In addition to honestly assessing the organizational capacity for auction item acquisition (i.e. small staff, few volunteers) it’s important to know your constituency and strike a balance between those folks who like to go home with something and those who just want to make a donation and go home with a full heart and empty hands.
Blind bid auctions, or super-silent auctions, are a great way to maximize revenue on items that are highly desirable to one person or a select few, such as lasik surgery, attorney services, orthodontics, handyman services, even artwork and jewelry. In a traditional auction, these items would have a bid sheet, one or two people would bid the minimum amount and walk away with a great deal. In a blind bid auction, anyone interested would write down their best offer for the item/service and drop it in a sealed box.
Here’s a great example. A family friend was attending a school auction. One of the items was orthodontics, starting bid $500. She bid the minimum, knowing her oldest was going to need braces. NO ONE else was interested and her son got his teeth straightened for $500. What if this had been a blind bid item, though? She wouldn’t know there weren’t others interested and making offers on this item, encouraging her to make her best offer. Under the circumstances, she would still have gotten the item, but instead of offering the opening (and consequently closing) bid of $500, she may have offered more.
Items such as restaurant certificates, sports memorabilia and the like will always do well in an openly competitive environment so, again, depending on your guests, you can build a successful silent auction on experiences as long as the pricing is thoughtfully done.