Trad Gang

Had some chat and great input from Mitch Walker on the Paradise Hunt about how to get to $100,000 on the next auction.

I've kicked around his idea, and came up with a thought myself on how to go about it....gonna try and explain this the best I can, and I'd like to have some of ya'll input as to how you think it would work. I ran it by Doug and I think we are off to a good start.

OK...1st we make an 'Entry Forum' where all entries are entered, and a strong plea for all items to be entered before the auction opens. This will be open for listings by all members.

We create Auction Forum 1, Auction Forum 2, Auction Forum 3, and Auction Forum 4 that are all separate, and all have the same start date, but have a different end date. Auction Forum 1 will end, and a day later 2, and a day later 3, and a day later 4.

These will be a read only forums till its time to turn them on. Doug and I will move listings from the Entry Forum as they come in to the other 4 forums as we see fit, so that each forum carries a few of the big ticket items.....take for instance hunts...each forum would have at least one hunt, and then we'd start back over....same with other big ticket items...and separate knives, arrows, bows in the 4 forums.

This way if someone gets out bid on a hunt lets say, they can bid on another one the next day. Same with other items. This will allow folks to still have a chance donate even if they loose out on a particular item.

This will also allow those that have a set amount to actually get to donate again and again instead of loosing out on the single day as before.

We could also create a 'Late Entry' forum for those items that come in during the action.

Instead of closing at 8 PM we Move it up to 9 PM every evening.  This will give the west coasters time to get home and bid hopefully.

Any thoughts???

How does that sound???

Is there something we are missing or not thinking about?

Sounds like a good idea. The forum allowing early veiws of the items will peak peoples interest and maybe get someone saving who wasnt going to at first and the 4 different auctions ending at different times is a good idea too if someone gets outbid at the last moment.

Terry that sounds great. Make alotta sense and should work out very well.<><

I e-mailed you an idea Terry.

Sounds like a great idea for the donors and the bidders.      :scared:  

I wouldn't worry about the west coasters. They all get off work at noon.    :bigsmyl:

Sounds like some good ideas there.  I like the thought that, if you loose out on something one day you can turn around and bid on something else the next!!  Good thinking guys!!  Keep up the good work   :thumbsup:

very fair.... That will work.

Good idea, Terry.  :)   There's got to be some way that we can get more Trad Gang members to donate, provide, and/or bid on an Item for the auction..I know I'm not the only person to think what would happen if 50% of the TG membership would get involved.....How can we get more people to participate????????  Just a thought.

I have an idea to stop sniping which, I believe, also will encourage early bidding and maximize funds raised.

The idea:  

On each item bidding ends at the alloted time OR 5 minutes after the last bid.

Benefits:

• Time is not an issue, only price
  
• No sniping possible
  
• It's more like a "live auction".  As long as people are willing to keep raising their bid, the auction continues
  

Sounds like a great Idea.

Terry, I like the idea.  The only concern that I would have would be the potential to overload the server four nights in a row instead of just one.  The lesson learned there is to bid high early, I guess.

Jeff might be on to something.  Sniping doesn't really bother me, but his idea would help reduce the technology overload that occured last year.  Of course you could potentially string out some bids for a while, which would delay the process.

Gregg,

Rob and I have discussed this issue of crashing the server...and our 'provider' is going to run another server along with ours tied in for the week just to cover the traffic.....this is still uncharted territory...so we shall see...but at least we are making an effort, and a big thanks to our server provider.    :notworthy:

All great ideas, I really like Juff U's. The bidding continues until the bids run out  :thumbsup:  That one should really increase revenues. For maximum efect!

And a big thank you to our Server Provider  :thumbsup:

Jeff...I'll give that some thought....however, there will be hundreds of bids at the same time...not like a regular auction where its 'one at a time'.

With jeff's idea, items that run past 9 on the first day could be carried over to the next day as long as bidding continues, until you get to the last day, then all bidding should stop at the appropriate time.

All great ideas.

That defeats the purpose of having different end dates 4 runner....and we are back to square 1.

If every one knows they can bid till the last day of the last forum...we might as well just have one forum.

While I think mine is a simple idea, I admit that it may be difficult, if not impossible, to mechanically put into practice.

I do not know how to shut off some but not all threads.  

And how to police the 5 minute deadline?  Again, I do not know....

What is this all about I havent seen a post for this. I have something I would like to donate if this is a fund raiser for St. Judes and need some info on where, how, and when to send it in.
Someone let me know.

