There has been an ongoing debate among not-for-profits about the relative merits of donated auction items compared to consignment auction items. One common position is that donated items have a zero-cost basis so the amount of money raised is the amount of the winning bid. Those in favor of using consignment items believe that they are a lot more interesting and bring more excitement to the auction experience for the bidders. Donated items tend to be more traditional and much the same in every other auction in town.
There is a different advantage that one of our customers recently mentioned to us that was interesting. She said that the reason she recommended consignment items for her organization’s fundraising events is that since they can be sold multiple times* at auction they can raise more money with them than they can with donated items. We at BlueTree Marketing have certainly had customers sell an item multiple times at a significant profit. For example, a recent gala’s auction for an organization benefiting children in need located in Texas sold our Bali Trip 4 times and our Kentucky Derby trip twice, netting over $8,000 in funds for the organizations programs.
This is something that can’t be done with a donated item because the donated item, by its very nature is donated just the one time.
*If you are unsure about how an auction item can be sold more than once to increase auction proceeds, please click here or call 866-607-2616 and ask one of our fundraising consultants for assistance.