Mirror just Finished

[bruce johnson]

James,

We've all been there. There seems to be a lot of variation and no predicting what benefit auctions will do. My son is an auctioneer and has done 3 in the last two weeks in the same town. One had a good crowd, was up 1/3 over last year. Last Friday night the art auction was lighter attended, but the ones there brought their checkbooks and averaged a little over last year with fewer buy-backs. Yesterday a sell out crowd and seemed to be down with one marquee item off 2/3 vs. last year. You just never know.

I would look at your deal from a few angles. First off the youth center has $65 more than they had before and that is why it was there. Your name is out there. You have the experience of making it, and can probably do the next one smoother and easier, although the pictures look good. We'd all like to see our stuff sell great, and on another day it will. I have some standard kind of donation items I make to some groups. I have had the same item bring $300 and $2000 to basically the same crowd. I have had over the top stuff sell for half what I'd expect, and some average stuff outsell itself hugely.

Now a few things I do at a benefit auction - live or silent auction. I really do not want to have something sell for half value and then have to make another just like it to sell to a customer the next day. I consider what I pay at the auction to be a donation to a group I support and donate to anyway. I am not afraid to have someone bid on my item on my behalf. The auction staff at many benefits usually has a bidder or even several with the pre-sale proxy bids, reserve, and buy-back bids in their pocket. They will bid on it, call it sold, and the smooth ones will never show what is going on. If they don't have someone covering bids, have a friend bid on it for you. Nothing kills a benefit auction like an announced no-sale. Also sometimes there is only one person interested in an item. They make a low opening bid and then nobody challenges them. They get a bargain, and would have paid more. The organization doesn't get the proceeds they deserve.

There are some tax benefits for donations and some purchases with charitable groups. Check with a tax advisor on that.

[2MadJacks]

James,

We've all been there. There seems to be a lot of variation and no predicting what benefit auctions will do. My son is an auctioneer and has done 3 in the last two weeks in the same town. One had a good crowd, was up 1/3 over last year. Last Friday night the art auction was lighter attended, but the ones there brought their checkbooks and averaged a little over last year with fewer buy-backs. Yesterday a sell out crowd and seemed to be down with one marquee item off 2/3 vs. last year. You just never know.

I would look at your deal from a few angles. First off the youth center has $65 more than they had before and that is why it was there. Your name is out there. You have the experience of making it, and can probably do the next one smoother and easier, although the pictures look good. We'd all like to see our stuff sell great, and on another day it will. I have some standard kind of donation items I make to some groups. I have had the same item bring $300 and $2000 to basically the same crowd. I have had over the top stuff sell for half what I'd expect, and some average stuff outsell itself hugely.

Now a few things I do at a benefit auction - live or silent auction. I really do not want to have something sell for half value and then have to make another just like it to sell to a customer the next day. I consider what I pay at the auction to be a donation to a group I support and donate to anyway. I am not afraid to have someone bid on my item on my behalf. The auction staff at many benefits usually has a bidder or even several with the pre-sale proxy bids, reserve, and buy-back bids in their pocket. They will bid on it, call it sold, and the smooth ones will never show what is going on. If they don't have someone covering bids, have a friend bid on it for you. Nothing kills a benefit auction like an announced no-sale. Also sometimes there is only one person interested in an item. They make a low opening bid and then nobody challenges them. They get a bargain, and would have paid more. The organization doesn't get the proceeds they deserve.

There are some tax benefits for donations and some purchases with charitable groups. Check with a tax advisor on that.

As always, your right on Bruce. The best thing for me is that I got my name out there with a little attention. Thanks for all the help you give everyone, James