Project Overview

eCarbids(Jesse) intends to run a proof-of-concept “penny auction” style vehicle sale: a capped number of participants purchase a fixed-price bid package, then compete to win a vehicle during a single 60-minute live auction, with the last valid bid at closing declared the winner.

Note on “penny auction” terminology: the term as used on the client’s landing page refers only to the bid increment mechanic — each bid raises the price by a fixed $0.01 — and not to any broader gambling/sweepstakes product category. For this proposal, “penny auction” is understood purely as: a WooCommerce auction with a $0.01 bid increment, funded by prepaid bid credits. No other interpretation of the term is assumed.

This is planned as a Proof of Concept (POC) phase — one auction, one bid-package tier, roughly monthly cadence — using the client’s existing Wix landing page for marketing/email capture, paired with a new WordPress + WooCommerce installation for the auction, checkout, and bidder wallet.

Assumptions

The following are pre-requisites the client must provide before development can begin. This proposal’s timeline and cost assume these are supplied and do not include acquiring them on the client’s behalf:
Hosting server access — a hosting environment suitably sized for the expected concurrent bidder load (see Section 5 for sizing guidance). Provisioning and ongoing hosting cost are the client’s responsibility.
Domain/subdomain access — client to provide DNS access for a subdomain (e.g. bid.ecarbidsdigital.com) pointing to the new WordPress installation. The existing Wix landing page remains unchanged on the main domain.
Ultimate Auction Pro Plugin license — an appropriate license plan is required and is a separate purchase from this development scope.
WordPress theme — this proposal assumes a free/default theme (we recommend Storefront, WooCommerce’s own reference theme, for full compatibility). If the client has a different free theme in mind, please share it before the project starts for compatibility confirmation. No custom or branded theme design is included in this scope — see note below.

Other assumptions:

Anti-sniping/auto-bid-extension will be disabled, since the confirmed win condition is a hard cutoff (60 minutes or $1,000, whichever first), not a reset-on-bid mechanic.
SMS notifications (via the plugin’s Twilio integration) require the client’s own Twilio account and credentials.
Any custom-branded/designed pages (beyond default plugin templates and free-theme styling) are out of scope for this proposal and would be scoped, estimated, and quoted separately once a UX designer reviews requirements — this proposal covers functional configuration only, not visual design work.

Scope Note: This proposal covers only the default-theme plugin setup and configuration, plus the custom development work listed in Sections 3-4-5 (bid wallet module, fixed winning-price floor, reserve/winning-amount handling). It does not include hosting/server provisioning, domain registration, the Ultimate Auction Pro Plugin license fee, or theme customization/branding work. These are the client’s responsibility to arrange and provide as pre-requisites before development begins

Customer Requirements(Scope of work)

As confirmed by the client across prior correspondence:

One bid-package tier: $250 USD + 8% New Mexico tax → 250 bid credits.
Participation capped at the first 500 successful purchasers of the bid package — no separate registration step; checkout simply closes once sold out.
Prospects are driven from the existing Wix landing page via email capture, with a direct emailed checkout link to the WordPress site.
Bid credits are applied to the buyer’s account automatically on payment, visible in a member portal (“My Bid Credits”).
Single live auction(one of two vehicles — Ford F-150 or Toyota Camry — winner’s choice at handoff), roughly one auction per month.
Bid increment: fixed $0.01 per bid.
Every bid placed consumes one credit, whether or not that bid is later outbid — credits are not refunded on outbid.
Auction ends at 60 minutes, or when price reaches $1,000, whichever occurs first. No anti-sniping/auto-extension — this is a hard cutoff, not a reset-on-last-bid mechanic.
A winner is always declared at the end of the auction. If the 60-minute timer expires before the price reaches $1,000, the winner is still charged the $1,000 minimum (confirmed by client as a compliance requirement, not optional).
All unused bid credits are forfeited at auction close — non-refundable, non-transferable, not usable in future auctions.
No further charges are processed through the platform beyond the $250 package and the $1,000 (or higher, if bidding exceeded it) winning price. Vehicle delivery, title transfer, and any other costs are handled directly between the client and the winner, off-platform.
“Live” in the client’s marketing refers only to the auction being live/real-time — no video live-streaming is required.

Design Mockup — Wallet & Bidding Screens

Note: These are functional reference mockups only — they show where the new bid-credit elements sit on each page, not a final visual design. Exact look, spacing, and styling will follow whichever free WordPress theme is selected, and may differ from what’s shown here.

