We began formally tracking results in 2020. The full lifetime total is considerably higher. Since 2007 the platform has been refined every year based on feedback from the associations actually running auctions on it. That ongoing refinement, from real users running real events, is the reason the platform works as well as it does.
Why Most Auction Platforms Are the Wrong Answer for a Horse Association
Most online stallion auction software follows the same model. The provider hosts the auction on their domain, under their brand. Your bidders create accounts on their site.
They take a percentage of every sale. They own the bidder data. When the auction ends, your association gets a check and they keep the relationship with the people who bid.
That model is fine if you are a one-off seller. It is the wrong model for an association that is trying to build long-term donor relationships, grow its bidder base every year, and run a recognizable annual event.
Big Sky's model is different in three specific ways.
1. The Auction Lives Under Your Brand
If Big Sky built your association's main website, the auction integrates directly into your existing site. Bidders stay on YourAssociation.com with the same logo, navigation, and brand throughout.
If we did not, we build a dedicated auction site on a branded domain (typically your acronym plus StallionAuction.com, like NYCHAStallionAuction.com) designed to match your existing site so bidders never feel they switched brands. Many of our most successful auctions run this way.
Either way, the auction runs on a Big Sky-controlled server with Cloudflare Enterprise security, for the control, uptime, and email deliverability a live auction requires.
2. You Own the Bidder Data
Every account, every bid, every donor relationship is yours. We do not market to your bidders. We do not sell their information. We do not use it to power someone else's competing auction.
The data lives in your auction site and stays in your control, and your admin can export everything to Excel any time.
3. We Do Not Take a Percentage of Sales
You pay us once to build it and an ongoing maintenance fee. We do not take a cut of stallion services sold, bids placed, or money raised. Whether your auction raises $50,000 or $500,000, our pricing does not move.
If your association wants to pass credit card processing costs back to bidders, the platform can be configured to add a convenience fee, but that money goes to cover your processor, not to us.
How the Stallion Auction Platform Works
How We Work Together
We work directly with one administrator at your association throughout the auction year. That person typically has a committee behind them, but we communicate through a single decision-maker so updates happen fast and nothing gets stuck in committee. If your bylaws require multiple admin logins, we can configure that, but a single point of contact runs smoothest.
Setup
The platform is the same proven system across every auction we run. Bidder registration, bid increments, payment steps, security, email logic, and reporting stay consistent because they have been refined over hundreds of real auctions.
The configurable pieces, like your auction dates, opening bid amounts, extended bidding rules, and whether to require credit card on file, are set up to match how your association wants its auction to run.
Catalog
Stallion owners submit their stallion's information to your association directly. Your auction administrator then enters everything into the platform: stallion name, photos, breeding information, videos, and any reference sire information.
We do not give stallion owners direct upload access. Many years of running these auctions taught us that catalog quality and consistency only stays right when one set of hands does the upload. If you want to make submissions easier for stallion owners, we can build an online submission form that goes to your admin for review.
Live Auction Window
Bidders register, browse the catalog, and bid through your auction website. The platform handles maximum bidding (the same way eBay works), bid increments, favorites for tracking specific stallions, automatic email notifications throughout the auction, and extended bidding when bids come in close to the auction's end.
Extended bidding does two things at once. It stops last-minute bid grabbing, and it gives real bidding wars a chance to develop, which is often where the final stallion prices climb the highest.
Close-Out and Payment
When the auction ends, winning bidders receive an email with their winning stallion or stallions and payment instructions. They can pay through the platform using the credit card on file, or by check if your association accepts checks.
From there, your association passes the winning bidder's contact information to the stallion owner. The breeding contract and everything that follows is handled directly between them. The platform's job is the auction window itself, not the breeding transaction.
Reporting and Records
Every auction generates full reports of bids, bidders, winning amounts, payment status, and donor information for your treasurer. All data is exportable to Excel so your association can reconcile accounts and present results to your board.
What the Auction Software Includes
These are the features built into every Big Sky stallion service auction. Some are configurable and some are always on.
For Bidders
- Maximum bidding (the way eBay works), with automatic email when your max is exceeded
- Extended bidding to prevent last-minute bid grabbing and give bidding wars time to develop
- Favorites, so bidders can track the stallions they care about
- Configurable bid visibility (show all bids, winning bid only, or losing bid notification)
- Email verification at bidder registration
- Automatic email notifications for registration, bidding, outbids, wins, and payments
- Automatic password reset by email
- Multiple stallion photos and YouTube video support per listing
- Reference sires for non-bidding background information
- Visual winning and losing bid indicators in real time
- Stallion search by name
- Mobile-responsive design (the majority of bids come from phones now)
- Configurable paging controls for the catalog
For Administrators
- Credit card required before bidding (optional, recommended to weed out non-serious bidders)
- Pay by check or credit card at auction close
- Optional credit card convenience fee, configurable per auction
- Enhanced administrator reports designed to simplify post-auction work
- Annual platform updates from client feedback at no additional charge
Security & Trust
- Cloudflare Enterprise security on every auction site
- Stripe payment processing (the industry leader, PCI-compliant, no card data ever touches your site)
- Backed by our 24-hour update guarantee
Where the Auction Platform Came From
In 2007, the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association asked Tom Bruch to build them an online stallion service auction. Tom wrote the original code from scratch. The second association to come on board was the National Youth Cutting Horse Association. Between PCCHA and NYCHA, those are arguably the two largest cutting horse associations in the world.
