2010 OVAS Giant Auction

[garnpet]

2010 OVAS Giant Auction

Our annual Giant Auction will be held at the  Jack Purcell Centre on Sunday the 7th of March starting at 12:00 pm.  Everyone is welcome - both OVAS and non-OVAS members.

Item setup and viewing starts at 10:00 am.  All items being auctioned off must be registered and present at the auction by 11:45.  No new items will be accepted after 11:45.

General information
All items being auctioned are placed on tables in the viewing area.  For the Giant Auction the starting bid is $2.  If necessary, please group your items to ensure that your lots have a $2 value.

All items registered will be sold in random order.  Before the auction and during break both vendors and buyers can move an item to the front of the auction by paying a $2 fee.

New this year
The following items WILL NOT be accepted at this years Giant Auction

• Used heaters
• Used light bulbs
• Plastic plants
• Used/opened filter media
• Used airline tubing

We are limiting the number of identical items that a single vendor can sell to 3 items, please group your items accordingly.  For more than 3 identical items you can remove item(s), regroup your lots or donate the funds to OVAS.

Raffle tickets
We will be selling raffle tickets during the auction.  $1 for 1, $2 for 3 and $5 for 10.  The grand prize is a new 75 gallon aquarium. Other prizes will be posted at a later date.

Item registration
The following methods are available to register your items (starting Feb. 1st)

• On-line registration of your items.  Click here to submit your items for the auction.  If you have more than 10 items for sale, please fill out as many forms as needed.
  
• PM me with your list – including the description and minimum bid.
• If you do not pre-register your items, please download the OVAS item form , complete it and give it to me before 11:45 the day of the auction.

Identifying your items
Pre-printed labels are provided for all auction items and will be handed out when you arrive  at the registration desk.

For all items the starting bid is $2.00. If you would like to start the bidding for you item at a higher amount please indicate the minimum bid on your registration form. 

Packaging your items
Please package your items carefully!  Bags can leak, light bulbs can break, and fish can jump out of pails - just to mention a few possibilities.

All fish placed for auction must be in an appropriate container:

• Proper fish bags (preferred method)
• Glass jars of an appropriate size (Acceptable, but should be avoided if possible for safety reasons)
• Plastic buckets

Any fish placed for auction in an unacceptable container will have to be bagged at our Bagging station. OVAS will supply thick, heavy duty fish bags and will do the bagging.  Cost is $1 per bag, regardless of the number of fish bagged.  Anyone wishing to bring fish to the auction without proper bags are encouraged to bring their fish in a bucket, and we will happily bag them for you.

Payment for bagging must happen BEFORE the auction commences.

Bidding
For those who are new to the club the auction works as follows:

• The auctioneer will read the lot number, description and starting bid amount.
• Anyone who wishes to bid on the item is asked to raise their bidding card.
• The auctioneer will increase the price and the last person with their hand raised wins the item.
• You can now enter the bidding for an item at any point during the bidding.
• All items must be paid for immediately after the bidding has ended for that item.  Payment and item pickup is done at the Treasurers location on the right hand side of the meeting room.

Auction fees
Any items preregistered before 8:00pm on Saturday the 6th of March will be charged a 25% commission.  Any items registered after this time will be charged a 35% commission fee for OVAS members, and 40% for non-OVAS members, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Donations
If you wish to donate the proceeds from any of your auction item please indicate this to me before the auction.  Any unsold donated items must be picked up after the auction is over – OVAS will not be responsible for any items left at the meeting.

Vendor payment
Please see me after the auction to be cashed out.  I will provide you with a receipt which will be taken to the Treasurer for payment.  If you are unable to stay to the end of the auction please contact me and alternate arrangement will be made for you to receive your funds.

Note
Please respect your fellow club members - excessive talking during the auction is distracting to both the auctioneers and the people wishing to purchase items.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.

Peter Garneau

[ajm1961]

Given the length of the auction, I found that some bagged fish were getting really weak towards the end. So I was thinking about an alternate method...

