• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About
    • About RAA
    • Meet Sherry Truhlar
    • What makes us unique
    • Reviews/Clients
    • Press
    • Licensing
  • Contact
  • Client Login

Fundraising gala auctioneer Sherry Truhlar

  • Services
    • Onsite Auction Services
    • Fund a Need Experts
    • Consulting
    • Onsite workshops
  • Products
    • $10 Trainings
    • On Demand Webinars
    • Books
  • Speaking
    • Why Sherry
    • Keynote and Other Topics
    • FAQs
  • Blog
  • Free Resources
    • Newsletter
    • Auction Item Guide™
    • Recording: Porch Parties
    • Benefit Auction Case Study
    • Blog
  • Store
You are here: Home / Blog Post / What’s wrong with online silent auctions this spring?
May 24

What’s wrong with online silent auctions this spring?

Sherry Truhlar 2 Comments

Every year my spring season is filled with school auctions.  Many of them run online auctions in conjunction with their live events, and the majority this year have complained of lower revenue with the online auction.

So what’s up?

If you’re running an online auction and looking for ways to avoid a downfall, here are a few thoughts I’ve gathered from conversations with my clients.

Four tips for online auctions

Once and done bidding, on a $2400 vacation package

Once and done bidding on a $2400 vacation package

1. Marketing your online auction is critical.

One of my clients commented that she usually sees a last minute rush of bids before the online auction closes.

“Not this year,” she said, “Even the golf experiences that draw in our men didn’t sell well.  We got 1, 2, maybe 3 bids on our items.”

If you’re seeing a general slow down, ramp up your email marketing.

The “build it and they will come” approach won’t work for a live event *or* an online auction. Online auctions are too easy to be overlooked in the dearth of content we all see.  So just as with a live event, you’ve got to push, push, push the emails to drive traffic to your online event.

I’ve seen groups send two or three emails about their online auction and expect that to do the trick.  That simply doesn’t cut it, except in cases of the most dedicated of supporters.

If you sense that marketing is your Achilles heel, check out my Marketing Your Auction training will give you the email expertise to drive traffic.

2. Consider whether you want / need outside bidders in your online fundraising auction.

Some online auction vendors will advertise your items to people outside your own community of donors. Theoretically more competition drives higher bids.  When all goes well, that’s great.

But a couple of nonprofits haven’t had that euphoric result.

  • In one case, a vendor was selected to advertise and sell a high value item using its national database.  The item (2 sporting tickets) sold for $4k — no more than what my client knows they would have garnered in his own auction.  After paying the fee to the company, he said it was a nice experiment, but not worthwhile.
  • In another case spanning a few years, winners continue to claim not to have received the items mailed to them, even after a signature via UPS was required.  The nonprofit has little recourse except to let the winning bidder have it for free.  When your auction is open to the world, anyone can win and bid items — including scammers.  My colleagues in the commercial auction industry put systems in place to vet their own bidders, but in the nonprofit auction space, nonprofits rely on the auction software company to vet bidders — and they don’t.

With every upside there is a potential downside.

3. Avoid other event conflicts when closing the online auction

Is your local sporting team in the playoffs?  And — drat it! — is that game being played the same night as your online auction is closing?

If so, you might see lower participation.  (Which means you need to ramp up the marketing to compensate.)

Check sporting and community calendars. Avoid closing your online auction during these times.  If a playoffs game has materialized, you might consider moving the auction closing.

4. Use psychology to drive higher bids

It’s always a good idea to include extended bidding to garner the highest sale prices of your most popular items.

Bid extension option allows for bidding to continue on popular items.

Bid extension option allows for bidding to continue on popular items.

What’s extended bidding?

I’ve covered that subject extensively already.  Read my 2012 blog post  My gripe with some mobile bidding and online auction vendors or my 2013 blog post, Ready to see bidders freak out? Don’t include extended bidding.

What’s been your experience with online auctions this spring?

Feel free to comment below.

 

Share on Facebook Share
Share on TwitterTweet
Share on Pinterest Share
Share on LinkedIn Share
Send email Mail
Copyright © 2016 Red Apple Auctions Co. All Rights Reserved

About Sherry Truhlar

Fundraising auctioneer and educator, helping schools and nonprofits plan more profitable benefit auctions. A prolific writer for her own blog and other fundraising sites, she’s been covered in The Beacon-News, Town & Country Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Northern Virginia Magazine, Wiley's Special Events Galore!, AUCTIONEER, and other publications.

Reader Interactions

Alternatives to the sit-down dinner gala
[VIDEO] Raising money for Haiti by focusing on the Fund a Need

Comments

  1. Chris Mayr says

    May 24, 2016 at 9:57 PM

    Having been in in the online auction industry for the last 16 years, the big thing people forget is nothing is free or cures everything. You need to work hard just like your live auction. Make sure you are getting what people want. Golf is a dying industry right now, golf packages won’t garner what they used to. Find the items that will.

    Don’t rely on outside bidders. You can’t get more than $105 for a $100 gift certificate to the local grocer. Don’t waste your time hoping to get to $106 only to get burned.

    Extended bidding is awesome, but you have to educate people.

    Scheduling is tough because your team who notoriously doesn’t make the playoffs is suddenly in the championship or just before you close your auction, the weather finally breaks and everybody runs outside. You have to close your auction on the right days and at the right times.

    If you aren’t mobile you are dead. 70% of your traffic is coming from mobile and most software isn’t compatible. Google search isn’t listing your items if you aren’t mobile and as a result, your traffic is down.

