Silent Auction Help

[tiggger1]

Has anyone here ever held a silent auction? I got asked to be the chair for the silent action/raffle commitee at a huge breed show this summer. I told them ok but have no idea where to start or even how to hold one ( I have 2 women who will help me but I dont want to seem like an idiot...

I have a few questions maybe someone can answer for me...remember this is for maybe 50-60 people most who have just paid to enter their horses in the show and dont want to spend more than $50 for an item

how many items are enough?


do i have a starting bid? and if I do, do I set it below the price or at the price?

if I do a starting bif would you rather have a bit more expensive items that have a higher start bid or reg items that you can get for less than what you would have paid at home?


Most of the items are going to have a horse theme or our breed theme....like horse tack, or horse theme decorations.

I am doing a kids table, so how many items there? , last year there was only about 5-6 kids under the age of 9. is 10 items too much?

if you have any other ideas or suggestions please let me know because I am clueless!

 

[Feralpeg]

They had them at DD's high school. The more items you have, the better chance you'll make money. The items should have a value listed on them. That doesn't mean they will go for that. It just gives folks an idea of what to do. There was a sheet of paper by each item with a description of the item or contents. People write down their name and the amount they want to bid. The next person can enter a larger amount. Whoever is the last to bid, wins the item. Sometimes items go for less than their value. Try to get people to donate things. Often businesses will donate things for a good cause. Good luck!

 

[tiggger1]

i am getting a list of who donated last year, and they had over 70 items last year. I was told that was too many and they split up items to fill more tables. one lady got a $60 pair of chaps for $5 because there were more items than people....I was thinking maybe 30 decent items and maybe 10 for the kids table....