Live Auction / Bidding Page

Bid Package Product Page

Checkout confirmation (Order received)

My Account → Auctions, extended with bid credits

Technical Approach

Base platform: Ultimate Auction Pro Plugin + WooCommerce, on a new WordPress install on an agreed subdomain (e.g. bid.ecarbidsdigital.com), using a free default theme (Storefront recommended).

To keep the core Ultimate Auction Pro Plugin safe and easy to update for all customers, all custom logic for this project — the bid-credit wallet, forfeiture rule, and fixed winning-price rule — will be built as a separate, standalone plugin. It works alongside the core plugin, so future core plugin updates remain safe and unaffected.

4.1 Bid-Credit Wallet — Purchase to Allocation

Create the $250 “Platform Founder’s Bid Package” as a standard WooCommerce product, with stock capped at 500
On successful payment, automatically allocate 250 bid credits to the buyer’s account
Credits appear immediately after checkout — no manual step required

4.2 Per-Bid Credit Deduction

Every bid placed on the live auction deducts exactly 1 credit from the bidder’s balance
Deduction applies whether or not that bid is later outbid, matching the confirmed rule
Once a bidder’s balance reaches zero, the bid button is disabled with a message prompting a further package purchase
Balance updates live on the bidding page so bidders always see an accurate count before bidding

4.3 My Bid Credits Account Panel

Adds a new “My Bid Credits” section inside the existing My Account area
Shows current balance, credits used, and a simple usage history per auction
Matches the look and navigation of the existing Auctions tab, so it feels like one connected portal

4.4 Credit Forfeiture at Auction Close

When the 60-minute countdown ends, or the $1,000 minimum is reached — whichever happens first — any remaining credits for that auction are automatically expired
Forfeited credits are recorded for reporting, but are non-refundable, non-transferable, and cannot be reused in future auctions

4.5 Fixed Winning-Price Floor Enforcement

When the winning order is generated at auction close, the charge amount is automatically set to whichever is higher: the final bid price, or the $1,000 minimum
Guarantees the winner is always charged at least $1,000, even if the highest bid on the clock was lower — satisfying the client’s compliance requirement

4.6 Recommended Server Specifications

An auction with up to 500 people bidding simultaneously inside a fast-moving 60-minute window is a meaningfully different load profile than a normal WooCommerce store. Every bid needs to be validated, deducted from the bidder’s wallet, written to the database, and reflected back to everyone watching — while the site is also running background jobs (bid logging, auction expiry checks, ending-soon and winner notifications) for all active bidders at the same time.

This requires real server capacity, not entry-level or shared hosting:

Server Type: Dedicated Server (preferred) or High-performance VPS
CPU: Minimum 4 cores (4+ cores recommended)
RAM: Minimum 16 GB
Storage: SSD or NVMe
PHP Version: 8.1 (most stable; 8.2 also supported)
Database: MySQL 8.x or MariaDB 10.6+
Cron Jobs: Real server cron jobs (critical for auction functionality — expiry, ending-soon, and notification timing all depend on these firing reliably)
A good amount of available PHP workers, so simultaneous bid requests don’t queue behind each other
A good amount of available database connection limit, so many bidders reading/writing at once isn’t throttled

This is a hosting/infrastructure requirement the client provisions and maintains — separate from, and in addition to, the development cost.

Effort — Design & Development

5.1 Auction & Bid Package Setup (Native Configuration)
● Configure the auction product with $0.01 fixed bid increment
● Set 60-minute auction duration with fixed start and end time
● Configure $1,000 reserve/minimum price
● Disable anti-sniping/auto-extend to enforce the hard 60-minute cutoff
● Create the $250 “Platform Founder’s Bid Package” as a WooCommerce product, stock capped at 500
● Configure WooCommerce tax settings (8% New Mexico gross receipts tax)
● Set up the direct-to-checkout emailed payment link for the bid package
● Configure native email notification templates (placed bid, outbid, ending soon, won)
Estimated effort: Included (no additional charge)

5.2 Bid-Credit Wallet — Purchase to Allocation
● Build the data structure to track each customer’s bid-credit balance
● Trigger credit allocation on bid-package order completion
● Allocate 250 credits to the buyer’s account automatically on payment
● Verify credits are available immediately after checkout, with no manual step
Estimated effort: 7 hours

