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You are here: Home / Blog / Having Successful Online Auction

Having Successful Online Auction

May 22, 2015 By Shann 13 Comments

Online Auction

An online auction are a great way to raise money for your favorite charity or non-profit organization. I’m going to show you some simple steps so that you can run your own Online Auction…and so you’ll participate in mine.

making online auctions a success

 

What is an Online Auction?

I first found out about Online Auctions on Facebook about 3 years ago.  Someone had posted a page with an online auction to help a woman with Cancer.  I clicked on the link because the woman was a co-founder of an organization I was familiar with, Project Sweet Peas.  Project Sweet Peas helps families with babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or families that have lost a baby.  Our family received a wonderful bag with blankets, stuffed animals, and essentials like lotion, tissue, and a disposable camera when we were in the NICU with our twins.

Anyways, the Auction had some cute homemade items, baked goods, and some gift certificates.  I ended up buying a necklace and print for my Mom for her birthday.  It felt really good to be buying a gift while also donating to an important cause.

A year later, a woman in my Twin to Twin Survivors Support Group wanted to do a Fundraising Walk to raise money for the TTTS Foundation, and she created the Walker and Willis Walk to Fight TTTS.  Her surviving twin wanted to do it to honor his brother for his birthday.  She was asking for help, and I volunteered right away.  We were brainstorming ways to raise money without spending a ton on hosting the walk.  That’s when I thought back to the Auction, and realized I could do this to offset the cost of the walk and even raise a little more money for the Foundation. So, The Walker and Willis Auction to Combat TTTS was born.

online auction collage
Last year’s Online Auction items

 

The first year we raised over $500, and the second year we raised close to $900.  With the success of these two Auctions, I decided to also do one when our team was raising money for  the March of Dimes this year.

It takes a little organization and attention to detail, but once you get all the pieces in place, it’s a great way to make money for your organization.  Let me tell you how to get started and run your own Online Auctions.

Step #1  Set up your Auction Page 

I ran my Auction on Facebook, since that is where I have the greatest social reach.  You can either set up your auction page as a “community page,” and invite people to “like” it OR you can set it up as a group, add all your friends, then they can “opt” out themselves.  I, personally, like running it in a group, but it’s your preference.

Step #2 Decide on the Rules of the Auction

Explain the cause for the Auction and the rules of bidding in your description.  I simply asked people to comment on the picture with their bid in $5 increments.  In the future, I will be starting with a minimum bid of $10 for each item.  For my first Online Auction, I only accepted Paypal as payment.  I then found out that you could send invoices through Paypal, and the person could just use a credit card.  Paypal does take a small percentage, so keep that in mind.  Make the dates of the Auction clear by specifying a start date/time and end date/time with your time zone.

Step #3  Get Items to Auction  

Ask friends, family, “Facebook” friends, co-workers, etc. if they have anything they’d be willing to auction for your cause.  Handmade items such as blankets, artwork, personalized prints, or kid’s clothing items work great.  Gift cards are also easy to send, and if it’s a National brand, everyone can bid on them.  Send personal messages to your friends, make phone calls, or even post your requests in groups you feel comfortable in.  For example, I’m a member of a TTTS survivors group, so I felt good about posting my request there.

2016 online Auction items
2016 Online Auction Items….come bid now!

Step #4 Make an Album  

Once you start getting responses to your requests for donated items, get pictures of the items.  If the donor does not want to be responsible for shipping the item to the winner, have them send you the item, which you could then photograph.  If they are willing to send it directly to the winner once the auction is over, you can just have them send you a picture and description of the item.  I then made an album for all the items.

mod auction cover                  auction coverOnline Auction

Step #5 Promote, Promote, Promote

Keep reminding people of your upcoming Auction with posts, photographs of the items, and even emails.  Every time I got a new item, I would post it on the Auction page, on my personal page, and tag everyone that was involved in the Auction.  You want to reach as many people as you can.

Step #6 Watch the Bids Come Rolling In 

I made sure to “like” every bid, and tried to highlight items that still needed more bids.  Make sure you post a reminder when your Auction is coming to an end.

Step #7 Notify Winners and Donors 

Once the Auction is over, announce the winner on each picture.  Then, make sure to send a personal message to each winner with the dollar amount they owe.  Ask them to send it via Paypal or to send you their email address, so you can invoice them.  When sending it through Paypal, make sure to have them put their address in the comment section.  Once you receive the money, then contact the donor and have them send the item.

Step #8 Say Thank you 

Remember to thank both your donors and winners.  Also, thank everyone that participated.  You want everyone to come back again next time!

Now head over HERE to participate in this year’s Online Auction!

If you like what you just read please click to send a quick vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs- The best mommy blog directory featuring top mom bloggers

 

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: auction, donating, donor, facebook, handmade items, march of dimes, money, online auction, online auctions, paypal, TTTS, TTTS Foundation, Twins

Comments

  1. Katie @ Doing Dewey says

    May 22, 2015 at 8:32 am

    What a great way to tap into the blogging community! Thanks for the advice on organizing an event like this 🙂

    Reply
    • Shann says

      May 22, 2015 at 12:24 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Trish says

    May 22, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    This is a great post! I didn’t even know you could do auctions on FB. It’s something I’ll keep in mind, definitely.

    Reply
    • Shann says

      May 22, 2015 at 5:15 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  3. Alana says

    May 22, 2015 at 9:17 pm

    This is so cool! It’s really impressive you raised that money for charity! I didn’t know such online auctions existed!

    Reply
  4. Ellen Oliveira says

    May 24, 2015 at 11:54 am

    So awesome! I like the other commenters did not know you could do online auctions like this. I imagine you could achieve a great number of people especially by sharing on the blog. Thanks for sharing.

    Young Love Mommy

    Reply
    • Shann says

      May 24, 2015 at 7:42 pm

      Thanks for reading!

      Reply
  5. Joanna Clute says

    February 4, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    I’ve never thought about having an online auction before, but it’s a great idea! Great way to get rid of some extra stuff.

    Reply
  6. Kimberly Cox says

    February 4, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    Great look into the Online Auction. Good Luck with yours <3

    Reply
    • Shann says

      February 4, 2016 at 7:41 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  7. Deanna says

    February 4, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    This is great information. I will share this with my local moms group, they often use things like this.

    Reply
    • Shann says

      February 4, 2016 at 8:40 pm

      Great! Thank you!

      Reply
  8. Debbie says

    February 5, 2016 at 7:18 am

    Thank you for posting this! I saw a friend do this for another friend and not only was it fun, but we raised so much money!! Pinning this.

    Reply

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Meet Shann

Shann Hi! I'm a mom, writer, and dancer. I love sharing my parenting experiences, my healthy living tips, my money saving ideas, and our travel plans. My passion to help other women inspired this blog. I hope you'll stay a while and come back often.

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