• What if I was to bring a 10 gallon with HOB and heater, with my fish for sale. I could place it on a table at the back, away from the lots.
• I would then print out an enlarged photo of each fish(es) on an 8.5 x 11 paper, with cardboard backing, with Lot No and description.
• The auctioneer would show the picture for bidders to see.
• The successful bidder would bring the picture to the payment table, pay, then bring it to me - I would stand by my tank at time of the bid.
• I would then bag the fish and hand it to the bidder.

What do you think? Would this be an acceptable option?

[Jeff1192]

I think that's a great idea....if there is room for people to do this because I agree with you, some of the fish weren't doing so well after a while. It is a pretty long day to be stuck in a bag! Maybe another alternative is to auction off all the live fish first....I realize that might be problematic because people might not stay as long, but it would certainly be better for the fish.

Jeff

[cichlidicted]

Hey .. i also think this is a great idea .... personally, i havn't been to any of auctions at ovas so i dont really get the entire picture, but if it was similar to that in montreal then i do. 

Anyways (my opinion) ... i think this might be a hassle for you n maybe for bidders too.... in terms of running around the place and maybe missing on items. Another option would be to bag them during break (if there are breaks) or if you know when u'r items are coming up then you can bag them before that. or a combination of both; set your table to be before a break. As i said earlier, i havnt been to any auction and this is only my opinion. however, i hope something is done in regards to this issue.

[robt18]

Maybe we could have a big tub of water that people could use for rebagging at some point during the auction? I realize it would be tough to get all of the water there and the water conditions may not be optimal,and clearly wouldn't be for all fish, but it could be good enough to hold them over for just a few hours even if it's just conditioned tap water.

[markw]

I think an option here is that we(OVAS) could do a small seminar at the  upcoming meeting on how to bag fish properly for shipping, auctions etc. I ship fish all over North America and the only issues I ever run into is when some idiot on a ramp somewhere offloads boxes of live tropical fish and then leaves them outside for hours in the elements to either freeze or overheat!
When fish are properly prepped there wouldn't be issues of leaving them bagged for 8 hours. First important thing to remember is you stop feeding 48 hours before the auction. This is vital to prevent the fish from excreting waste into the bag, which will cause ammonia issues. Double bag the first bag, to prevent leakage, or help keep it inflated.
Proper bagging means fresh treated water in the bag filled only partially(about 1/8th volume) and the rest Oxygen or air. (don't exhale your breath into the bag to fill it).
Adding such things as Bag Buddies, or ammonia chips, or filter material will absorb excess ammonia.
I will try and be there with my Oxygen tank to refill some bags, but doing it right the first time is what is important.

[garnpet]

Good idea Mark.  February meeting???

For those who have been to previous Giant Auctions you will know that space is at a premium during the GA.  Between the 20+ tables of items, the registration area and the auction area we really don't have space for anything else.

Properly bagging the fish should be our goal.

[Heidi]

One thing maybe that can be arranged (and what i saw at last year's auction) is showing a picture of the fish instead of keeping the bag out on the table to be man-handled or dropped. If someone interested in it actually wants to see the fish, they can then find the seller and view the fish supervised.  They did this last year with the corals. Of course the corals will not be opened to view at the expo (can't say as I blame the coral) but I found the pic of the actual piece very helpful. Then I bid on it based on the pic. If I wanted to see the actual piece - I found the seller and viewed it up close.  I think this will eliminate alot of the bag handling which could lead to accidents happening (bag bring dropped, popped or shaken which will stress the fish out even more.)  The seller can put their name on the fish picture and where you can be located in the room to view the fish, then during the auction - they would hold up your picture to bid on and after it is won - the buyer goes and sees you for the fish after they have paid. This way - the fish are always under your care and not shaken or stirred.

Just a thought....

[robt18]

If anyone needs some bag buddies for the auction I have several hundred here. Let me know!

