OVAS Giant Auction 2015

[fischkopp]

It's this time of the year again ...

Our annual

Giant Auction

will be on

Sunday April 12th 2015.

at the

Travelodge Hotel and Conference Centre
(1376 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1Z 7L5)

Everyone is welcome! An OVAS club membership is not required to attend the auction as buyer or seller.  

Start registering your items now!

Auction schedule

Item registration and viewing starts at 9:00am.
All items to be auctioned off must be registered by 10:30am.
No new items will be accepted after 10:30am. We encourage anyone to pre-register items online.
The auction will start at 11:00am sharp.

We are planning 15 min breaks every 90min depending on auction progress.
The auction will close once the last item is auctioned off. The duration will depend on the number of items registered. Traditionally we are going through ~1000 items within 6 hours.
Please allow 15min processing time after closing after which we will pay out the vendors.


General auction information

All items will be assigned a random table number during registration. OVAS will provide labels for all pre-registered items to all vendors. The vendors will hand all labeled items to the OVAS staff to be placed on the proper table in the viewing area. The tables are then auctioned off in random order, which we will draw at the beginning of the auction.
   
The starting bid for each item is $2 unless a minimum starting bid is indicated on the label. We encourage everyone to keep their arms raised if they intend to bid on an item in order to speed up the entire auction. The highest bidder will win the bid. Any won bid must be claimed and paid immediately by the bidder. We accept cash payment only.

You have the option to prioritize items if you wish to bid or auction off items at the start of the auction, or at any time during the auction. There is a fee of $1 per item, which must be paid before the item is prioritized.


Item registration and auction rules

This is an all-aquatic auction for fresh- and saltwater livestock like fish, plants and invertebrates (corals, shrimp, molluscs) as well as aquatic dry goods in new or used good condition. However, the items listed hereafter are not permitted at the auction:

• Used heaters and air pumps
• Used light bulbs of any kind
• Used airline tubing
• Plastic plants

Any registered item listed above will be automatically removed from the auction list.

We encourage you to use our online registration

In the event that you have problems with the online registration you can download and fill out our registration form and email it to . These forms will also be available as printout at the auction day during item registration.

OVAS will provide pre-printed labels for each item during the registration period before the auction. The vendor assures to provide the correct description for each item. Correct item labeling is the vendor's responsibility as well.

Please provide the following information during registration:

• Item description
• For hardware only: new or used
• Minimum bid (optional) – if you prefer a starting bid higher than $2. See rules below.
• Priority item (optional) – for items to be auctioned off at the beginning. $1/item surcharge applies.
• OVAS donation (optional) – the club receives 100% commission for this item.

The following rules apply for item registration and auction:

• The pre-registration deadline is 8pm Saturday April 11th.
• Any pre-registered item will be charged 25% commission.
• Items registered after the pre-registration deadline will be charged 40% commission. OVAS members will be charged 32.5% commission. NO EXCEPTIONS.
• The maximum limit for identical items is 3. Please group your items accordingly.
• You can register more than 3 identical items if you chose to donate these items to the club. Please indicate this during registration, or we will automatically remove any item that exceeds the maximum limit.
• Each single vendor is allowed to register a total maximum of 100 items.
• OVAS will keep a handling charge for any unsold item of:
  
  
  • $1.00 for any regular listed item that did not sell.
  • $2.00 for any unsold item with a minimum bid of up to $20.
  • 10% of minimum bid for any unsold item with a minimum bid higher than $20.
• Any un-sold item must be claimed by the owner at the end of the auction. Un-claimed items become property of OVAS.
• OVAS will keep a handling charge of $1 for each pre-registered item that is not registered and/or entered at the auction. Please return any item label that is not being used to the auction registration immediately!  We allow a maximum of 5 missing items (or 10% of total items registered, whatever is higher) at the auction. Any additional missing items will be charged a handling fee. This rule is meant to overcome excessive registrations; keep in mind that we will be preparing labels for you.
• All fish/livestock MUST be packaged appropriately. See below.
• Once an item is registered and placed in the auction it may not be removed.

You will receive 1 free raffle ticket for any started lot of 10 registered items. This means, if you register a total of 23 items, you will receive 3 raffle tickets, for a total of 7 items you would receive 1 ticket.

To encourage pre-registration you will be awarded 2 additional raffle tickets if your register your items (at least 75%) before Wednesday April 8th midnight 11:59pm.


Additional information

Item identification
OVAS will provide labels with a short description entered during registration. The vendor can add additional label to further highlight the item and provide additional information for the seller. In many cases this also helps to sell an item better. Please apply the labels clearly visible on each item.

Item Packaging and Presentation
Please package your items carefully! Pails can break; bags can break – just to mention a few possibilities. Keep in mind that clean items will be more desirable.

All fish and livestock placed in the auction MUST be packaged appropriately. Please refer to the bagging instructions on our website.

• Fish bags are the preferred method.
• Closed glass jars are accepted, but should be avoided for safety reasons.
• Closed plastic buckets may be used for bigger fish.
• Any bag/container must be sized appropriately.
• Clearly diseased or deformed fish will not be accepted at the auction.
• No native fish or protected species may be sold at the auction.
• OVAS reserves the right to refuse any item that we consider not properly packaged.