Great idea, Terry! I can't wait for this year's Auction.

La bowhunter: Please click on the St. Jude's Auction 2007 thread...a few threads below Pow Wow. It will give you an idea of how 2008 Auction will look like.Great items at auction and ALL proceeds go to St. Jude's.

I think it's a great idea and should really help spread out the bids and take some pressure off the server.  
I've seen another way of closing out bids that might help some more.  Certain items (higher priced?) could be specially coded or identified by color, icon, whatever.  The specially coded items are left open a bit longer than the other items in that group.  Even an extra 15 - 30 minutes could draw some pretty good last minute bidding on the higher priced items.  I just don't know if it is mechanically possible from your end.

I did the math, OK, I used a calculator... with today's Tradgang that's only $6.67 each. Now the only problem is setting up the auction so that I get to elk hunt with Doug, hunt the Paradise and get a great bow for $20.00 (that's 3 times my share of cash) and a couple of members won't even have to spend a penny.

All I want to know is...

HOW MUCH FOR THE COOKIES?!?

I loves me some cookies...hehehe...

Terry, sounds like a good idea to raise some extra funds. How about listing some items and having sealed bids, were a person would just get one bid no changing it at a later date, no one else could see  it, winner announced at the end. This could be done on a small scale just to see how it would work.

Sounds pretty good so far (always can be unforseen pitfalls to new ideas  but you never know til you try) - I'll be ready to nip at everyone's heels -   :p    :jumper:  

... and I'll donate an extra bottle of aspirin for Doug -   ;)

Jim, the problem with sealed bids is it eliminates the good natured bidding war that always happens  :)   At the beginning of the auction would guys have really bid $50 for one cookie?  That was the result of a week of competitive bidding and some good marketing  :D

I think Terry's plan is a good one.

Jeremy, This could be done as a small part of the auction process, I my self love a live auction and all that goes along with it including sniping. But some folks don't, I just thought it would be a chance were someone could bid on a item that might interest them in lieu of just a cash donation. This process could also be the first to end to give another chance to bid on a similar item. The idea behind this would be to set the bar high on donations and maybe have some sort of keep sake to remind that person of the whole experience.

Stone Knife,
 The problem you describe is one that I think affects a lot of people on this site.  They would love to be able to get something off the auction and help the kids but not everyone has a pocket as big as their heart.  I'm working on making a St Judes/Tradgang t-shirt that everyone can bid on for one price and we'll make as many shirts as people want to buy.  My wife is a graphic design artist and will be making the design, I'll have a few ideas up that we can choose from to be the final design.  If others can make something that would be unlimited with a set price (like $50 cookies) that everyone has a chance on bidding and winning without breaking the bank we may be able to capitalize on a lot of good will.  Maybe someone can make some commemerative arrows or something.

BTW, I guess I should ask Terry if it's ok if we incorporate the OFFICIAL tradgang logo on these shirts?  How about it Terry?

I give a thumbs up on the 4 forum idea.    :thumbsup:

I think it is a really good idea. Especially if someone (like me) is holding out on one single high end item.

Keep those ideas coming everybody, you can be assured Terry and I will give all equal consideration. Unfortunately we'll not be able to implement every one but some may work.

It's all a big balancing act and you can imagine the crunch at the end. While this will string things out over four days it will lesson the huge one day load.

Looking forward to seeing what's coming this year and all the fun.

Thanks a bunch!!

Talondale,....sure thing, just make sure you send me a proof for approval before ya run them....and thanks for your efforts.

Sounds like a great deal to me someone remind me and I will donate something for auction.

Who's this years  "MASTER OF CEREMONIES" ??   :biglaugh:

Don't know Bull....can't even remember who last years was??????   :confused:      :confused:      :confused:

 :help:    :help:    :help:

I think it sounds like a great idea, being one of those folks with the shallow pockets, I generally can't get in on the fancy stuff.  However I have tried to donate items every year.

I have one question though.  With the forums all starting at the same time and ending a day apart, will it still only run for one week or will it be extended for a few days?

Looking forward to it, have been collecting the loose change, hopefully will have some mad money to get some neat stuff.

Nick

QuoteOriginally posted by Terry Green:
Talondale,....sure thing, just make sure you send me a proof for approval before ya run them....and thanks for your efforts.

Aye, Aye Cap'n!

Better check into shipping envelopes and costs for the T-Shirts. You could be shipping a few hundred and it would be good to have an idea of what you'll need to have added on to cover the extra costs because they will add up and you don't want to be on the hook for them.

