Needs ideas for an auction

[Boogety48]

I'm a co-founder of a fish group. We just launched in January so we're trying to figure all this stuff out still. We need help figuring out the best way to do an auction. Our old group did auctions but we don't like how they did them. We've been thinking a silent auction or even set everything up like a side walk sale. We've asked other groups on facebook but no one really had any good suggestions. So here I am asking for help

 

[fishabbott]

Hey there. Ironically, we started our new group in January as well. Our auction is pretty straight forward. Items are placed out for viewing and one of the trustees writes down a description of what and who. If the seller demands a minimum price, that is noted as well. When we held our first meeting, we unanimously agreed club splits 50/50 with sellers to pay for travel expenses when we invite speakers and to cover our insurance and rent. I thought people would come for the auction over the speakers, but it turned out there is interest in speakers too! Just keep it simple and fun.

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[Boogety48]

We couldn't decide on an amount to ask for. Our old club did it 70/30. They gave you the 70 and took the 30. Which wasn't bad but what we didn't like is you never knew what the money went to. They only ever had one speaker and the money was kept at the vice president's house. We have an account so we can show where money goes. That was the first thing we did lol.

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[fishabbott]

The account is an absolute must. Good call. We have two trustee/ treasurers for now. Both sign and date any paperwork.

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[Boogety48]

We haven't appointed any members to anything yet but we're only having our first meeting on the 21st. We decided to be a majority online fish club. Our old club met every month and it never had the turn out to justify meeting that often. The last auction I attended we had eight people there.

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[Slade]

My club uses 70/30 split plus $1 to avoid "penny lots" for pre-reg and 60/40 + 1 on day-of lots.
We lay out labeled bags for inspection, and also allow sellers to ask for a $2 "push" to auction their items first.
Then we go through a regular bidding auction. It takes a few tries and some tweaking to get it right for your club.

We have no meetings, just online forum and two auctions a year.

 

[Boogety48]

Hmm I like the "push" idea. Never thought about that before.

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[severum mama]

Our club does a 70/30 split for members, and a 60/40 split for non-members. We sell "priority stickers" for a buck each, and people can sticker their own bags or other people's bags, and they can buy multiple stickers if they want. The sticker items get auctioned off first.

We were doing silent auctions for dry goods, but the larger/nicer items tend to make more money in the live auction, as we found out. This time we are trying something a little different with set prices for the dry goods, and a live auction for fish, plants, and some donated items.

Suggestion: Contact some companies well ahead of time to ask for donations. Many companies have this built into their budgets and if you hit them at the right time of year, they can send something along to your club. Offer to display promotional materials if they choose to send them.

 

[Wy Renegade]

We actually have monthly meetings - at least so far (still fairly new), but we have a topic and a speaker (some of us probably aren't the best, but we try) at each meeting (about 20 to 30 minutes on the topic, then follow that up with the auction. Not a lot of members yet, but we are growing.

 

[henningc]

Our auctions are 50/50 split with most items seperated in sections for viewing. There are $1 push requests and the min. bid is $1. They also have a silent auction that runs until the end of the regular activities. We never have speakers except at the large annual show and auction. Most auctions, 50-70 people show up, the annual show and auction 200-250 people attend. Most of the auctions feature donations from local pet stores, dry good suppliers and the regional fish wholesalers. All of those proceeds are donated. One thing I think would increase attendance would be to have seelers list what they are bringing on-line and or take advance orders. If you number tag every item that comes through the door you can collect the club's share. You will get a few dishonest folks, but most will pay up.

We also do twice a year swap meets. Tables are $20 and it is $2 to get in. There are typically dry good vendors / distributors there and many times you can make a long-term contact to get the best deals on what you need.

As far as accounting for funds, there should be a bank account and each month the treasurer should send out a report via email. If the group becomes a 501-c-3 not-for-profit you will need to fill out an IRS 990 form each year. Even if you're small that is the way to go. You can post your 990 on your website so others can see you're lagit.

One last thing, our club in the past had contests to see who could spawn and rear the most fry of different fish. Most of the time these were CARES fish. At the end of the contest, pairs are distributed to general members so that keeps the number of fishrooms working with the fish high and they do get around.