Many years later, the platform has been refined by hundreds of real auctions, with every annual update driven by feedback from the associations using it.
When you call Big Sky and say “we run a stallion service auction,” we already know what you mean. We have seen the catalog questions, the bidder edge cases, the payment situations, the breeding contract logistics, the donor communication needs. The platform handles all of it because it was built in response to real auctions, not theoretical ones.
Who Uses the Stallion Auction Platform
Horse Associations
Breed associations, cutting horse associations, reining horse associations, performance horse associations, and youth horse organizations have used the platform to run scholarship auctions, breeders incentive auctions, and member fundraisers. For several of our association clients, the annual auction is their largest single fundraising event.
Stallion Owners, Stallion Stations, and Horse Sale Businesses
You do not have to be an association to use the platform. Stallion stations, horse sale businesses, and individual stallion owners run their own auctions on it. Same platform, same model, scaled to your event. The same software also powers our online livestock auction platform for cattle producers, 4-H, and FFA.
“We have been running the National Youth Cutting Horse Association scholarship auction for the better part of two decades. That auction alone has helped put kids through college, including ours! When you build something that does real work for the horse industry, the numbers tell the story.” — Tom Bruch
How Pricing Works
Every auction platform we build is configured for the association running it, so we do not publish a single starting price. There is too much that varies.
What we will tell you up front:
- We do not take a percentage of sales. Ever.
- We do not charge per bid, per bidder, or per stallion listed.
- We give you a fixed quote before any work begins. The price we quote is the price you pay. Read the full 3-Way Guarantee.
- Ongoing maintenance is a flat monthly or annual fee with unlimited updates.
The first step is a 30-minute conversation about your auction. We will ask how it runs now, what is working, what is not, and what your committee wants the platform to do. Most of the time you will have a quote before we hang up.
Backed by the 3-Way Guarantee
28-day money-back. 24-hour updates. 100% transparent pricing. No one else in horse website design offers this.
Common Questions About Our Stallion Auction Platform
Does the auction have to be on a website you built?
Yes. The auction runs on a Big Sky-controlled server because we need full command over security, email delivery, payment integration, and live auction support. We use Cloudflare Enterprise for security, and we do not run this on any infrastructure outside our own. If we did not build your association's main website, we build you a dedicated auction site on a branded domain (typically your association acronym plus StallionAuction.com) that visually matches your main site so bidders feel like they never left.
Can you integrate with our existing payment processor?
We only integrate with Stripe. There is a reason. Stripe is the industry leader in secure payment processing, they store all of the credit card information on their PCI-compliant servers, and your website never touches a card number. That protects your association, your bidders, and us.
Can stallion owners upload their own materials?
No. Stallion owners submit their stallion's information to your association. The association admin enters it into the auction software. We do not give stallion owners direct access because catalog quality and consistency only stays right with one set of hands on the upload. If you want to streamline how stallion owners send information, we can build an online submission form that goes to your admin for review.
What happens to the data when the auction ends?
It stays in your auction website. Your admin has full access. Reports can be exported to Excel for reconciliation and analysis. We do not collect, sell, or share bidder information with anyone outside your association.
How long does it take to build a new auction platform?
Fast. Once we have all of the information we need from your association, we can have the platform live within 7 days, often sooner. Before the real auction goes live, we run a test auction so your admin can practice the workflow and your committee can get comfortable with how it operates.
Do you provide bidder support?
No. Bidder support is handled by the auction itself. Every auction site includes terms of bidding, a “How to Bid” guide on the website, and instructions inside the automated bid emails. Bidder questions about a specific auction (eligibility, breeding contract terms, stallion details) go to the association.
What is stallionauctionsonline.com?
It is a separate website we maintain that explains stallion service auctions to the public and lists every currently active Big Sky client auction. It also gives our auction clients extra exposure. If you run an auction with us, your auction shows up on stallionauctionsonline.com during your bidding window, and bidders looking for upcoming stallion service auctions can find you there.
Let's Talk About Your Auction
If your association is thinking about moving its stallion service auction online, or if you are running it on a platform that takes a percentage of every sale and owns your bidder data, the first step is a 30-minute conversation. We will tell you what we would do, what it would cost, and how we would set it up either inside your existing website or on a branded auction site that matches it.
Or call us directly at 979-217-1544