5.3 Per-Bid Credit Deduction
● Deduct exactly 1 credit from the bidder’s balance on every bid placed
● Apply deduction regardless of whether the bid is later outbid
● Block further bidding once balance reaches zero, with a clear on-screen message
● Display live balance updates on the bidding page as bids are placed
Estimated effort: 8 hours

5.4 My Bid Credits Account Panel
● Add a new “My Bid Credits” tab inside the existing My Account area
● Display current balance, credits used, and per-auction usage history
● Match the visual style and navigation pattern of the existing Auctions tab
● Test panel display across desktop and mobile My Account views
Estimated effort: 5 hours

5.5 Credit Forfeiture at Auction Close
● Detect the auction-close event (60-minute timer end or $1,000 minimum reached)
● Automatically expire any remaining credit balance tied to that auction
● Record forfeited credits for internal reporting
● Confirm forfeited credits cannot be reused in any future auction
Estimated effort: 3 hours

5.6 Fixed Winning-Price Floor Enforcement
● Capture the final bid price at the moment the auction closes
● Compare the final bid price against the $1,000 minimum
● Set the winning order charge to whichever amount is higher
● Verify correct order total is generated in both scenarios (final bid above and below $1,000)
Estimated effort: 5 hours

5.7 Quality Assurance & Testing
● Functional testing of wallet allocation, deduction, and forfeiture flow
● Verify $1,000 floor enforcement across multiple bid-close scenarios
● End-to-end test: emailed link → checkout → credit allocation → bidding → winner order
Estimated effort: 9 hours

5.8 Deployment & Go-Live
● Deploy the standalone wallet plugin and configuration to the live subdomain
● Final smoke test of the full auction flow in the production environment
● Confirm the Wix landing page correctly links to the live WordPress checkout
Estimated effort: 3 hours

Effort Snapshot

Deliverable	Hours
Auction & Bid Package Setup — native configuration (increment, timing, reserve, tax, package product, notifications)	Included
Bid-Credit Wallet — Purchase to Allocation	7
Per-Bid Credit Deduction	8
My Bid Credits Account Panel	5
Credit Forfeiture at Auction Close	3
Fixed Winning-Price Floor Enforcement	5
Quality Assurance & Testing (functional + performance)	9
Deployment & Go-Live	3
TOTAL ESTIMATED HOURS	40

Deliverables

The following deliverables will be provided as part of this engagement:

Auction product configured with $0.01 fixed bid increment, 60-minute duration, and $1,000 reserve/minimum price
Anti-sniping disabled — hard 60-minute cutoff matching the confirmed win condition
“Platform Founder’s Bid Package” WooCommerce product — $250 + 8% NM tax, stock capped at 500, checkout auto-closes at the 501st buyer
Direct-to-checkout emailed payment link for the bid package
Standalone bid-credit wallet plugin — allocates 250 credits automatically on package purchase, no manual step required
Per-bid credit deduction — 1 credit consumed per bid, applied whether outbid or not, bidding blocked at zero balance
Live wallet balance displayed on the bidding page as bids are placed
“My Bid Credits” panel added to the existing My Account area — balance, credits used, and per-auction usage history
Automatic credit forfeiture at auction close — non-refundable, non-transferable, non-reusable in future auctions
Fixed winning-price floor enforcement — winning order automatically charges whichever is higher, the final bid price or $1,000
Native email notification templates configured (placed bid, outbid, ending soon, won)
Functional QA across the full flow: emailed link → checkout → credit allocation → bidding → winner order
Tested and deployed on the client’s subdomain (e.g. bid.ecarbidsdigital.com), linked from the existing Wix landing page

Commercials & Payment

Project Cost

Total Estimated Effort (main scope): 40 hours

Hourly Rate: USD 45 / hour

Standard Rate: USD 1800

Final Price: USD 1,399 (after discount around 22%)

Why We Are Offering a Discount

We are offering a reduced rate on this engagement for two reasons: first, this is your first project with us, and a penny-auction bid-credit wallet is a genuinely interesting build for our team — one we’re glad to take on and get right; second, we want to invest in starting this relationship on strong footing, so that as your proof of concept succeeds and moves into Phase 2, you already have a development partner you trust. This discount reflects our commitment to your success and to a long-term relationship, not a reduction in quality or scope of delivery.

Payment Mode

Custom Jesse September 2026