GavelOne lot, from the first word to the hammer.
The host runs the sale from the same side panel the bidders use. Each lot is a round with a clock.
GavelYou're hostingUp next
2 lots lined up- Brass ship’s clockStarts at $400 · Reserve $650 · 1 minRemove
- Hand-knotted wool rugStarts at $1,200 · Buy Now $3,000 · 2 minRemove
Add another lot
Sell Glass horse starting at 950, reserve 1,100, Buy Now 2,000.
The host says what is for sale.
A lot is set up as a sentence: the item, where bidding starts, a reserve if there is one, and a Buy Now price if the host wants one. Start it now, or line the night up in the queue.
Bidders
4 bids- Dana#51b8Leading · 1 bid
- You$25 behind · 1 bid
- Marcus#9c2e1 bid
- Priya#a3f11 bid
Only you and the host can see your amount.
Everyone bids from the side panel.
The price is the largest thing on the screen, with who holds it under it. The board below reorders as bids land.
A late bid adds time.
A bid in the last 10 seconds moves the deadline to 15 seconds after it, so nobody wins by waiting for the final second. The deadline lives on the server and every panel counts down to the same instant.
So far
- Glass horseMarcus$1,240
Raised$1,240
The hammer falls.
The clock stops and the lot is stamped Sold, or marked not sold if the reserve was never met. The host keeps a receipt of the night, with a CSV to download for collecting payment afterward.
Reserve and Buy Now
Both are optional, per lot. Buy Now can never sell below the reserve.
Rounds from 30 seconds to 5 minutes
The host picks the length when the lot is set up, and can end a round early.
Only the host runs the sale
Zoom tells the server who started the meeting, and every host action is checked against it.
Bid on the glass horse.
This is the panel a bidder gets in the meeting, running against three pretend bidders in your browser. Nothing you do here is sent anywhere.
You are seeing what a bidder sees.
GavelBidding is openBidders
0 bidsNobody has bid yet.
Fair to the room, and quick.
What a bidder can see, what Gavel does for them, and how fast a bid travels.
Bidders
4 bids- Marcus#9c2eLeading · 1 bid
- Dana#51b81 bid
- You$100 behind · 1 bid
- Priya#a3f11 bid
Only you and the host can see your amount.
Your max is $1,400. Gavel is bidding for you.
On every screen in 160 to 370 milliseconds.
That is tap to every other panel, measured on the production deployment inside a meeting. Tap Bid and watch the other screen: each tap waits 160, 265 or 370 ms.
What people ask first.
Do bidders have to install anything?
In Zoom, a bidder opens Gavel from Apps, or the host taps Invite all and everyone in the meeting gets a prompt. Anyone who is not in the Zoom client can bid from a browser with the join link.
Who can start and stop a lot?
The meeting host. Zoom tells the server who started the meeting through a signed webhook, and every host action is checked against it. Co-hosts cannot run lots yet.
Can other bidders see what I bid?
They see the ranking, how many bids each person has made, and the current price with the name of whoever set it. Your other amounts are shown only to you and to the host.
What if two people bid the same amount at the same moment?
The server takes bids for a lot one at a time. The first to arrive holds the price, and the other is told the new lowest bid.
How do winners pay?
Outside the app. The host downloads a CSV with each lot, its final price and its winner, and collects payment however they normally do. There is no checkout in the panel.
Can I try it without a meeting?
Yes. Opened in a browser, the panel runs as a sandbox session: start a lot, copy the join link into a second tab, and bid against yourself.