AuctionAI — Sister-App Integrations

Run AuctionAI alongside your other Kernvel apps and unlock capabilities neither app has on its own.

AuctionAI runs your live auctions. But auctions get more powerful when they're connected to the rest of your store's data — who wishlisted what, which inventory is going stale, who your members are, and who returns everything they buy. When you have two Kernvel apps installed, those signals flow between them automatically and new features light up. No code, no exports, no spreadsheets.

This guide explains the Connections concept, then walks through each capability AuctionAI participates in.

Table of Contents

1. How Connections Work
2. Privacy: What Gets Shared
3. Wishlist → Auction Invites (ListIQ)
4. Dead-Stock → Liquidation Auctions (StockIQ)
5. Member-Only Auctions (GateIQ)
6. Return-Risk Bid Guard (ReturnsIQ)
7. Quick Reference

How Connections Work

Every Kernvel app can talk to its sister apps. When you install a second Kernvel app, extra capabilities become available — and you don't have to wire anything up.

AuctionAI has a Connections screen (in the left navigation) that acts as your "better together" hub. It shows each sister-app capability AuctionAI can use, whether the sister app is Connected (installed and reachable) or Available (not installed yet), and an Install button for any app you don't have.

A couple of things to know about how this is set up in AuctionAI specifically:

• The Connections screen is a status-and-discovery view. It tells you what's connected and what you could add. It is intentionally read-only — there's no master on/off switch there.
• You turn each capability on where you use it. Member access, wishlist early access, and the serial-returner guard are all controls right on the Create Auction form, so you decide auction by auction. That way the same store can run a member-only drop, a public liquidation lot, and a wishlist-invited launch — each configured for what it needs.
• Capabilities fail safe. If a sister app isn't installed (or isn't reachable at the moment), the related option simply does nothing — your auction still runs normally. Nothing breaks because an app is missing.

The mental model: run AuctionAI + [sister app] together, and you also get [capability]. Switch it on for the auctions where it helps.

Privacy: What Gets Shared

Connections are designed to be privacy-safe by default:

• Apps exchange only the minimum signal needed — counts, flags, product IDs, and membership status — never raw customer lists or personal contact details passed around between apps.
• The app that owns a piece of data stays in charge of it. ListIQ owns wishlist audiences and email consent; GateIQ owns membership tiers; ReturnsIQ owns return-risk assessment. AuctionAI consumes a minimal, sanitized signal rather than copying the underlying customer data.
• Communication between apps is authenticated privately between your own installed apps — it's your data moving between your own tools.
• You stay in control. Each capability is something you choose to switch on, per auction, where it's relevant.

Wishlist → Auction Invites (ListIQ)

Run AuctionAI + ListIQ together and the shoppers who already wanted a product get the first shot at bidding on it.

What you get

When you put a product up for auction, the customers who wishlisted that exact product in ListIQ are the warmest possible audience — they've already raised their hand. This connection lets you:

• Give wishlisters an early-bidding window before the auction opens to everyone else, so your most interested buyers get first access.
• Optionally email those wishlisters that the item is now up for auction — handled by ListIQ, which owns the customer relationship and email consent.
• Optionally mint a wishlister-only discount code to sweeten the invite.

The result is a stronger start: early, motivated bids set the tone and often pull the final price higher.

How to turn it on

On the Create Auction form, open the wishlist early-access option:

1. Check "Give wishlist customers early access."
2. Set the early-access window (how many hours wishlisters get before public bidding opens).
3. Optionally check "Email eligible wishlisters through ListIQ."
4. Optionally check "Create a wishlister-only discount code" and set the discount percentage.

AuctionAI captures the eligible wishlist audience at the moment you create the auction. On the auction's detail page, a wishlister attribution card later shows how the invite performed: audience size, invites sent or skipped, how many wishlister bids came in, the discount-code status, and whether a wishlister ultimately won.

Good to know

• ListIQ owns the audience, the consent, and the actual email send — AuctionAI only holds an ID-only snapshot of who's eligible and the anchors for the invite and discount.
• The discount-code part requires AuctionAI to have permission to create discounts on your store; if that permission hasn't been granted yet, you may be prompted to re-authorize the app.
• If ListIQ isn't installed, the option simply has no effect and your auction runs as a normal public auction.

Turn it on in: the Create Auction form (and confirm ListIQ is connected on the Connections screen).

Dead-Stock → Liquidation Auctions (StockIQ)

Run AuctionAI + StockIQ together and turn slow-moving inventory into competitive auction lots — with one click from StockIQ.

What you get

StockIQ knows which products are aging on your shelves and tying up capital. Instead of discounting dead stock to the floor, you can push it straight into AuctionAI as an auction lot and let customers compete for it. Auctions create urgency and often recover more than a flat clearance markdown — and you clear the shelf either way.

