The quilt guild I belonged to in Missouri had a auction every couple of years. The members cleaned their quilt rooms and brought items to sell at the auction. The funds raised stayed with the guild. They had a auctioneer come to do the sale and it was loads of fun. I did come home with some really great items. You also picked up items that another member brought the year before and it came back and was sold again. Of course you brought it back too. I usually spent less than $20 and was really please with my purchases. And I got rid of the fabric I really did not like, or the part of a quilt I did not want to finished. And the guild made money for our classes or workshops. They usually made between $400 and $1,000 at the auction.