Auctions are those events where properties or goods are sold to the highest bidder. Auctions are mostly public events, where bidders make a series of bids and purchase a particular item for a high price. During auctions, bidders decide the price of an item rather than the seller. It depends on bidders to decide the amount they would want to pay for a specific item. During an auction, a bid is a proof of a legal binding. Bidders agree to pay the amount that they have bid. In a high profile auction, bidders may have to pay a deposit in escrow accounts or give a proof that they can pay for those items.

Types of Auctions:

Different types of auctions take place around the world. Below mentioned are some types of auctions:

1. English auction:
This is a basic type of auction. In this type, people can see the item and then start bidding. Bidders slowly raise the value of their bid until everyone gives up. The highest bidder is the winner. An auctioneer manages an auction, keeps records of the on going bid and decides the winner. Sometimes, the seller will quote a minimum amount for an item to the auctioneer, below which the auctioneer cannot sell that item.

2. Dutch auction:
In this type, the auctioneer sets a particular price and then gradually lowers the price. People in public will start bidding and later decide which prices are suitable for the item. A seller may use this type of auction to sell large quantities of same products to the public. For instance, a seller may want to sell a large amount of hay and will thus, decide to sell this hay to people for the same amount, once a reasonable price is decided.

3. Silent auction:
In this type, the bidders in public will present their bids in a sealed format. These sealed bids open at the same time and bidder with the highest bid wins. There could be a modification in this type of auction. The bidders are allotted a specific period to bid. They can roam in a room displaying the items, and write their bids on an associated sheet of paper. The bidders are allowed to see bids of other bidders and can choose a higher price for an item. At the end of the allotted time, bidder with the highest bid is the winner.

Examples of Auctions:

Auctions can be of two types either public or private. Sellers may trade any kind of items in both types of auctions. Some areas where auctions take place are:

1. Antique auction: An antique auction consists of a trade opportunity as well as provides entertainment.

2. Collectable auction: In a collectable auction, the seller may put up collectables like coins, vintage cars, luxury, stamps, real estate, and luxury for sale.

3. Wine auction: In wine auction, bidders can bid for rare wine, which may not be available in retail wine shops.

4. Horse auction: Bidders can bid for young horses of the best breed.

5. Livestock auction: In livestock auction, bidders can buy pigs, sheep, cattle, and other livestock.

The other examples of auctions may not be public. These auctions are for bidders from corporate levels. Some examples of private auctions are:

1. Timber auction
2. Spectrum auction
3. Electricity auction
4. Debit auction
5. Environmental auction
6. Auto auction
7. Electronic market auction
8. Sales of business auction

Bidders in an auction need to examine the items displayed and decide an appropriate price for an item. Thus, auctions help buyers in getting the best deals and in gaining better profits for sellers.

Advertising is an effective tool of marketing used for promoting products and services to be sold to generate business revenue. Thus, it won’t be wrong to say that the ultimate purpose of advertising is to push the sale of products and services through different ways of promotion. In the absence of advertising, it is difficult for others to know about your products or services. Although you sell high quality products at reasonable prices, you won’t be able to reach adequate number of buyers or the target audience to earn profit.

Advertising not only promotes, but also establishes your brand amongst your target group. It positions your brand in such a way that your products or services become a replacement of the need they fulfill. The best instance of this is Cadbury ads appealing the audience in India to eat Cadbury chocolates, whenever they feel like eating sweets. Their ad copy – “Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye (means: Lets have some sweets)” with the characters eating chocolates indirectly asks people to replace Cadbury chocolate for traditional Indian Sweets. In short, ads help in building good reputation of the brand or company and gradually increase the sale of the products and services.

Therefore, advertising can be considered as an investment that could indirectly improve your brand value and generate good returns in terms of sale. However, it is to be noted that ads won’t directly add to your sales or create a customer base for your product or service. It simply helps your brand to create a space in the subconscious mind of your target audience, who might end up being your consumer/customer. This vital role of advertising makes it an essential marketing tool, which is widely used across the world by even the business giants like Microsoft, Apple, Tata, etc.

The whole idea of considering advertising as an investment makes it necessary for us to consider certain factors before advertising the products and services. The basic factors to be considered before advertising any product or service are as follow:

In order to create a successful advertising for your product or service, follow some basic advertising principles:

Aim and Objectives of Advertising: Identifying the main objective behind advertising your products/services is the most essential of all the factors. This is because without a proper objective one can never achieve anything in any field. Also, it helps you to evaluate how well the aim and objectives would go with your company or brand image. It also makes the ad campaign or the progress of the ads measurable and realistic.

Expecting immediate rise in sales: Expecting a sudden hike in sales after the advertisement of your products or services is like lying to your own self. Advertising is not a solution to your financial issues. However, it might gradually help you in pushing the sales of your products and services.

Don’t make false promises: The advertising works, only if the product or service meets the expectations of the target audience. If they don’t live up to their promises, then the advertising is more likely to fail. It might create some buzz at initial level even if your product or service is of low quality, but it will eventually fail. So, it is important to make promises that your product or service can fulfill.

