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You are here: Home / Blog Post / Too good to be true? Playing it smart with unsolicited auction items.
Mar 19

Too good to be true? Playing it smart with unsolicited auction items.

Sherry Truhlar 2 Comments

new log home in mountain resort town

New log home in mountain resort town

When I first started my business, I prospected for business by cold calling.

(Cold calling means reaching out to someone who doesn’t know you and to whom you have no connection.)

At the time I was living in Miami, FL, so I Googled lists of area private schools and nonprofits. I’d visit each group’s Website, researching it to see if they held an auction. If they did, I’d call them to tell them about my services.

I share this because if you’ve posted anything about your benefit auction on your website, don’t be surprised when “donations” start appearing in your email inbox! Photography services, fabulous homes in choice spots, and other unique options might suddenly land at your feet.

Vendors are able to provide impressive items in every conceivable niche – art, jewelry, memorabilia, vacations, experiences, etc. Each vendor makes it easy for you to fill your auction with items seemingly perfect for your crowd.

Two of my clients were recently contacted by email by different individuals. Each individual offered a home in a choice location — one in the USA; the other abroad. These unsolicited auction items got my clients nervous and excited.

“Do you know anything about this,” they asked me, “It seems like a really good deal!”

My clients understand the concept of consignment companies, but these emails weren’t from a consignor – or at least the personal stories shared in the email didn’t sound like consignors.

Moreover, these individuals only had one item to consign – a house! What kind of a consignor only has one item to sell?!

(Don’t know what consignment is? Read this oldy-but-goody post about getting items on my blog.)

Whether you’re being offered one item or a book filled with items, if you’re paying for it, it’s consignment. Consignment might be a fit for you; it just depends on your auction.

My mantra has always been to think about your benefit auction as a business. When you embrace this idea, you’ll start to appreciate how many other companies you can partner with. This might mean “partnering” with a consignor, or opting not to. But before you decide to work with anyone, you’ll want to ask questions!

Here are points to consider and questions to pose when one of these emails is sent to you.

  1. First, realize most aren’t “100% donations.” If I owned a few homes and wanted to earn money from one of them, I might also opt to “donate” it (i.e. rent it at a discount) to nonprofits. Or the rent might be free, but I’d charge fees for other elements.  I’d make some money and perhaps get a tax discount. It’s a legitimate way to make money, but it’s not a 100% donation to you.
  2. Ask your auctioneer if he’s familiar with the property and can share insight. One home I’ve sold several times comes with numerous additional charges for incidentals. The home’s owner always fails to outline these to my clients. I explain them, so my client can decide whether to use it and how to advertise it. In another case, two vendors with a similar offering have substantially different terms. Depending on the size of my client’s auction, I direct them towards one vendor or the other.
  3. Understand the payment. What’s the total cost? For instance, are there charges for cleaning fees or activity surcharges? (Do you want your buyer to pay those, or do you want to cover them?) When is payment expected? What terms are in place if the property becomes unavailable or can’t be used? (If someone is offering their home for sale to many nonprofits, it’s conceivable that the home becomes oversold and your buyer can’t easily “use” their purchase.)
  4. Planes, trains, and automobiles. How will your buyer travel to the home? What airports / trains / private cars are used to arrive at the destination? This information will help you market the home if you opt to use it, and details like this are rarely included in the marketing literature.
  5. Current references. Ask for the contact information for the last three to five nonprofits that have stayed on the property. Confirm when they visited and if the place was as advertised. Was the home well-kept or needing attention? Did the winning bidder receive all that was promised?
  6. Take high sales with a grain of salt. Home owners love to tempt you with high sale prices. “It sold for over $5500 at Auction ABC,” they’ll write. Frankly, it would be more useful to know what the home sells for most of the time; the median sale. Your auction isn’t Auction ABC. You’ve got different buyers, a different combination of items, and a different flow — so get those stars out of your eyes.

My clients are currently following up with these “consignor-donors” right now. Maybe we’ll use those homes in their auction, or maybe not. It’s all about the due diligence!

Got other ideas? Please share your thoughts!

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Copyright © 2013 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.

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Comments

  1. Julie Kodicek says

    March 22, 2013 at 12:46 AM

    Just curious if you come to Phoenix and what you charge to be an onstage auctioneer at a charity event?

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      March 22, 2013 at 1:05 AM

      Julie, yes, with exception of a few locations, I work all over the country. I’ll be in Phoenix in April. Rates vary depending on the day of the week (Friday and Saturdays are the most expensive), the size of the event, and other factors. You can set up an appointment to visit about your event here: https://my.timedriver.com/82ZBS.

      Reply

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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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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

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)

2012 Oakcrest Anne and CarolinaSherry, 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!… Read The Rest “Anne Livaudais Knudsen, 5th year gala co-chair”

Aren’t KK and Michael a cute couple? PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiIHNyYz0iaHR0cDovL3JlZGFwcGxlLmV2c3VpdGUuY29tL3BsYXllci9NakF4TWkxSGRXVnpkSE10UW5Wc2JHbHpMVXRMTFdGdVpDMU5hV05vWVdWc0xVcHZjMlZ3YUM1dGNEUT0vP2NvbnRhaW5lcj1ldnAtV0JBVTkwTlVBUyI+PC9zY3JpcHQ+PGRpdiBpZD0iZXZwLVdCQVU5ME5VQVMiIGRhdGEtcm9sZT0iZXZwLXZpZGVvIiBkYXRhLWV2cC1pZD0iTWpBeE1pMUhkV1Z6ZEhNdFFuVnNiR2x6TFV0TExXRnVaQzFOYVdOb1lXVnNMVXB2YzJWd2FDNXRjRFE9Ij48L2Rpdj4= 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.”

Staci Meruvia 150 ptYou 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, …… Read The Rest “Staci Meruvia”

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.” 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 The following… Read The Rest “Geri”

Irene attended one of my New Hampshire auctions and assumed I must be a radio personality — until I started to chant that fast talk. PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiIHNyYz0iaHR0cDovL3JlZGFwcGxlLmV2c3VpdGUuY29tL3BsYXllci9SM1ZsYzNRdE1qQXhNUzFPU0ZOUVEwRXRTWEpsYm1VdWJYQTBMVEU9Lz9jb250YWluZXI9ZXZwLTVHMlVHQlFGN1YiPjwvc2NyaXB0PjxkaXYgaWQ9ImV2cC01RzJVR0JRRjdWIiBkYXRhLXJvbGU9ImV2cC12aWRlbyIgZGF0YS1ldnAtaWQ9IlIzVmxjM1F0TWpBeE1TMU9TRk5RUTBFdFNYSmxibVV1YlhBMExURT0iPjwvZGl2Pg== “I’ve been to this event before with a couple of other auctioneers,” she said, “Your ability to get personal… Read The Rest “Irene”

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… Read The Rest “Carolyn Kahn-Hall and Andrea Del Vecchio”

Cynthia Steele Vance_150X180As 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.… Read The Rest “Cynthia Steele Vance”

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

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