Luxury Auction & Live Bidding App for iOS & Android
A real time auction platform for luxury collectibles in the UAE. Verified bidders, a clock that cannot be sniped, and a commission model the auction house already runs on.
01The challenge
A room full of trust, moved onto a phone
Watches, bags and art still change hands in person. Taking that online means the rules have to hold when nobody is watching the room.
No live venue online
High value lots had no lightweight way to run timed bidding for UAE buyers.
Identity had to be real
Sales reach tens of thousands of AED, so a login screen was never enough.
Sniping breaks trust
A last second bid with no protection undermines the whole platform.
Two commission models
A flat fee below 30,000 AED, a percentage above it, calculated on every sale.
02What we built
A bidding engine that enforces the auction house rules server side
Flutter over a Laravel API, with Socket.IO carrying live bids so every bidder on a lot sees the same price and the same clock.
Bidding engine
Real time lot pages over Socket.IO, backed by a Laravel API tracking bids, lots and auction status.
Trust and payments
Emirates ID verification, Stripe deposits, and automatic PDF invoices for buyer and seller.
Auction rules
The 10 minute extension, proxy bidding and the tiered commission model built into the bid flow.
Extension windows, proxy bids and reserve prices are enforced on the server, so the app can never show a bidder a price the backend will not honour.
03In the app
Two tabs, one running clock
Gavel It holds what a bidder is chasing. Gaveled holds what they won.
Auction home
A bidder lands on the lots that are live right now, with a status badge and a countdown on each one. Everything else in the app hangs off that clock: the deposit, the extension, the invoice.
01Gavel It and Gaveled
Active lots and won lots split into two tabs, each with a running or scheduled badge.
02Live bid updates
Socket.IO pushes the current high bid and time left with no manual refresh.
03Anti sniping window
Any bid in the final 10 minutes extends the lot, and further bids keep extending it.
04Emirates ID verification
Identity checks for buyers, plus a guided seller flow with category and photo upload.
05Deposits and invoices
Stripe takes the deposit at bid time, balance settles within 24 hours, PDF invoices generate automatically.
06Commission engine
600 AED flat below 30,000 AED, or 2 percent at or above it, with no premiums on top.
04The instance
Gavel, as it ships
The client mark and two screens from the live build.
Gavel Auctions, Dubai, UAE. An online auction platform curating luxury timepieces, designer bags, and rare collectibles. Real time bidding with automated anti sniping extensions, verified bidder profiles, and transparent commission calculations shipped across iOS and Android.
Client mark
05Stack
A Flutter client, a Laravel spine, a socket between them
The auction rules live on the server. The app is the room they are shown in.
06Results
Rules that hold when the clock runs out
The numbers the platform is built around, enforced on every sale.
Anti sniping extension window on every lot
Commission on sales at or above 30,000 AED
Flat commission below 30,000 AED
Payment window after winning a lot
Gavel is a Dubai based online auction platform that specialises in curating and auctioning luxury collectibles of unparalleled quality and rarity, emerging as a premier destination for collectors and connoisseurs.
gavel.ae
Live on the Apple App Store and Google Play
Installs on Google Play
Premiums added on top of the published commission
Let's build your live marketplace.
Tell us the rules your platform has to enforce and we'll bring the real time engineering to make them hold under real bidders.
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