Understanding your product: You must know the complete details of your product – be it materials or uses. This will enable you to know what your product can do to exist in the market. In your advertising, you could make use of its benefits or solutions as excuses for its sustainability in the market over the period of time.

Target prospective customers’ needs: You advertise products or services mainly to persuade your prospective customers to opt them against your competitors’ or ordinary products. Therefore, it is important for you all to understand the needs of your prospective customer. This will help you convince them easily by portraying you product as a means to meet their needs.

Ads must be informative and effective: Your ads must be able to educate your target group about the products’ USP and other benefits. Also, it should inform them about the products availability and why it should be used. Besides this, the ads must be effective enough to deliver the message to the audience in a creative, unique and convincing manner. It must grab their attention and leave an impact on the target audience. In simple terms, it must be effective enough to bring the customers to the product’s outlets or at least enquire about the product, if not buy.
These basic factors, if considered, can really help you create great ads that would make sense and grab the attention of your target audience. The resulted ads would be distinctive, yet recognizable and easy to relate with your product or service. These ads would not only have good recall value, but they would also have the ability to convince prospective customers to try your product.

I want you to think about the term “Fundraising Auction”.

A “Fundraising Auction” is an event where items of value are gathered, and then sold in a competitive bidding situation, either in a Silent Auction format, or in a Live Auction format by a Live Auctioneer. And since typically the best items are saved for the Live Auction, arguably it is the Live Auction that should generate a significant portion of the proceeds in any Fundraising Auction.

So why do so many non-profit groups consider the Fundraising Auctioneer to be the least valuable component in a Fundraising Auction?

The Hosting Facility gets paid.
The Printer gets paid.
The Caterer gets paid.
The Liquor Store gets paid.
The DJ gets paid.
The Florist gets paid.
But the Auctioneer … the individual who is expected to raise the lion’s share of the event’s proceeds… is expected to work for Free. And is usually under-appreciated for the professional services he/she provides.

I’m not trying to underscore the value of the invitations & programs, food, booze, music, and decorations. All are important in their own way. But each of these are “Expenses”. It is the Auctioneer who is going to bring “Revenue”… and thus, the “Profits”… into any event. Which is the ultimate objective of any Fundraising Auction.

Here is a real-life example of how under-appreciated the Auctioneer can be. In two comparable events we worked last year, during the dinner portion of the event one non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) at a table with the DJ, the Interns, the Volunteer Staff, and other event “Help”. The 2nd non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) directly next to the CEO of their organization, where we chatted about how important the pending revenue would be to their organization. Which group do you think valued the services of the Fundraising Auctioneer more?

Don’t ever under-estimate the value that a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can bring to your event. The Auctioneer adds value as a pre-event consultant. And the Auctioneer can change an event from a moderate to a huge success.

A Case Study Once I was scheduled to call an Auction for a major local non-profit group. They represented a very good cause and they had a strong and dedicated following. Their event was sold out, quality Live & Silent Auction items had been solicited, and the Special Pledge Appeal had been choreographed and was ready to go. The facility was first class, the appropriate caterer was booked, and the food was ready to cook.

But quite unexpectedly, some unseasonably inclement weather forced the event’s cancellation. Despite all of the committee’s hard work, cancelling the event was the proper decision considering the circumstances.

So the Event Committee scrambled to re-schedule the event for the following weekend.

They confirmed with the Hosting Facility.
They confirmed with the Caterer.
They confirmed with the Liquor Store.
They confirmed with the DJ.
They confirmed with the Florist.
Since they already had the Mailing List of those scheduled to attend, no new invitations had to be printed as all were contacted by email or telephone. So with everything in place, the group went ahead and re-scheduled the event for the following weekend.

But guess who they failed to confirm? You got it… the Professional Auctioneer. They thought so little of the Auctioneer’s contribution that they “assumed” that the Auctioneer would be available and at their beck and call.

But the Auctioneer already had another Fundraising Auction booked for that date with another non-profit group. It was only hour away from the re-scheduled event, and things could have been easily worked out. All Group #1 had to do was start their event one hour earlier, or one hour later, than the Group #2, and the Auctioneer could have helped both groups on the same day.

But because Group #1 failed to anticipate a possible Auctioneer conflict, because they failed to confirm with the Auctioneer before re-scheduling their event, their preferred Auctioneer had to bow out and they had to scramble to locate substitute “Volunteer” Auctioneer only days before their event.

And it cost them.

Learning Points

The Live Auction is usually where the profits are made at any Fundraising Auction.
A Professional Fundraising Auctioneer can be vital to the success of any Fundraising Auction.
The better Fundraising Auctioneers usually get booked quickly.
You need to recognize the important contributions that a good Auctioneer can make to your event.
Michael Ivankovich is a Bucks County Fundraising Auctioneer based in Doylestown PA, and serves the Great Philadelphia PA area. He has been a professionally licensed and bonded Auctioneer in Pennsylvania for nearly 20 years, has been named Pennsylvania’s Auctioneer of the Year, and has considerable experience in conducting Fundraising Auctions. Michael loves helping groups raise needed funds for good causes and one of his specialties is the “Special Pledge Appeal” or “Fund-A-Cause Appeal” which usually enables clients to double their revenue in a single evening.