Sealed bid auction software for confidential, true-value offers.
Let buyers submit private bids nobody else can see until the close. Unovance Global gives you encrypted submissions, first- or second-price awards, and an audit-grade record — on a branded platform you own.
In a sealed bid auction, every participant submits a single confidential offer. No one sees the competing bids — there is no live high bid to chase and no increment to creep past. That privacy changes behavior: instead of bidding the smallest amount needed to lead, buyers submit what the lot is genuinely worth to them.
The result is honest price discovery on lots where incremental bidding falls short — real estate, fleets, surplus, intellectual property, and one-of-a-kind assets. Confidentiality also protects buyers who do not want competitors knowing their appetite, which widens your pool of serious bidders.
Unovance handles the entire mechanic: encrypted submissions, a controlled simultaneous reveal at the deadline, configurable first- or second-price awards, and a timestamped, blockchain-backed log of every offer. And because it runs on your own branded platform, you keep the bidder relationships and data rather than renting a marketplace audience.
Everything you need to run confidential sealed bids.
True confidentiality
Bids are encrypted on submission and stay hidden from every participant until the deadline passes. No leaderboard, no live high bid, no gamesmanship.
Single-shot or revisable
Choose first-price sealed bid, second-price (Vickrey), or allow bidders to revise their offer until the close — the format adapts to how you sell.
Controlled close & reveal
Bids open simultaneously at the deadline. Award the high bid automatically or route results to your team for review against reserves and consignor terms.
Audit-grade record
Every submission is timestamped and logged, giving you and your consignors a defensible, blockchain-backed trail of who offered what, and when.
Frequently asked questions
What is a sealed bid auction?+
A sealed bid auction is a confidential format where each bidder submits a single private offer. No participant can see anyone else's bid until the auction closes. Because there is no live competition to react to, bidders submit what the lot is genuinely worth to them rather than the smallest increment needed to lead.
When should I use a sealed bid format?+
Sealed bids suit high-value, unique, or sensitive lots — real estate, fleets, intellectual property, and government surplus — where you want strategic, true-value offers instead of incremental bidding wars. It is also ideal when confidentiality between competing buyers matters.
Does Unovance support second-price (Vickrey) auctions?+
Yes. You can run first-price sealed bid, where the winner pays their own offer, or second-price (Vickrey), where the winner pays the amount of the next-highest bid. Both are configurable per event from the same branded platform.
How are bids kept private and secure?+
Bids are encrypted at submission and remain invisible to all participants — and configurably to staff — until the close. Every offer is timestamped and recorded in an audit-grade, blockchain-backed log, so the result is fully defensible to consignors and regulators.
Run your next sealed bid sale on a platform you own.
Talk to the Unovance team about confidential bidding, first- and second-price awards, and full auction management — cataloging through settlement.