OVAS Giant Auction 2016

[fischkopp]

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

Our annual

Giant Auction

will be on

Sunday March 13th 2016.

at the

Tom Brown Arena
(141 Bayview Rd, Ottawa, ON K1Y 4M3)

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 can contact me under .

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 March 12th.
• 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 March 9th 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.

[fredmir]

How the parking there?? Is it free

[fischkopp]

How the parking there?? Is it free

Yes, there is parking and it is free. Additional parking is available on the street.

[fischkopp]

Just a reminder:
The early bird registration period ends in a week, on Wednesday March 9th 23:59:00.
You can still register items online until March 12th 20:00 (8pm).
Any item registered after that time or on the auction day will incur a higher commission to the club.

You can register your items here:
http://ovas.ca/auction/index.php

And you can see what has been registered so far here:
http://ovas.ca/auction/index.php?preview

[limed]

  Remember to bring some smaller bills/change.  We will have hot dogs and drinks to sell
during lunch time also.  It's 1 week away and counting down.
    Hope to see everyone come out.

Ed

[limed]

It's 6 day till auction on Sunday 13th, the links is back a couple of posting to register your item and see what
is there.  Weather looks good for that day.  It should be a good time to get deals and have fun with other people.
   Note: We will have drinks and Hot dogs for sale so you don't have to get hungry during the auction.

Ed

[Zoe]

Is there an ATM on the premises?

[limed]

I don't remember any ATM there , You might find one down the street.

Ed

[fischkopp]

It appears that some people have difficulties with login/registration.

If you participated at the OVAS auction in the past two years as seller, you will already have an account on the OVAS auction system. In this case, enter your email and password and press [Login Seller].

If you are new to the OVAS auction and need to create an account, please click on [Register New Seller]. Follow the instructions on the new site.

Note that you can only have one account, i.e. the system will not allow you to register if your account already exists.

If you do not remember your password, please contact me via PM or .

Thanks,
Robert Hemp
OVAS Auction Chair

[limed]

  I notice some things didn't go in after submitting it.  So check YOUR list over to make
sure everything entered went in or the item might not be entered.  Wednesday night is
dead-line for early bird. and Saturday night is dead line to enter items in.

Ed

[limed]

 To all people coming to the auction, remember CLOCKS change  1 hour ahead on Saturday after midnight ,so when you wake up Sunday and you haven't set your clocks 1 hour ahead then you will be 1 hour late for the auction.   Set your clocks before you go to bed.  Hope to see everyone on Sunday. 

Ed

[francois]

Easter is coming! Out of the three Ramshorn snails I registered, one will be with a ten of Corydoras panda eggs. So easter race is on.!
It was register as Red planorbus but I will try to make it easy for the race to distinguish them.
Those cory panda did not spawn last night so it will be only one item instead of all 3, with eggs catched yesterday morning.
Hope to see you all.
Francois

[fischkopp]

The online registration is now closed. If you wish to register additional items, you can do so be until 30min before the auction.

You can see the final item list here: http://ovas.ca/auction/index.php?preview

See you all!

[francois]

Hi guys,
Back to Montreal, thank you all for your welcome and all the nice discussions we had today.

Congratulations to the OVAS auction team, everything was very well organized and went smoothly. Special acknowledgement to all three auctioneers, they did a very good job pronouncing unreadable Latin names and giving some explanations for rare fish, that helps a lot knowing what we are buying!

Hope to see you all for Montreal auction on April 24.!
Cheers,
francois

[limed]

  Thanks for coming to our auction, it was great to see you guy's , we hope to
drum up some numbers to go to Montreal next month for your auction.
  Nice weather this year for driving, hope everyone /fish made it back home.

Ed

[ajm1961]

Had a great time - short but fun! And I bought some nice fish!! Some rare in these parts, so I am grateful to those breeders for making these species available.

Thanks to the OVAS executive for keeping this tradition alive and well in Ottawa! 62 years and counting...
and thanks to all buyers and sellers for coming out.

Agree with comments above, let's see some of our own travel down to Montreal to show our support - and get into some serious auction action of course!

Cheers all!

[sidarnold]

On behalf of Rob and the rest of the Exec we would like to thank our hard-working volunteers who did such sterling service yesterday and made a potentially hectic activity go amazingly smoothly. The runners and rafflers made it so easy. Thanks to Ed and Ken who kept the visitors well fed with hot dogs, chips, and liquid refreshements. Kudos to Robert Hemp and the rest of the Admin team (Celyne, Carol, Stephanie & Jonathon) who ensured that everything was okie-doh-kee. Hope to see you again next year.

[robt18]

Thanks to everyone who came out to support the club and participate in the hobby! We're proud to host this event every year and appreciate the support we get back.

A huge thank you to all of our volunteers, especially Robert, who make this event run so smoothly year after year.

Looking forward to next year already!

[fischkopp]

Thanks to everyone who made it yet another great auction: our volunteers who run endlessly, count the cash, and auction off the items, all the sellers who continue to bring great items to the tables - a special thanks goes to our friends form Montreal here - and of course everyone who participated in the crowd to pick up a few things for their own aquariums.

I think it went quite well and everyone seemed happy. But if you have any comments - be it good or bad - feel free to voice it.

I also think that we had a good number of items out there this time, with good prices for both buyers and sellers. Aside from a few bags of guppy grass (hope you enjoy mine ) there was a great variety too. Needless to say that I brought home some fish that I didn't even knew existed before the auction.

Cheers.
Robert Hemp
Auction Chair



PS: Everyone who sold items but didn't wait till the end will be contacted during the week.

[charlie]

The Exec. especially Robert, all the volunteers take a bow, job well done!
Although it was not as huge as years gone by, it was good mix.
I agree with the sentiment that it was one of the smoothest auctions for quite sometime.
A personal thanks to Fluval for your generous donations, had you not done so i would not have had the chance to snag the Vista 16  , sadly it does not work for what i had in mind .
Regards Errol