I'm in the thick of the fall auction season. Last week I was working all across the country, so expect to see more videos down the road -- as I have time to organize them. :) In this first clip, you'll see an auction layout of an event I worked two weeks ago here in Washington, D.C. The organization, Chris4Life Colon Cancer Foundation, is only five years old. Yet the group has already raised a whopping $7 million dollars to fight colon cancer. (Impressive!) They have three core ... Read On >
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An attractive display for a bad live auction item: Tiffany dishes
My clients procure some excellent live auction items. Each year I whittle down my favorites and list them in my Auction Item Guide™. (Speaking of which, the current guide, What Sold Like a Dream in 2014, will vamoose December 31. Download your free copy before then.) But every so often, I have to sell an item that isn't strong by benefit auction standards. An oriental rug A trip to a luxurious resort in a dangerous country. A set of Oneida dishes. With a dining room table. This ... Read On >
Silent auction jewelry display ideas to add to your supply kit
I've written before about creatively displaying jewelry in your silent auction displays. That post showed some unusual ways to showcase your jewels. This suggestion is more straightforward. Use jewelry stands. Stands ... props ... displays ... whatever you want to call them. When you find jewelry displays on sale, it's not a bad idea to invest in more than one. These become part of your permanent supply kit. Consider this story. Shortly after I graduated from college, I flew to visit a ... Read On >
Live auction display ideas for vacations
If you've got a vacation or two that will be sold in your live auction, it helps to geographically show guests where the city / resort / hotel is located. When I'm serving as auctioneer for a group, I create my own "displays" to help market items. I often don't know what the client will be doing for a display, and I want to be sure that during the preview time, I'm able to engage bidders with my own information and materials. For example, here are four images I've used in the last month to ... Read On >
Silent auction display ideas for concerts and sporting events
If you’re selling great tickets to a desirable concert or sporting event, what is one of the key pieces of information a bidder would want to know? The location of the seats. Given that most of your bidders are visually-oriented, you’ll want to include a diagram indicating where those seats are, in relation to the action. Though you can and should tell bidders that the tickets are in Section 120, row J, seats 1-4, it’s just as important to show them that location. Showing is ... Read On >