So please: do not show up with open jars and fish in questionable condition. Keep in mind that these guidelines are in the best interest if the fish. Proper bagging is essential to avoid any further stress on the fish; improper bagging can lead to death even before the fish is auctioned off. Always ask yourself if you would be willing to buy the fish/item that you are bringing to the auction.

A bagging station will be available for you in case of emergency. The cost is $1 per bag, paid in advance to the bagger.

Vendor payment
Please see the auction chair 15 minutes after the auction to be cashed out.  You will be provided a receipt, which you will first check, then sign and take to the Treasurer for payment.

If you are unable to stay to the end of the auction please contact the auction chair. You will be mailed a check within 14 days at a cost of $1.

[fischkopp]

Mark the date folks! The auction date comes closer and closer, yes it's less than two weeks away.

Start registering your items now. Early bird registration closes in just one week.

[fabrice]

where i can find the stickers to put on my bags???Do you have it!!!

[limed]

  You need to register your items first and the morning of the auction when you bring your items in (before the auction starts), you will get a list of the items you registered and printed stickers with description,lot number and table number of the items to put on your bags and a bidder number.  If link for the auction to register your items and the rules should be up but if not it will be soon. 

Ed

[fabrice]

perfect

[fischkopp]

Thanks Ed. Yes, the labels will be provided. You just stick them on your bags.

Get your items ready. Early bird registration ends Wednesday at midnight.

To check the items that are already registered go here: http://ovas.ca/auction/index.php?preview

We can also use a bit more help. Don't hesitate to volunteer: http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=58887.0

Hope to see you all on Sunday!

[fischkopp]

We will be extending the pre-registration period to 10pm since some folks had difficulties with their registration.

If you encounter any problems then NOW is the time to contact me.

Cheers,
Robert

[Jeff1192]

Just wanted to express my thanks to everyone involved in putting everything together today. I haven't been able to attend for a few years now because of work. I had a great time and had some great finds. Thanks fischkopp for the amazing L134's. I got one from you the last auction I was at (3yrs ago) and grabbed 4 more today. So he finally has some buddies...haha.

Thanks again to the exec and other volunteers!

[charlie]

Just wanted to express my thanks to everyone involved in putting everything together today. I haven't been able to attend for a few years now because of work. I had a great time and had some great finds. Thanks fischkopp for the amazing L134's. I got one from you the last auction I was at (3yrs ago) and grabbed 4 more today. So he finally has some buddies...haha.

Thanks again to the exec and other volunteers!

X2
I want to make special mention to fischkopp who has done a tremendous job at streamlining the auction, it`s the best I`ve see since my association with the club.
It was definitely a buyers auction & those that could not make it lost out on some great deals on plants & fish especially guppies & B&N plecos of all variations.
It was a bit unfortunate that the attendance & items seem to be down this year.
Regards

[bettabreeder]

I'm sad I had to miss it this year who would schedule an exam 2pm on a Sunday?! I'm glad to hear that everything went... Swimmingly.

[BigDaddy]

Damn I missed it again

[vic622]

Just wanted to express my thanks to everyone involved in putting everything together today. I haven't been able to attend for a few years now because of work. I had a great time and had some great finds. Thanks fischkopp for the amazing L134's. I got one from you the last auction I was at (3yrs ago) and grabbed 4 more today. So he finally has some buddies...haha.

Thanks again to the exec and other volunteers!

x3
This was my first OVAS Auction & I'm glad I went, came away with fins & plants for the new build!
The entire event went very well, some good deals were had, some great deals, too.
Everyone was friendly, helpful and I enjoyed the entire day!
Especially my new L239, Blue 'Panaque' pleco 

[fischkopp]

Thanks to everyone who came out to make this years Giant Auction another great event! And a very special thank you to all volunteers who helped to run it smoothly! You were few in numbers, but kept up the good pace!

It was maybe not the biggest auction we every had, but we had a pretty good mix of about everything and not really an abundant amount of certain things. Maybe with the exception of bushynose plecos, which everyone loves anyway.

Prices were fair for the most part I thought, so both buyers and sellers should be happy. It's an auction after all, prices are surprises every time.

Glad to hear that you had fun as well! For those who didn't make it: there is always next year - or you head to Montreal and join their SAM auction in two weeks.

Jeff, good to hear that you are enjoying your new pleco's. Most likely you picked up some L340 though; I didn't bring any L134 this time.

A note for everyone who did not stay for the cash out: you will be receiving an email with your receipts tomorrow. The cheque will follow via mail by the end of the week.

[Jeff1192]

Hahaha yes, brain fart....L340s!

[drboeing]

Just wanted to express my thanks to everyone involved in putting everything together today. I haven't been able to attend for a few years now because of work. I had a great time and had some great finds. Thanks fischkopp for the amazing L134's. I got one from you the last auction I was at (3yrs ago) and grabbed 4 more today. So he finally has some buddies...haha.

Thanks again to the exec and other volunteers!

I wish to thank the organizers as well. My wife and I walked awy with a wonderful bounty. Our new 125 gallon is looking real good.
Once again, thank you OVAS team, a job well done