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San Diego, Ca.

On another thread Doug and LiLPatch touched on the topic of auctions dragging on. I didn't want to hijack the thread they were on so I'll start this one.
Has any club considered holding an auction here on the message boards sort of like Ebay? Say, each seed or seed lot would be posted seperately on the opening day of an auction and then you would have a predetermined amount of time (maybe a couple days) to bid on the seed of your choice before bidding closed at a precise time (like 8:00 sharp or possibly a staggered precise cut off time for each seed/lot so you have a chance to watch bids on several seeds or lots). As Pap suggested, you could even start with an opening bid price if desired. I'm not sure if any of this would work but it sure would be a time saver instead of waiting for the seed you want to come up for auction. You would be able to go right to the seed you're after and place a bid and then watch. Everything is right out in the open for all to see... who's bidding and how much at your convenience. The bidding would probably get crazy in the last few minutes. It would be interesting to see. And if someone defaults on their bid then the seed could go to the next highest bidder even if the bid is past the cutoff time. Anyway, just an idea I thought I would throw out there. Vince

1/5/2007 9:03:26 PM

Western NY

for the first few years, the PGPGA and the NY group would have "pre-bidding" for a week or two before it went live in the chat room. it made the actual auction in chat go quicker, but was a lot of work for whoever had to take the bids via email and update the webpage before the auction.

1/5/2007 9:15:23 PM

[email protected]

This type of auction could be held right on these very boards with no need for email. A single new thread could serve as the "lot". As long as it stays on topic, then each post would (theoretically) be the next bid.

The bids would be instant & visible for all to see.

1/5/2007 9:33:44 PM

Rexburg, Idaho

This could work but rather then cutting it off a set time let it go until there have been no new bids for say 2 or 12 hours (or whatever time period. Who cares if that type of action went on for several days or even a week. Otherwise everyone is sitting on the computer trying to get a bid in 1 second before the cutoff time.

1/6/2007 12:52:58 AM

Dummer Twp - Ontario

I'm sorry I can't remember which club tried this method but as a bidder it was good to take a look when I had time and look at all the lots and see which seeds I wanted to put my money into. Hopefully someone from that club will see your post.

1/6/2007 6:59:46 AM

Owensboro, Ky.

VGVGA did one in mid December...called it a Silent Auction. Peace, Wayne

1/6/2007 8:48:35 AM

Jericho Vermont

Yes Wayne. We have used a similar format for the last 2 years. ken has been generous for allowing us to advertise it on our own website and this year we are able to send a donation his way as well. I like the silent auction format, I feel that growers also get invested in a lot over a weeks time and work hard to win it.

As the webmaster it was a ton of work, but alot of fun. it is hard updating towards the end as the bids come in literally every minute.

Hopefully all those that bid on it had a good time as well.
John

1/6/2007 9:44:14 AM