Ive got my head so far up my #$% I cant figure the plan out but its the end result that counts.If itll raise more money for the kids its a great idea.

Are you making arrangement for people who want to contribute cash and not be caught up in the bidding/buying war. I expect there are many on this site who would contribute through TradGang to St. Judes that would not participate in the auction. Heck, I'd send a check right now and still bid later. If I don't win a bid I at least have contributed to a great cause.

Yes Bill....we always have a cash donation thread where folks can just donate straight out.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Wasn't Bernie the cheerleader   :scared:    last year?

Terry,

I have been thinking since we talked and my only concern is the added work for you guys.

I like the idea of the t-shirts if shipping could be worked out.

My son has been saving all year and wants to play it would be nice if there were some (a bunch) of smaller items so that everyone can get something.

Any Utah folks want to colaborate on something or a couple hundred somethings?

Mitch

QuoteOriginally posted by vermonster13:
Better check into shipping envelopes and costs for the T-Shirts. You could be shipping a few hundred and it would be good to have an idea of what you'll need to have added on to cover the extra costs because they will add up and you don't want to be on the hook for them.

Good thinking.  I'm also going to check with two shops we have worked with in the past.  Maybe we can get a bulk deal where the more shirts that we buy the less they cost so the kids get more money!

I like the t shirt idea, those are the kinds of ideas that will let more people get involved in the bidding. There are some out there that I'm sure would like to do there part but don't have the financial resources to go big. Any how with all these heads getting together thinking up ideas there will surly be some good ones.

LOL, I am always "Cheering" (and "jeering") everyone on, every year, AA - with love'n pleasure!   :goldtooth:

Here my two cents for what it's worth.

Great idea to have all bids end at different time. You will absolutely maximize funds raised.

But it is a double edge sword where you may also turn off those with limited funds that are expendable for such an event like this where there only way to win is being there at the right time in space.

Even though it for a GREAT CHARITY, sometimes in life we have to stop the drool from ruining what is suppose to be a fun event for all who are members here on Tradgang.

This bidding where it gets extended by 5 minutes is something I've used quite exstensively when I bid in the construction field called "Reverse Auctions".
A concept that recently is not being used very often anymore to many reasons (mostly contractors thinking with the notion when bidding that "If he can do it for $2000 then I can do it for $100 less" attitude many have gotten burnt and the Owners have to deal with a crying contractor's)

When we've bid it is set up for say a 20 minute window. When a bid is placed within the last 2 minutes, 2 more minutes get added on to the clock. So if a bid is placed with 1.5 minutes left, there is now 3.5 minutes. I've had bids go 2 hours with only 5 intials bidders starting and two of us fighting at the end. And that's with contractors basically bidding down their profit margins.
Here with more bidders bidding up which theoretically could be endless, it will most likely go longer then what one might expect.
So be prepared for the really "wanted" auctions to spend alil time by the computer bidding.

There are a few issues to think about.

1- Do you have the program for a live auction that extends like that? Big companies pay big dollars for this. Perfect Commerce in Texas is the one I deal with when I bid for Utility companies here in the Big Apple.

2- Times left to bid will vary on each ones computer as you must wait for your browser to refresh after each time a bid is placed in the auction is extended due to multiple bids being placed at the same time.

Good luck with any way you go.
JIM

We have 15000+ members. a pledge of $10 a person would net us $150,000.00.  If 2/3 gave it would make the $100,000.00 goal....About $2 a month till June...Just a thought.  I hope my math is right.

DesertDude  I'll Pledge $10

Great idea Talondale!  :clapper:

Don't you just love brainstorming?

How about a raffle item for each of the 4 days . $5 a chance draw the winner at the close of the auction each day.

Brian

TTT

Terry,

Any way to rig the site so it costs you a $1.00 every time you go online during dates of auction??? Just a thought.

Don't think so Dave Stinson.

Had another thought.....to keep down the confusion on finding threads/listings...I think Doug and I will 'feature/stickey' post every listing...that way the items wont go back to the top and keep the board shuffling....they will stay in the same exact order that they are listed, hence staying on the same page once the auction starts.

That might be rough on some of the back page items Terry. Part of the fun is bringing an item back to the front and egging folks on. Coming to the top also lets folks know there was activity on that item.

Well, maybe not so good a thought. Good point Vmonster......lets keep kicking it around.....

