Now some of those variables you probably would not think about.. These are all variables we have experimented with and observed over 35 years in producing charity auctions:
1. The quality of the auctioneer's ability in this specialized type auction format. Not all auctioneers are the same and not all can produce good results in this very unique charity auction format. Auctioning in this type format is not like a cattle auction or an estate sale. The guests are generally not use to going to auctions and have a difficult time understanding the bidding. As a result, they don't bid. Money is going to be lost.
2. The ability of the crowd to hear the auctioneer. THE SOUND SYSTEM USED. Not all sound systems work in a crowded banquet room, especially house sound systems. There is nothing worse for the auctioneer or the action planners to have a well-healed, well-fed audience of 1,000 people in a hotel dining room and no workable sound system to amplify over a raucous crowd of eager bidders. Money is going to be lost.
3. The timing of the start of the auction in the schedule for the evening. If you wait until after dinner is served and dessert dishes are cleared, people are ready to get up and run for the restrooms. Start the live auction when the entree is 75% eaten and before dessert is even brought into the dining room. A busy wait staff will not bother a good auctioneer and you'll have more bidders. If you lose bidders to the restroom or bar runs, money is going to be lost.
4. The number of items to sell in the live auction. There is a formula. Our typical live auction performance allows 3 minutes to announce, hype and auction each item. A list of twenty items can take close to one hour to auction effectively. That's about all you can expect to hold the attention of your guests before the restroom calls, the guests want to socialize some more, refresh adult beverages or parents of young children are thinking about getting the baby sitter home.
Another way to think about it is if guests sit for dinner at 8:00 pm and the live auction starts at 8:30 to 8:45, 20 items auctioned will run to 9:30 or later. If other scheduled events for the evening are silent auction closes, dancing, casinos or entertainment on stage the full evening is now stretching into a midnight or later to wrap up. Too many items make the live auction run too long, and money is going to be lost.
Call 214-503-1942 for more information
This series of auction articles was originally written by
Dan Eckert
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