dunster |
03-31-2019 06:42 AM |
At my guild's auction there is a base price, which is the least amount for which the item will be sold. There is also a starting bid, which is set by the auctioneer and is lower than the base price. The people who bid are not aware of the base price unless the bidding never gets that high, and then they are told that no one has reached that amount, and so the item does not go to the highest bidder unless he/she wants to meet that base price. Other organizations may do it differently. Part of the reason we have a base price is that the person donating the quilt has the option to keep up to 50% of the price received. Many people do, and use that money to make more quilts for the next auction.
I concur that the items should bring in at least $50, probably more, but auctions are tricky. If the attendees are truly there to support the cause, they will tend to bid higher than if they're looking for bargains. Also quilted items tend to go for less when all the bidders are other quilters. We appreciate quilted items, but we don't tend to buy what we can make ourselves.
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