Keep 'em "shufflin'" - just like songs/artists on a good MP3 player -   :goldtooth:

Dave,...I don't think we will feature them after all SINCE we are going to have 4 forums....there will most likely be only 2 pages per forum...NOT like having 5 or 6 to deal with.

I think featuring them would be a good idea if we had one giant forum like before.

Terry,

OK here's another thought, we did this for DU one time for an online auction. In order to bid you must pre register and get an approved bidder # and say it costs $10.00 to do so. Those that don't pre register prior to auction starts could do so during auction but costs $15.00 then (we used bigger #'s like $25.00 and $50.00). This would generate extra funds and stop snipping and such.

I think spreading the auctions to four seperate ones will lesson alot of confusion, hard to imagine getting over two pages each but who knows. One of my biggest problems is finding stuff that keeps moving when we've got upwards of 6 pages.

I'm thinking the first auction would run maybe four days then close the remaining three over the next three days. That would stretch the whole thing out to a week, don't know if I can take any more excitement than that  ;)  

Closing seperate thread after five minutes of no bids could get very complicated unless Terry and Rob have some means of making it happen. Remember I'm just a simple ol country boy...

Here's a #1 cheerleader in my book  ;)
 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/gotahunt/BernieDunn1cheerleader.jpg)

Dave Stinson...great idea...just don't know if we have the time or man power to do that.


Keep kicking it guys!

Doug, that aint right.....To early with no warning this morning.....

DesertDude

One thing to remember during the auction, if you want to be able to bid on items up to the end.   DON'T KEEP MULTIPLE PAGES OPEN! That makes it like there are a lot more folks on the site than there really is. We had well over 1000 people on at the end of the auction last year and with so many folks with multiple pages open it was like having 6000 on which  slows everything down a real lot.

Man all this talk has gotten me exited! Is it time for the Auction yet?? LOL

Thanks, Doug (I think -   :rolleyes:  )

We live (and die) with our mistakes -   :biglaugh:  

Anything for the kids at St. Jude!   :jumper:

Yeah Bernie, I dont think that pic will ever die!!! HAHAHA

Just when mt eyes were healing they had to go and show that photo again..  :scared:

Bernie,
Where's all those other pix of you flapping those pom-poms and such?

Those are probably on the St Judes 2007 forum on that particular 'item' thread....I can't remember who started it though.

If you do run the three pages for three days it maybe a good idea to have separate end times for each so bidders can jump from page to page as they end.

Yep...we already got that covered!

"We create Auction Forum 1, Auction Forum 2, Auction Forum 3, and Auction Forum 4 that are all separate, and all have the same start date, but have a different end date. Auction Forum 1 will end, and a day later 2, and a day later 3, and a day later 4."

It is going to be different and interesting - but still loads of fun  and good deeds.

You never mind about those other pictures, Tom (Native Craft) or I'll tell everyone you asked for them to go with your lavender fletchings. (Mind you, I didn't say you did, I just said I would tell everyone you did. - I take no prisoners!   :p

I am not sure if anyone has thought of this idea or not.  The majority of the guys on here aren't able to bid on many of the hunts or bows, some of the nicer items that are part of the St. Judes auction.  =) Anyways, what I was thinking was that one or two auctions could be set up as buy ins for the chance to win a hunt or a nice bow that some of us couldn't afford.  You could buy in at whatever set price, say $20 to get your name put into the drawing. You could buy in as many times as you want. Through the duration of the auction. At the end of the auction the drawing can be held and a winner announced.  Obviously you would want to get more money raised than what the item is actually worth, might be a way to do just that!? Works for many gun raffles, why not traditional equipment.

Hey Shawn, I e-mailed that very idea to Terry. Have one major item as a raffle. If it was in last years auction then set the number of tickets to increase the sale price over what it raised last year and don't draw until every ticket is sold. Gives us poor folks a shot at something we wouldn't otherwise have.

That's a great idea!!!!.......but the problem is I don't have time to run a raffle.....I've just got too much going on to take on another project.

There are 14 of us Terry. Pick one to run it.

Guys, I love the raffle idea! But if you're gonna do it, make sure you check into the "games of chance" laws. I would hate to see anybody get in trouble trying to raise money for such a good cause. The laws vary by state, and some can be very restrictive.

My fire company got in a good bit of trouble a few years back for running a 50/50 without a license.

Good point on the raffle. In MI, I believe you can have an auction without a license, but if you do a raffle, then you have to fill out a little bit of paperwork (not unruley, but it has to get done).

The raffle is a good option for the points mentioned above. So who's our "Tradgang resident attorney"???