It is very difficult to run a successful (profitable) quilt auction. Typically, I see the quilts go for FAR, FAR less than even what they'd sell for on eBay. Our guild used to auction multiple quilts at our biannual quilt show, but they would sell from anywhere from $25-60 -- so sad. Instead, for this year's show (in October) we switched to offering a single quilt with multiple contributors & advertising the living daylights out of that one quilt. Members are asked to promote it on our own social media pages & it is promoted at local quilt shops, in the paper & through our website. We're hoping it will do better with all our attention focused on a single quilt, but honestly, I've volunteered for other charities & seen quilts that had elaborate custom quilting with a one-of-a-kind design, using top-notch cotton fabrics that would be priced (minimum bid/reserve price) by someone who knew absolutely nothing about custom quilts. They would look at it & think "I can buy something 'similar' at Wal-Mart for $25 so we'll start the bidding there". Donors are typically better off selling the quilt themselves & giving all the proceeds to the charity. Yes, there are definitely exceptions, but far too often bidders don't understand the difference between a mass-market, low-quality quilt made out of polyester by a slave laborer in a 3rd world country (no, not all items made in 3rd world countries are low-quality or made in abusive factory conditions, but the very cheapest ones often are) versus a fully custom quilt made with high-quality natural fibers, designed & constructed by a fiber artist in their own country. People complain that "all our jobs are being sent overseas", but the flip side of that is that it costs more to make items in the US. Raw materials cost more, labor costs more, facilities cost more & so, too, does complying with, imho, very reasonable enforced government regulations (like you cannot block fire exits because you want to make sure none of your workers can sneak out during the workday, or like if your roof is halfway caving in & poses a safety risk to your workers, you must repair it or the building will be condemned). Or, for that matter, the cost of some seemingly questionable regulations like the requirement that Amish must now hire licensed contractors to build their houses and stores, even though they've been safely constructing their homes in the same manner for nearly 2 centuries with very few resulting problems.
If the Amish cannot continue to turn a profit on their quilts, I fear this beautiful aspect of American culture may soon be relegated to the history books.
Last edited by Bree123; 09-08-2016 at 08:33 AM.