When StockIQ sends a product over, AuctionAI creates the auction for you. These auctions show a small StockIQ badge in your auctions list and carry the originating reference (and the item's cost basis, if provided) on their detail page, so you can always see where a lot came from and what it cost you.

How to turn it on

This flow is initiated from StockIQ — you flag aging inventory there and send it to AuctionAI as a liquidation lot. On the AuctionAI side, make sure StockIQ shows as connected on the Connections screen. From then on, lots StockIQ sends appear in your auctions list ready to run (or already running, depending on how the lot was configured).

Good to know

• The auction is created once and only once, even if StockIQ retries — there's no risk of duplicate lots for the same item.
• A liquidation auction counts toward your AuctionAI plan's active-auction limit (it's a real auction on your store), not against anything in StockIQ. If you've hit your plan limit, StockIQ is told cleanly so nothing is left half-created.
• If StockIQ isn't installed, this capability simply isn't available — your normal auction creation is unaffected.

Turn it on in: StockIQ (flag and send dead stock), with StockIQ connected on AuctionAI's Connections screen.

Member-Only Auctions (GateIQ)

Run AuctionAI + GateIQ together and reserve your best auctions for members — or give members a head start.

What you get

GateIQ is the single source of truth for who your members are, what tier they're in, and what perks they get. With this connection, AuctionAI can act on that membership status directly on any auction:

• Members only — restrict bidding entirely to members of a tier you choose. Perfect for exclusive drops and VIP-only lots.
• Members get early access — open the auction to a chosen member tier first, with a head-start window, then to the public. Your members feel the perk; the public still gets a shot.
• Auto-enroll the winner — optionally enroll whoever wins into a membership tier automatically. (Paid or approval-based tiers stay pending in GateIQ until the appropriate step is completed.)

This turns auctions into a genuine membership benefit — a reason to join, and a reason to stay.

How to turn it on

On the Create Auction form, find the member access section:

1. Choose an access mode: Public auction, Members get early access, or Members only.
2. If you chose a member mode, pick the required tier (pulled live from your GateIQ tiers).
3. For early access, set the member-only window (how long members bid before the public can).
4. Optionally choose a winner-enrollment tier to auto-enroll the winner.

The auction detail page then shows a member access summary (mode, required tier, when public bidding opens, and the winner-enrollment tier), and your storefront shows the right message to shoppers — "Reserved for [tier] members," or "[tier] members get first access; public bidding opens [date/time]." The membership rule is enforced when a bid is placed.

Good to know

• The GateIQ tier list appears right in the create form, so you don't have to copy tier names by hand.
• If GateIQ isn't connected, the create form tells you and offers a link to the Connections screen; the auction defaults to public.
• GateIQ mirrors membership into your Shopify customer tags, so a fallback tag can also apply where relevant.

Turn it on in: the Create Auction form (member access section), with GateIQ connected on the Connections screen.

Return-Risk Bid Guard (ReturnsIQ)

Run AuctionAI + ReturnsIQ together and protect your high-value auctions from serial returners — without punishing genuine buyers.

What you get

A customer who wins a high-value auction and then returns it costs you twice: you lose the sale and you've tied up the item through the whole auction. ReturnsIQ tracks return behavior, and this connection lets that knowledge quietly protect your most valuable lots:

• On auctions you mark as high value (at or above a price threshold you set), bidders that ReturnsIQ flags as frequent / serial returners can't place a bid. To the bidder, it simply reads as "this item has eligibility requirements" — there's no public accusation.
• The guard is advisory and protective, not punitive — it's about reducing the risk on lots where a return really hurts, not blocking customers across the board.
• Engagement cuts the other way too: a shopper's genuine activity (placing bids, winning auctions) is shared back to ReturnsIQ as a trust signal, which helps reduce false return-risk flags for real, engaged customers. Repeat bidders look like the real customers they are.

How to turn it on

On the Create Auction form, find the fraud-protection option:

1. Check "Block serial returners on this item."
2. Set the high-value threshold — the guard only applies when the auction price is at or above this amount.

AuctionAI checks ReturnsIQ at bid time, so the guard reflects up-to-date return behavior.

Good to know

• This is advisory by design — it guards bidding on the lots you choose; it does not auto-block customers everywhere or take irreversible action on your behalf.
• The engagement-trust signal that flows back to ReturnsIQ is a benign count of auction activity — not bid amounts or sensitive detail.
• If ReturnsIQ isn't installed, the guard simply has no effect and the auction accepts all bidders normally.

Turn it on in: the Create Auction form (fraud-protection option), with ReturnsIQ installed on your store. Unlike the other three integrations, the return-risk guard isn't shown as a card on the Connections screen — you enable it per auction on the Create Auction form, and it simply has no effect if ReturnsIQ isn't installed.

Quick Reference

For the full picture of every AuctionAI feature, see the User Guide. For developer/API details, see the API Reference.

Questions about connecting your Kernvel apps? Email support@kernvellabs.com.