Silent Auction Success Tips

A staple of most benefit auctions, silent auctions can be great revenue generators. They can also, though, be the greatest drain on time, energy and resources. Ensure the hard work of your team is not in vain by applying some sound strategies in both the planning and execution of your silent auction.

Procurement Planning

Use the following 3 Step planning approach to silent auction procurement and you’ll hit your goals with less stress on yourself and your procurement team.

Step 1 – Gather Information – Using available resources (historical data, committee members and/or your auction consultant), determine (1) silent auction revenue goal, (2) target number of silent auction lots, and (3) audience interests (use the previous year’s bid sheets, if available, to identify bidding trends).

Step 2 – Establish Procurement Targets – Calculate the average per lot target value by dividing your revenue goal by you target number of lots (example: $25,000 goal @ 100 lots = $250 average per lot target. Also create a detailed target list of items you would like to procure.

Step 3 – Assign Responsibilities – Don’t overwhelm your procurement team with the big goal. This may seem inspiring, but is often overwhelming to those who are expected to do the work. Rather, assign bite size responsibilities.

For example, using the 100 lot target scenario provided above, build a team of 10 people and give each one the responsibility of procuring 10 $250 sale value lots. To make their work even easier, assign each one a selection of the items you detailed on your target item list. Remember this management fact… the more specific the direction, the more accurate the result.

Make Bidding Easy

Too often, a well meaning event committee opts for form over function when it comes to setting up the silent auction. Remember, it’s not easy to bid with a drink in one hand, a program under arm, dim lights, music and socializing. The easier you make the silent auction experience, the greater your success will be.

• Create a space that flows well and will not get congested…no dead ends.
• Layout items in numerical order making it easy to follow along with the program
• Group items in sections that are clearly marked with closing times
• Make sure lighting permits easy reading of item descriptions
• Use large bold type on bid sheets to make them easy to read regardless of lighting conditions
• Use straight forward descriptions, including bullet points so guests can quickly decide their interest; Long flowery descriptions are typically a deterrent.
• Pre-fill bid increments down the bid sheets so the only action required to bid is writing down a bidder number.
• Use Rock the Gavel’s starting bid and increment formulas to get top dollar from your auction items.
• Take caps off of your pens and prime the ink (if new) before the event starts.

Welcome to Gavel Talk!

I am pleased to introduce Gavel Talk – a place to learn about strategies for buying and selling at auction.

I think this is as good of time as any to make a very important clarification about me and this site. While I will address online strategies on this site, this site IS NOT a how-to use ebay site, nor is my experience and qualifications related in anyway to ebay selling.

So that begs the question, who am I and what is this site about?I am a professional auctioneer… yes one of those guys who “talks real fast.” As a matter of fact, that is me in the banner up above doing my thing.I have been in the auction profession for over 20 years and have performed every task possible related to the business. I have owned several companies that have specialized in various asset types and sale methods. I have dropped the gavel over 200,000 times, selling everything from computer equipment to machinery… vehicles to real estate… antiques and collectibles to motion picture making equipment. I have even sold dates with firemen, which raised tens of thousands of dollars for families vitimized by 9/11.

For as many property types I have sold, I have used as many auction strategies, including various iterations of live auctions, sealed bid auctions, bulk sale auctions, online auctions and live webcast auctions. I even earned more than my 15 minutes of fame, selling during a live television broadcast with bids submitted online and by telephone.

With this diversity, you can see why most auctioneers have experience and expertise well beyond the art of the chant. As a matter of fact, to be an effective auctioneer has nothing to do with bid calling and everything to do with being an expert marketer.

Every auction decision made is about catering to the target market. Type of auction (live, online, sealed bid, etc.), advertising approaches, auction venue, merchandising, terms of sale, etc. The reason these things are so important is simple… an auction only work if the market is represented at the sale and is willing and able to participate.

So this site will be dedicated to helping the public understand how and when an auction can be used to (1) sell quickly, (2) establish market value or (3) simply to find the market.Using an auction can be a huge decision and you deserve all of the help and direction you can get.I will also help buyers to participate in auctions with a clearer understanding of the process and more reasonable expectations.

I welcome your questions and will do my best to incorporate what I receive via email into this site, or otherwise respond to you directly.

Feel free to ask about any type of auction (yes, including ebay) and any type of property. If I cannot answer the questions, I’m sure I can direct you to someone that can.