in response to Heather about the amount on a gift certificate...You know no one will overbid on a flat amount gift certificate, and most people want to feel they got a bit of a bargain. So we put basic gc's into a raffle rather than into the silent auction bidding. At the event, we'll sell raffle tickets for $1 each, and guests can put their tickets into boxes that correspond to each raffle item. You won't get more than $25 on a silent auction for a $25 gift certificate, but you might get 26 people each buying one $1 ticket for a chance to win that gift certificate.

We just had ours at our girls school. It is always popular but we have never set opening bids in the past. I think i will as that there is in the future. We had a NICE set of China that retail tagged was $350 and sold for under $100. I think we will also try to post pictures and descriptions prior to the auction online for parents to have a better idea of what we have.

trisha;137231 wrote: We also start the bidding at 1/3 the retail price. Some things go for over value and some things go under value.

A great hit at last years auction for us was teacher experiences. One of our teachers took 3 kids mini golfing and for ice cream. One teacher came to your house and read a bedtime story. Parents bid these throught the roof!

I have been to several silent and regular auctions for charitable causes and noticed that most people are generally comfortable spending $20-$30, but any more than that and they stop bidding. If you are asking for dontions from your community, I wouldn't recommend having them donate more than $50 in one item or certificate. One idea is to ask them to donate two $25 certificates. You'll see a better return if they are sold separately rather than one $50 certificate.

sandyt;137476 wrote: Hello again. I forgot to ask if anyone had a "theme" for their auction night. When we held just the auction people were standing around waiting. We want to have a dinner / DJ and a "theme" to liven up the evening. We already have a Casino night fundraiser so it would have to be something different. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thank you.

We are having an auction but we are doing a theme and we are calling it Cabin Fever. We have contacted our local Outback and they are dontating all food, paper products, and staff for the event. We are also having a DJ for the children in the gym with activities set to music, we contacted a local radio persinality and she is the MC. The theme is summer in winter and I went to Oriental Trading.com and picked out all Hawiian/Tropical things for the tables and walls.

There's a list of 112 Auction ideas on the Bonus Tools section of this website. It has lots of basket theme ideas.

DonnaS;137144 wrote: What do you start the bidding at? I would hate that they were sold at less than their value. Can someone share their fliers for their silent auction? Also, I know this is mentioned a thousand times over..but if anyone has an excell sheet with addresses of successful donors - could you share them with me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

I have had a ton sent back return to sender Although I do have quite a few good ones:

John Travolta
Wheel of Fortune
Alan Jackson
Helzburg Diamonds
Eli's Cheesecake
Panaera Bread
Family Video
John Andreti
Highlights for Children
Kennedy Space Center

I have found for alot of the auction stuff just check the web sites of the products listed and there is always a contact me. I have had great success with that.