A School Auction Excels at Marketing a Potato Cannon

By Sherry · Monday, March 30th, 2009

Photographer Paul Haring of Alexandria, VA did a great job of capturing Mamie showcasing the potato cannon.

This photo makes me giggle! Mamie, a bubbly, petite, outgoing team member of the Red Apple Auctions floor crew, showcases this enormous cannon in a Rambo-esque style. Special thanks to photographer Paul Haring who caught the shot and was willing to share it with me.

“One of a kind” items perform well at auctions. A potato cannon … made by the school’s beloved maintenance department … in an all-boys Catholic school … is a perfect example of that.

The cannon sold for $1000 at the school auction… twice.

Once the auction chair saw how well it was selling, she confirmed that the maintenance team would be willing to build another one so the school could double its revenue on that item.

Not only is this a fun idea, but the marketing behind it was outstanding.

First, this cannon was displayed in the maintenance department for two weeks prior to the school auction.

Every boy in the school had visited the cannon at least once to check it out. The maintenance guys even named the cannon “The Brotherhood” and painted the name on the side.

Second — prior to the school’s auction — a “test” was conducted by the maintenance crew to ensure their workmanship was free of flaws.

They launched a potato over the gymnasium, beyond the lacrosse field, and into the baseball diamond. What a great marketing idea to stir up the talk around the school!

Third, in the maintenance department and at the school auction, the cannon was marketed with a bag of ammunition and an instruction manual, written in English and Spanish.

This was sold as a complete “batteries included” item. The ramrod, owner’s manual, sack of ammo (potatoes) was all there.

Great job on all counts!

P.S. Instantly get 100 other top-selling items (like this one) in our FREE Auction Item Guide.

The instruction manual was written in English and Spanish.	Clearly the maintenance crew had fun writing this manual.
In the live auction area of the silent auction, the cannon was displayed with its bag of ammo (potatoes) and the manual.	Â