut is to go to rsabid.com and type in your auction's five-digit code, which is normally your organization's zip code. You'll find instructions -- which we urge you to print out and have about the event -- under Patrons > Printed Materials > Bidder Materials > eBidder Tips Sheet.

Once a bidder has registered, he/she can place an electronic bid in the following ways:

1. From his/her own smartphone/tablet.
   
   
2. From a Bidding Station
   
   
3. By way of a Bidding Valet, that is someone on your committee who is logged into the Control Center and navigates to the @Event > Record Sales > Proxy eBids page.