Bidding For Charity: Silent Auctions Go Online

Silent auctions have been a staple for raising charitable donations at nonprofit events for possibly hundreds of years. With the proven results of online auctions, the charitable silent auction has started to get a facelift. Biddingforgood.com provides a centralized location to host all kinds of auctions for nonprofit organizations. Not only can they host an organization's silent auction, but they have hundreds of thousands of members themselves that can bid on the items, increasing competition and donation amount. Improvements over the old pen and paper system are obvious. For one, bidders no longer feel intimidated by long list of names that have bid before them, but they also can be aroused to competition if they get an e-mail telling them that they've been outbid. Silent auctions of the past have tended to be social cocktail parties designed to keep the guests for as long as possible while they are bidding, but cocktails and socializing can have a distracting effect that is not conducive to the competitive bidding environment. Another obvious advantage is that all of the philanthropic supporters, instead of merely a fraction, can participate in the auction.

Reference: http://nonprofit.about.com/od/fundraisingauctions/a/auctionsonline.htm
https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/biddingforgood.action

Getting started on internet auction websites like Ebay

Internet auction websites like Ebay are a great place to make extra money on the side. I have sold plenty of things on Ebay and have made a lot of extra cash over the past several years. I first created an account 6 years ago to purchase an item. Then after about five purchases or so, I began to sell things once I felt like I had generated enough positive feedback to become a trustworthy seller to buyers.
My advice is to buy a few items first to generate some positive feedback and then begin to sell once you have learned the tricks of the trade. Also, try to negotiate with potential buyers about buying via direct paypal invoice. This can save a lot of money when selling expensive items. Always be careful when dealing outside of  Ebay and make sure to always provide a tracking number with accurate pictures.


-Dorian

Personal Perspective of Using Ebay and Online Auctions in General

Ebay is truly the only online auction I have ever used unless you consider craigslist as sometimes ads will contain a message saying "or best offer". Primarily, however, Ebay is simple and something I used to use quite a bit in high school. I had a hobby of playing paintball and anyone that plays or has played can tell you it's very expensive. Too expensive for a regular highschool or college student to afford so I took to Ebay to find what I needed. There I was able to gear that was largely marked down and still new or even gear that was years old that I couldn't find in the store for even cheaper. The reason I bring this up is because Ebay was just too easy to use. I'm not bad with computers by any means or the internet in general, but it was incredibly simple for me to sit down and simply start bidding right away once my account was activated. Not only did I bid on items and attempt to buy them but I also started selling paintball gear I didn't need anymore. One time I purchased a piece of equipment off of Craigslist and put it on Ebay for $100 more and it sold that day. I threw in a "Buy it Now" feature that allowed users to quickly purchase the item instead of having to wait on bidding. This also decreased the time it took to ship, although I came to find out the buyer was right here in North Carolina so that wasn't an issue. All in all, Ebay was a great website that allows virtually anyone to find something they like or become a seller. Some make a living off of using EBay's services.

Who uses Ebay?

Who all uses Ebay? The answer is a ton of people, but to be more specific let's look into the demographics a little. According to a survey done on Ebaypartnernetworkblog.com those who use Ebay are: 36% more likely to be men, 40% more likely to have a four year degree, 19% more likely to be politically liberal, and 30% more likely to be in a relationship. Those who haven't used ebay are 36% more likely to be female, 39% more likely to have a high school diploma, 27% more likely to be politically middle ground, and 35% more likely to be single. Although this is simply based on a survey the results are odd in that it suggests people with a higher level of degree use Ebay more than those without one. Also the fact that men typically use Ebay more might sound surprising since the common stereotype with women is that they love to shop. Although it might also be because the common stereotype for men is that they simply hate going shopping and can do it from the comfort of their own home.

Coming from the personality standpoint of who uses Ebay, the survey suggested: 14% more likely to spend money (which clearly makes since), 16% more likely to be extremely competitive (which also makes since because Ebay is a competition more or less), 10% more likely to say their mood is affected by multiple days of bad weather, 42% more likely to be happy with their job. Survey also suggested that those who don't use Ebay suggested: 16% more likely to save money, 14% more likely to say they're not competitive, 15% more likely to say their mood is not affected by the weather, 28% more likely to be unhappy with his job. As far as saving money it's understandable that those who desire to do so don't place bids on Ebay, however, I don't understand the correlation between mood and happiness with jobs. In any event, the survey was an interesting look at some of the types of people who use Ebay.

What can and can't you sell on Ebay? Rules and Regulations

With the increasing popularity of internet auctions and the ability to sell almost anything at anytime, there must be rules and regulations regarding their uses. There's a large list on under on Ebay's website that includes : adult on material, alcohol, animals, art (which I found surprising), used clothing (which I have sold before), currency, any kind of drug or drug related items, and many more. A few of these items are completely understandable but some are also a little unrealistic. I can understand not being able to sell drugs, mainly because they're illegal almost everywhere but used clothes seems a little odd. I've personally sold a coat on Ebay and have seen plenty of used clothing on Ebay. Although it's under the prohibited items, I think it's because there's certain restrictions as far as selling the item. Ebay is unlike any other auction in that around today. It's relatively lax in terms of what is allowed but also has strict regulations that attempt to keep the buying and selling in order.

There's a reporting policy in which users can report any suspicious activity which helps keep Ebay a reliable auction source. The rating system under Ebay also keeps things in order by allowing users to rate each other when there is a transaction. If a buyer notices a seller with a low rating he or she can look further into why the seller received these bad reviews and can decide for themselves if they want to continue with the purchase.

Ebay through its terms and conditions allows users to safely bid and sell products under their guidelines which is probably why they're still around compared to other bidding sites.

Ebay: not just an auction company

eBay, the first company that we think of when we think "online auctions", now makes less than a third of their revenue from actual fees from auctions. Considering they are the proud owners of Half.com, Paypal, and StubHub, this kind of makes sense. But another major contributor to that revenue-to-auction ratio is the very popular Buy It Now feature, in which customers bypass the whole auction process and can get a good price on an item and have it shipped post-haste, instead of fretting about outbidding unknown people in an auction. Because of the nearly non-existent menu costs of e-commerce, as well as the delayed gratification of online auctions and the prevalence of the controversial practice of bid sniping, eBay is starting to sell more Buy It Now items than it auctions. Experienced sellers know how much their products are going for at auction now, so why wait for a 7 day auction to finish if it will just end up within 5 or 10% of a Buy It Now price? There will always be auctions for collectibles, antiques, and unique items, but for the mundane items from seasoned consumer-sellers, Buy It Now just makes more sense.


Reference: http://www.wired.com/2011/05/ff_endofauction

- Kyle Whittlesey

Shill biddings and ebay tips

Buyers should always be on the look out for shill bidders. Shill bidding is when a seller bids on his or her own auction to increase the amount of the bids. Often times this is done to increase the amount to be received from the auction. The seller could make another account and bid on their own auction or have someone they know do it for them. Ebay auctions generally have three different options that the seller can set the auction for the item up at. Those being buy it now with best offer, a regular auction were the highest bidder wins, or an auction with reserve. If the auction does not reach the reserve amount, the seller can keep the item or relist it. Also, sellers should look out for buyers with low feedback. Often times when the bid of an auction gets extremely high and the buyer has low/ zero feedback sellers should get ready to relist the item. More than likely the buyer will flake and not pay. So that is why I always use auctions with only the buy it now option that requires immediate payment via paypal. That way I won't have to worry about the buyer flaking and me having to relist the item.



-Dorian