[washefuzzy]

One thing maybe that can be arranged (and what i saw at last year's auction) is showing a picture of the fish instead of keeping the bag out on the table to be man-handled or dropped. If someone interested in it actually wants to see the fish, they can then find the seller and view the fish supervised.  They did this last year with the corals. Of course the corals will not be opened to view at the expo (can't say as I blame the coral) but I found the pic of the actual piece very helpful. Then I bid on it based on the pic. If I wanted to see the actual piece - I found the seller and viewed it up close.  I think this will eliminate alot of the bag handling which could lead to accidents happening (bag bring dropped, popped or shaken which will stress the fish out even more.)  The seller can put their name on the fish picture and where you can be located in the room to view the fish, then during the auction - they would hold up your picture to bid on and after it is won - the buyer goes and sees you for the fish after they have paid. This way - the fish are always under your care and not shaken or stirred.

Just a thought....

I can't believe how mishandled the fish are by people picking up the bags. You would think fish people would now better. It really irks me. 

[Heidi]

I know...it makes me cringe when I see the bag rolling slowly towards the end of the table.....I thought it may be easier for people to look at pics then find the owner to look at the actual fish and it would always be supervised.....so no juggling the bag to get the fish to look at you, some things being thrown on top of the bags possibly puncturing it, no one tapping on the glass (and you see people doing it), etc.  Look at the pic....like it...look at the real thing. This way as well you can talk to the owner and find out what it eats, any likes, dislikes, proper care, etc.  It meana more work for the owner...but then they don't have to worry about bringing home a dead fish that doesn't sell, or people complaining that the fish they just purchased died before they got it home cause it was probably stressed from the rough handling it received.

Again, that's just my idea.....

[garnpet]

Less than a week to go until the auction.  So far we only have 39 items registered!  Don't wait until the last minute!

[ciaus]

Less than a week to go until the auction.  So far we only have 39 items registered!  Don't wait until the last minute!

Well considering I registered 12 items, the other day, I hope that the list is, in fact, greater than 39 items...or this is gonna be a rather mundane showing...


Ciaus

[dpatte]

I've been doing a massive re-arrangement and cleanup and will have several items in the auction.

I hope people bring some fish, because my tanks are all ready for new inhabitants.

[washefuzzy]

Everyone signs up at the last minute. There will be tons of stuff as per usually. 

[garnpet]

Parking at Jack Purcell

There is parking available at Jack Purcell.  However, you MUST get a parking pass from their front desk.  If not, you will be ticketed and fined.  I believe that since the auction is on Sunday the parking on the street is free.

[garnpet]

Raffle tickets for preregistration.

Each person who registers items to sell at the auction will receive 1 raffle ticket.  For each 5 items preregistered you will receive another ticket up to a maximum of 5 tickets in total (including the original ticket for preregistering).

Register  4 items  - 1 ticket
Register 10 items - 3 tickets
Register 20 items - 5 tickets

[garnpet]

Auction changes...

http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=41786.0

[Big Als]

Hiya Everyone,

   Sorry this is from my work account, just easier this way..lol

   The only problem I see with doing a picture of the fish and the seller keeping the real one off to the side, is that it then becomes a hassle to view the fish. Also, if I have 3 sets of fish for sale, chances are I will put up one picture, even though there may be differences between the individuals of the same species. I know at previous auctions I have passed on a bag of fish because of a problem with one of them, where I have bid on other lots of the same species.
   Then you get into the situation of I don't have a camera, so I will get a pic from online. This doesn't really represent your fish, just the species as a whole, and quality-wise they may not match up.
    I would rather see the fish in the bag, be able to look it over carefully and then decide if I want to bid on it. And I want to be able to go look at that bag a couple of times during the auction to see how it is doing, and would not want to hassle someone a number of times during the auction.

Jody

[markw]

Jody is right about wanting to see the fish, and the best way is making sure the fish are packed correctly. Bags that have lots of air and are firm and double bagged, allow the fish to move around the bag while being picked up. It never hurts to have someone around the tables occasionally reminding people to gently pick up the bags. The other thing I always do when I send fish to auctions, is attach a label with a picture of the fish (usually adult pic of fry) full latin name, number of fry, ratio if possible and my name and number. But realistically, it is stressful on fish to be in an auction and that needs to be considered when they are brought home and transitioned to a new tank.