>From Erica S. Maniez
Museum Director, Issaquah Historical Society:
>I'm seeking information about silent auctions. For those of you who
>have conducted a silent auction, can you tell me...
>- how do you set minimum bids (or do you for all items?)
Our museum (the Museum of American Heritage, Palo Alto, Calif.) also
holds a live auction, so all our silent auction items are valued at
well under a hundred dollars. I'd say we set a minimum of about 25%
of what we perceive it's value to be, and hope to sell it for half or
more of it's value. (One item in our last silent auction sold for
four times what the donor (me) would have gladly sold it for.) If
the item is of very low value we don't bother with a minimum, only
hope someone will take it off our hands.
>- how do you set minimum bid increments?
We don't use bid increments, but neither have we been hit with
unreasonable raises in the bids.
>- if you don't require the person to be present at the end of the event in
>order to collect the item, how long do you give them to make arrangements?
Make sure you get the bidder's name and phone numbers on the bid
sheet. Later, if you talk on the phone in person to the winner, ask
them when they can pick it up. A few days or a week is not
unreasonable. Longer, with a good excuse. If you leave a phone
message, be aware the winner may be on vacation and won't get your
message for a couple of weeks. A follow up phone call weekly or so
doesn't seem out of line. If you don't hear in a month it looks like
you're not going to hear. (You may not want to wait that long, since
you hopefully have an underbidder you can call.) Then you can make a
note of their name and number for next year's auction.
>- what do you do with items that are not bid upon if you don't plan to have
>another silent auction until the next year?
It's yours - do anything you want.
>- any horror stories or particular dangers I should be aware of?
All our silent auctions so far have been held outside. Beware of the
sun hitting your paper items; it can discolor them within minutes!
Be wary of the weather and what it's affect on paper, metal or wood
items might be.
If you have any small items of some value, I'd keep an eye on them.
They might walk off if you're not careful.
>If you have any sample documents (bid sheets, rules, etc) you can send me,
>that would also be greatly appreciated.
Since my wife and I are more involved with the live auction, I don't
have a sample silent auction bid sheet. But I believe it contains an
item number, a brief description of the item, and the words "NAME",
"PHONE NUMBER" and "YOUR BID". Off the top of my head I can't think
of what else might be added. A silent auction volunteer in the
immediate area should be able to answer any questions.
After we make sure the closing time is well displayed and also
announced over the loudspeaker several times, a final count down
during the last 15 minutes by loudspeaker will keep the auction in
last minute bidder's minds. At closing time the "silent auctioneer"
takes a pen and goes from item to item and draws a line under the
last bid.
Keep the items and bid sheets on display while you announce that
people should come check their bids and pay for their winnings.
I hope this has been of some help.
-Jim
--
-Jim Lyons
[log in to unmask]
http://www.jimlyons.com
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