    We closed 3 auctions while I read this article. All 3 exceeded goal by 20% and all closed on a Tuesday Night???? 16 years, the old dog may have a trick or ten up his sleeve.

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      May 24, 2016 at 10:05 PM

      Is this the same Chris from AuctionAnything? If so, great to hear from you! It’s been forever!

      I couldn’t agree with you more and I know we agree on many points. Ironically I was just talking to a client the other day about golf dying. I blamed it on the end of the era of Tiger.

      Thanks for sharing.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Connect with Me Here

What auction planners say

Sherry, oh, Sherry! You were an invaluable asset to this year’s gala. With your assistance we were able to add so many new elements that truly made a difference in taking our event to another level. This year was the most successful yet! Everyone loved you and the amazing energy that you brought to the event. We look forward to having you again in 2018!

Krystal Fenwick
Read more testimonials

Thank you so much for the outstanding job you did for us on April 1! I have received so much positive feedback from so many who attended. You even earned Sister Suzan’s (our Vice-Principal) seal of approval! Safe travels to all your many events and thank you for making our biggest fundraiser of the year our best ever!

Diane Albano, Director of Development
St. Joseph Academy Catholic High School (St. Augustine, FL)
Read more testimonials

Sherry is flexible and easy to work with. She gives honest feedback and advice throughout the planning and implementation process. Without a doubt, Sherry and Red Apple Auctions has helped take our annual fundraising event to the next level.

Beckie Middendorf, Development Director and Janet Gulla, Development Coordinator
St. Henry District High School (Erlanger, KY)
Read more testimonials

Sherry is “on board” from day one of auction planning, works closely with our steering committee and is only just a phone call away. The night of the auction, we toss her the keys and let her drive the event! We are never disappointed!

Charly Ryan, Director of Institutional Advancement
The Academy of the Holy Cross (Kensington, MD)
Read more testimonials

I was very fortunate to have Red Apple on board for my first auction. Working with Sherry was invaluable. She provided guidance at every phase of planning, from procurement on forward – and she challenged us to make our event more ambitious and more successful at every stage. Thank you, Sherry!

Pete Goldlust, Director of Development
Oak Hill School (Eugene, OR)
Read more testimonials

If your auction needs to upgrade, call any auctioneer you find on Google. But if you want your auction to be impressive, meaningful, and profitable, you need to call Sherry.

Erin Banda
2016 NYUMBANI Board member
Read more testimonials

The auction was entertaining .. proactive … the crowd was involved and felt a part of it,” he said, emphasizing, “The entertainment value was huge.

Darrell, a long-time attendee
Read more testimonials

We plan on booking Red Apple Auctions much earlier for our next event so we can take advantage of more of the pre-event offerings.

Nicole Carr, Director of Grants and Special Events
The Ivymount School (Rockville, MD)
Read more testimonials

Sherry, personally, I can’t even begin to tell you the immense amount of positive feedback that I received having YOU (and Darby) there with is this year! Some of the tidbits: You added EXCITEMENT and ENTERTAINMENT… You added EXPERTISE and FUN… You helped the evening FLOW, in a wonderful and positive direction… You were FUN,… Read The Rest “Anne Livaudais Knudsen, 5th year gala co-chair”

Read more testimonials

Aren’t KK and Michael a cute couple? They liked that I “moved the crowd along … kept the crowd engaged but wasn’t obtrusive or invasive. We were able to talk but still keep track of what was going on.”

Read more testimonials

You have NO idea of how many people came up to me (I know Julie as well) and said, ‘That auctioneer was incredible … she engaged the crowd, … she got the bidders to bid without being rude/pushing, … I loved observing her, I just watched her, … she did a great job.’ It was… Read The Rest “Staci Meruvia”

Read more testimonials

Geri said: “Great job of getting potential donors in the room to step up to the plate and not feel guilty or bad about it. They actually wanted to give more … and that’s not something I’ve seen in many other auctioneers.” The following year, she herself ‘stepped up’ and became one of the gala… Read The Rest “Geri”

Read more testimonials

Irene attended one of my New Hampshire auctions and assumed I must be a radio personality — until I started to chant that fast talk. “I’ve been to this event before with a couple of other auctioneers,” she said, “Your ability to get personal with people in a way that isn’t intimidating — men, women,… Read The Rest “Irene”

Read more testimonials

Most product & consulting remarks are found on their respective webpages, but I’ve listed two below so you’re assured my products are as spot-on as my auctioneering.   Not only was our 2013 auction a blast, but our Washington, D.C. public school raised $67,000 — that’s $25,000 more than last year! The evening went off… Read The Rest “Carolyn Kahn-Hall and Andrea Del Vecchio”

Read more testimonials

As a former Fox News Anchorwoman, I am often called on to perform at auctions. So, I know first-hand that auctioneering can be a difficult job. Sherry Truhlar is one of the best in the business. She is skillful at managing an audience and keeping them focused on the task at hand – which is… Read The Rest “Cynthia Steele Vance”

Cynthia Steele Vance
Guest at The Potomac School 2014 auction (McLean, VA)
Read more testimonials

home | auctioneering | consulting | free item guide | about

 

Red Apple Auctions Co., PO Box 6066, Arlington, VA 22206
Toll free: 888-474-0838 | Email: Info@RedAppleAuctions.com | Copyright © 2005 - 2018

 

Sherry Truhlar • Charity Auctions • School Auctions • Fundraising Auctions • Auction Galas • Benefit Auctions

 

Terms of Use · Privacy Statement