I agree with you that 4 hours is very long, both for bidders and volunteers needed to supervise the auction. But I can see the perspective that they want the most number of people to get exposure to it, since the carnival is so long, too. Will you be able to continually announce it (via megaphone or announcement system) to remind people to bid? And possibly encourage people who need to leave to bid high enough to likely win?
You have the benefit of it being a fairly closed community, meaning you know bidders will be parents at your school, so package delivery to people who leave, even if it has to be done the week after the event through the school office, is easier.
Another idea... have you thought about doing sealed bidding? This avoids the 15-minute crunch at the end and people's need to stay until the end. Rather than bid sheets, you simply have a minimum bid and the value listed. Bidders simply turn in their max bids for each package to you, and you determine the winner from all entries at the end. Donwsides are removal of the "competition" factor that could raise bids, but in an environment where people are distracted, you get their max bids immediately and don't require them to keep coming back.
I received a donation package from wheel of fortune and using it for our tricky tray. I have no idea what the value is. Anyone else get a package form then and can give me an idea what it's worth? Thanks
This is the first year our school is doing a silent auction. I'm chairing it, and have done so three times previously at our former school. The committee had decided that the auction would run from 12-2 during our carnival that is running from 11-4. I missed a meeting and now they have decided on the auction being 11-3 based on the reccommendation of another committee member.
My thoughts are that four hours is way too long for an auction to run. Serious bidders will not wait around for four hours, and most bidding is done in the last 15 minutes anyway. This seems like a lot of wasted time and possible wasted revenue. Our previous auctions ran 1.5-2 hours MAX.
Thanks for the ideas, knew I could count on this site to help me, help this family.
Jandbmommy..... our dessert auction was easy. we placed an envelope with a list of the desserts stapled to it. Each table put in as much money as they wanted for their choice. We gathered the envelopes which had the amount written on the outside and the highest table got to pick out their choice and so on down to the lowest bidding table. We got the desserts from local restaurants, family and friends who donated. It was great.
You should email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. theres another Iowan and I are going to help each other next year and compare lists and ideas. Good luck.
This is in response to the person who posted from Southern California about looking for ideas for donations. Where in So Cal are you? I live north of you, near the Central Coastal area of CA. We are holding an event at the end of the year, and I have been quite successful with getting donations from companies. The larger companies that I gleaned from this list are Red Box, In N Out Burgers, and Chipotle.
But think local. I have had restaurants donate gift cards, had a rock shop donate rock candy suckers, remote control cars from our local ACE Hardware, popcorn set from a local market--all it takes is a little ingenuity. For example, a local community college has a planetarium. I called them up, and they sent me four passes for an evening show. We are about 150 miles from Sacramento, but I contacted the California Train Museum and they sent us four passes for a train ride. In N Out sent 8 gift certificates; our local pizza places have donated a total of 12 certificates. It takes a lot of leg work and mailing work, too. Good luck
