How to use sealed bid in your silent auction

These four related art pieces were sold via sealed bid.

In February I was working with a new client who was sharing information about their live auction items from the prior year.

The conversation went something like this:

• Me:  So you sold a home irrigation system in the live auction last year?
• They: Yes.  It’s worth nearly $4000, so we put it in the live auction to get more money for it.  We sold it for $1600.  I think we had 3 bids.
• Me: We can find a better way to sell it.

And we did find a better way.

This year we sold that irrigation system donation via sealed bid.  The item received 8 bids and sold for $2309, an increase of $709.

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Sealed bid is also called …

A sealed bid auction is also called a blind bid auction or even a super silent auction.

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What is a sealed bid auction?

A sealed bid auction is a form of an auction where bidders submit bids in a concealed fashion.

The submitted bids are compared and the person with the highest bid wins the package, paying the amount of his bid to the charity.

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Which items should be sold via sealed bid / blind bid?

If you have an item that is of great value to one person or a select few, consider selling it via sealed bid.  Examples might be artwork, legal services, or orthodontics.

Talk to your professional auctioneer about whether an item is a fit for this technique, or watch this video training, How to Sell Hard to Sell Items in your Auction.

I’ll be upfront: There’s more to this concept than it sounds.

This blog post is an introduction to the concept; there are a few pitfalls when done incorrectly, so do it right or don’t do it.