March 27, 2023

How to Price the Items for Your Online Charity Auction?

How to Price the Items for Your Online Charity Auction

Many organizations have found the shift to virtual events to be a particularly challenging but rewarding experience. Oktion, a freshly built application-based platform has assisted many nonprofits in navigating the world of online charity auctions, including many that are venturing into the world of fundraising for the first time. However, a major similarity between virtual and traditional auctions is the critical importance of the item pricing process. Pricing silent auction items can be difficult, and it’s often difficult to know where to start. Oktion has put together some pointers and advice on how to create starting bids for your online charity auction items.

  1. The Crowd: Consider your intended audience and major donors. Consider pricing your items according to whether the market is made up of “buyers” or “sellers.” If you have more items to sell than guests in the room, this is a buyer’s market. Because there is a selection and your guests have options, price the items slightly lower than if you were working in a seller’s market.
  2. The Auction Item: If your item is being sold in a batch, which means that your organisation incurs no upfront costs until the item sells, you may want to lock in your profit by starting bids 10% to 20% higher than the consignment rate. This usually leads to an increase in the number of bids on an item. It is best to go with a round number. Items worth less than $100 should end in a 5, while items worth more than $100 should end in a 0.
  3. The Event: Please keep in mind that live auctions typically produce 70% of the item’s actual value. Silent auctions, on the other hand, typically yield 50% of the item’s actual value. These are important statistics to remember when planning the type of event you want to host.

Final Tip

If you would like assistance from Oktion when planning your next online charity auction, we’d love to help.

Many organizations have found the shift to virtual events to be a particularly challenging but rewarding experience. Oktion, a freshly built application-based platform has assisted many nonprofits in navigating the world of online charity auctions, including many that are venturing into the world of fundraising for the first time. However, a major similarity between virtual and traditional auctions is the critical importance of the item pricing process. Pricing silent auction items can be difficult, and it’s often difficult to know where to start. Oktion has put together some pointers and advice on how to create starting bids for your online charity auction items.

  1. The Crowd: Consider your intended audience and major donors. Consider pricing your items according to whether the market is made up of “buyers” or “sellers.” If you have more items to sell than guests in the room, this is a buyer’s market. Because there is a selection and your guests have options, price the items slightly lower than if you were working in a seller’s market.
  2. The Auction Item: If your item is being sold in a batch, which means that your organisation incurs no upfront costs until the item sells, you may want to lock in your profit by starting bids 10% to 20% higher than the consignment rate. This usually leads to an increase in the number of bids on an item. It is best to go with a round number. Items worth less than $100 should end in a 5, while items worth more than $100 should end in a 0.
  3. The Event: Please keep in mind that live auctions typically produce 70% of the item’s actual value. Silent auctions, on the other hand, typically yield 50% of the item’s actual value. These are important statistics to remember when planning the type of event you want to host.

Final Tip

If you would like assistance from Oktion when planning your next online charity auction, we’d love to help.