Auction, Estate Sale, POS, and Consignment Software FAQ

ClerkStation is web-based operations software for live auctions, estate sales, Buy Now sales, and consignment shops. It combines clerking, cashiering, POS checkout, buyers, consignors, vendors, invoices, receipts, payments, settlements, reports, documents, and administrative controls.

ClerkStation is designed for auction companies, auctioneers, estate sale companies, tag sale operators, liquidators, consignment auction companies, consignment shops, clerks, cashiers, and office staff.

Yes. Authorized users access ClerkStation through a web browser on a computer, tablet, or phone. Users do not install separate copies on every device.

Yes. Companies can create role-based accounts for administrators, auctioneers, clerks, cashiers, administrative staff, and read-only users.

Yes. Company records are isolated. Buyers, consignors, sales, carts, invoices, payments, settlements, documents, and users remain attached to the correct company.

Yes. Software administrators can enable or disable Auction, Estate Sale / Buy Now, Consignment Shop, cashiering, documents, reports, and portal features for each company.

Yes. Clerks can record the lot, description, consignor, winning bidder, hammer price, quantity, and result while the auction is running.

ClerkStation supports Auction, Hybrid, and Buy Now workflows. Auction is for bidding and clerking, Buy Now is fixed-price POS, and Hybrid supports both within one sale.

Yes. Pre-cataloged sales can be prepared before sale day, while authorized clerks can still create a missed item during live clerking.

Yes. Clerk-as-you-go mode supports non-cataloged item entry and automatic lot numbering during the auction.

Yes. Clerks can record the price per item and quantity selected, then record additional bidders for remaining quantities when needed.

Yes. Live lookup accepts names or numbers and shows matching suggestions, including separate choices when multiple people have the same name.

Yes. Suggested numbers are editable. Automatic numbering continues independently and skips any custom number already in use.

Yes. Item and lot numbers must be unique within each sale, with server-side validation protecting creation, editing, imports, and quick entry.

Yes. Authorized users can correct clerking entries and related settlement details, with important changes retained in the audit history.

Yes. Estate Sale / Buy Now POS includes sale-specific carts, held carts, cataloged items, quick manual items, buyers, discounts, taxes, payment fees, receipts, refunds, and reports.

Yes. Staff select the active sale, and ClerkStation keeps carts, items, and receipts attached to the selected sale.

Yes. A quick manual item can be entered at checkout, assigned to the appropriate consignor, and recorded accurately without requiring a pre-existing inventory item.

Yes. Cataloged items cannot be added in a quantity greater than the available inventory.

Yes. Percentage discounts can be applied to individual items and to the entire cart, with descriptions shown on the receipt.

Yes. Staff can hold a cart with a useful label or note and resume it later.

Yes. Companies can upload a logo and add a custom receipt footer message for Auction and POS receipts.

Yes. Consignment Shop tools cover item intake, POS checkout, vendors, inventory, categories, discounts, booth rent, commission, payouts, settlements, documents, and reports.

No. Inventory Tracking can be Required, Optional, or Disabled. Manual items can still be assigned to a vendor and included in payouts.

Yes, when enabled by the company. Submissions can move through Draft, Submitted, Approved, Rejected, or Needs Changes before becoming sellable.

Yes. Shop categories can be created, selected, edited, and deleted by the company.

Yes. Companies can enable markdown behavior based on time in inventory while retaining item-specific pricing and discount records.

Yes. Every consignor can have an individual booth or table rent amount and space description.

Yes. Rent records can be created each cycle using the vendor's saved rent amount.

Yes. Eligible rent can be tracked as paid separately or deducted from the vendor payout.

Yes. Companies can record their normal weekly, monthly, or other payout and rent timing practices.

Yes. Company-owned merchandise can be recorded separately from consignor merchandise and included in company proceeds reporting.

Yes. Completed shop sales flow into vendor payout statements with commission, fees, booth rent, payment status, and printable details.

No. They are 100% optional. ClerkStation Core manages sales, buyers, consignors, checkout, invoices, receipts, payments, settlements, reports, and documents without either portal.

It gives selected buyers a login for permitted estimated spending, purchased items, invoices, receipts, balances, payments, and documents.

It gives selected consignors or vendors a login for permitted items, estimated earnings, settlements, payouts, and documents.

Yes. Portal access is enabled or disabled separately for each buyer or consignor.

Yes. Each company separately enables and pays for its access, and the consignor sees only the selected company's records.

No. Portal access is enforced on the server and only returns information permitted by the company and portal settings.

Companies can configure cash, check, credit card, ACH, wire, or another method and can require references for non-cash payments.

Yes. Payment methods can use percentage or flat fees, displayed as calculated line items rather than editable payment values.

Yes. Buyer premium can be configured using company and sale defaults with supported buyer or item overrides.

Yes. State, county or local, city, and special tax components can be configured with supported calculation methods.

Yes. Tax exemption can cover all sales tax components, with certificate number, expiration, notes, and document upload.

Yes. Controlled workflows support item, price, quantity, tax, buyer premium, payment fee, invoice, and receipt corrections after payment.

Yes. Refund workflows can apply company policy to buyer premium, sales tax, and payment fees.

Stripe is used for ClerkStation subscription billing. Companies can use their preferred payment processor for buyer transactions and record those payments in ClerkStation.

Working settlements remain available before, during, and after a sale and update as completed activity is recorded.

Statements can include sold items, quantities, prices, commission, seller fees, deductions, booth rent, payment status, and amount due.

Yes. Statements use a branded print layout and can be printed or saved as PDF from the browser.

Reports cover auction invoices, POS receipts, payments, refunds, taxes, buyer premium, lots and items, settlements, and shop activity.

Companies can attach certificates, bidder agreements, IDs, W-9 forms, consignor contracts, inventory agreements, sale terms, payment proof, signed receipts, and settlement documents.

Supported images, PDFs, text files, and CSV files can be viewed in the browser. Other supported office files remain downloadable.

Yes. ClerkStation supports optional Wasabi storage for user documents and backups, depending on the configured storage mode.

Yes. Software administrative accounts require authenticator-app 2FA, with optional 2FA available for supported company and portal accounts.

Yes. Software-level and company-level roles are separated, and support users must enter clearly identified Support Mode before assisting a company.

Yes. Audit and support logs identify the user, role, company, action, time, and protected technical details where authorized.

IP addresses are restricted to Software Support and higher unless an explicit software permission is granted. Buyers and consignors never receive IP data.

ClerkStation supports scheduled database and full backups to a separate backup VPS and optional Wasabi cloud storage, with health monitoring and retention controls.

Supported files, documents, and backups use a 72-hour restoration window before permanent removal.

The production application is deployed on Ubuntu with Apache, PHP, and MariaDB. Authorized users access it through the web.

ClerkStation Core is listed at $50 per month. Current optional portal pricing and purchase increments appear on the Pricing and Add-ons pages.

No. Buyer and Consignor Portals are optional and can be added only when a company wants external self-service access.

Yes. Stripe-powered billing supports eligible subscription and add-on changes while software administrators retain oversight controls.

Company users log in at my.clerkstation.com. Optional Buyer and Consignor Portal users use their dedicated portal login pages.

Contact ClerkStation at support@clerkstation.com or call or text 803-767-8727.

Use Start Account to open secure signup. Begin with ClerkStation Core and add optional portal access only when needed.