Church silent auctions

[justtools]

Hi My church with 100s of parishioners is going to have a silent auction. Now my wife says we (meaning me) need to come up with a donation. The newsletter said that tools would be a good auction gift. I have a brand new wilton ws6 workshop vise in the box that I felt I would donate. My wife says it is a lousy auction Item and I need to come up with something else. What are your thoughts

Thanks for the input

 

[neophyte]

A brand new in box Wilton vise doesn’t sound bad.
The problem though with silent auctions is that you never know what people like and will bid on.

 

[isr2kba]

Listen to your wife. Better for her, better for you. Church will be fine either way.

 

[misterfixit]

First thought is that if that auction was online here it would be a great gift. But, normal people don't appreciate the wonderful things we appreciate.
For a church auction I'm thinking maybe a more general, read non specific type item might do better.

You could always sell the vise where it will be valued and make a cash donation.

 

[engineer2]

For a church auction I would stick to basic tools: hammers, screwdrivers, tape measures.
A vise needs to be bolted to something. I know very few people who have a work bench.

 

[woody 73]

I also agree a vise sounds like a very nice gift. I can see what your wife is thinking, some people that live in an apartment might not want a vise per say. Plus, some other people might not want such a heavy object as they might never use it.

On the other hand, a tool kit to fix Ikea furniture and the like might be better suited to most homeowner needs.

 

[justtools]

Yes. I see the vise is a limited use tool in todays world. I have a new in the box 12 volt Milwaukee fuel drill kit with 2 batteries. Maybe that would be better.

 

[woody 73]

The drill sounds like a winner, but ask your wife, aka the boss first.

 

[The Cobbler]

As mentioned in previous posts, I am involved in 2 charitable groups .
We've done several silent auctions and you never know what will bring high dollars and what wont .
I had a flooring nailer given to me from one of my suppliers for an auction, I didn't think it would bring anything worthwile and I told them that it may be a waste . he said not to worry , get what you can . ... anyway, there ended up I think 3 people bidding on it . I changed the rules last minute & opened it up to live auction for that 1 item. it fetched over the retail price in the end .
I think the moral of the story was, the 3 people there wanted it, and were willing to bid high to help the cause . But at the same time it could have sold for $5

 

[tool_scrounge]

Having an auction item for guys is a smart move. Usually I see mostly stuff the gals want at these type of events. I specifically remember an auction where the best guy item was a large backhoe rental for the day with delivery and pickup included. Mrs. Tool_scrounge nixed my bid under the premiss that it might not be ”appropriate“ for a 5 year olds birthday party.

 

[justtools]

As mentioned in previous posts, I am involved in 2 charitable groups .
We've done several silent auctions and you never know what will bring high dollars and what wont .
I had a flooring nailer given to me from one of my suppliers for an auction, I didn't think it would bring anything worthwile and I told them that it may be a waste . he said not to worry , get what you can . ... anyway, there ended up I think 3 people bidding on it . I changed the rules last minute & opened it up to live auction for that 1 item. it fetched over the retail price in the end .
I think the moral of the story was, the 3 people there wanted it, and were willing to bid high to help the cause . But at the same time it could have sold for $5

I dont mind donating to the church. I would like to see them get a reasonable price for it. More people would use a drill kit.

 

[toolenthusiast]

My church’s auction has an entire “man room” with tools, auto detailing supplies, signed jerseys, season tickets, BBQ stuff, et cetera. 99% of women probably think that a bench vise or golf clubs or a selection of local craft beers is “lousy” but those items fetch big money every year.

Unless the auction is only for women? Maybe send a purse?

 

[RTM]

Something like a random orbit sander might also fly in that crowd. Our church never had stuff I was interested in.

 

[MarkH]

Wife is more likely right. I would go to something more mainstream the first year. If it goes well it will be repeated. You may want to make a kit of more common items.

 

[tez929rr]

It could possibly sell for much less than you think it’s worth. If that would bother you, donate something else. We have a lot of experience with auctions for our fire department fundraisers and find that sometimes an item brings much less than a retail price and people get their feelings hurt. We warn them ahead of time but I think it still stings. For our church raffle I buy those big Husky tool sets for $100 at Christmas time at HD. I think I have 5 sitting on the shelf now for future raffles.

 

[bwringer]

I always thought fundraisers like this were just plain exhausting and too roundabout... can't I just write a check and move on with my life?


Anyway, success will depend on the audience the auction attracts; if it's primarily the ladies, which is usually the case, then your wife is correct. I mean, sure, there are some ladies who would be delighted with a new Wilton vise, but they are not in the majority.

Even if they make an effort to attract men to bid, like the "man room" above, you'd still need to go much more mainstream. Remember, many of these items would actually be purchased by women as gifts for men, so try to figure out the kind of stuff women think men want.

Bundles and baskets always work VERY well. Woodworker's supplies and tools, sportsball stuff, tailgating/grilling supplies, oil change tools, car detailing, or even computer gaming, etc. could do well. Chuck it into a grotty old basket from Goodwill, decorate it with some leftover Easter and Christmas stuff, and you're off to the races.

 

[zendriver]

Made me think of when charities having a food drive, people donate all the expired goods from their pantry.

Not necessarily "lousy" but I agree with the wife, for the same value (which should be tax deducible) maybe a nice set of cordless drill/driver tools?

Everybody would like that.

The whole point (I presume) is to raise money for the church and bidders should keep that in mind regardless.

 

[tak1313]

It will be the best seller!

 

[gfd_703]

I'm in the check writing section. Someone has to run up the bids on all this stuff. I try to make a reasonable bid on anything I might possibly use in the hops that it will force someone else to give more money than they would normally, knowing that I will get stuck with some of it. The few items I really want I will run to the roof for a good cause. With that being said I can't do this and donate items in the same auction.

 

[thunderalley3]

I like silent auctions and if it is a cause that is worthy I tend to overbid and overbuy. I often place a bid or two and see if someone bids against me and play it along. I have always enjoyed auctions and silent auctions that are online keep me interested. I also like the maximum bid option that many sites currently have because I may have something to do and miss the end of the auction and I want to stay in the hunt!!

 

[bbrins]

The only reason the wife thinks that your vise is a bad gift is that she only thinks that it is worth what you told her you paid for it.

Sometimes these things really just depend on how well timed and advertised the auction or sale is. Our church food pantry occasionally does an auction/sale and they rarely put any thought into the timing. Plan it for one day and only the ladies show up, plan a different date and only the men show up, plan it for another time and no one shows up because everyone is at the county fair on the other end of the county.

The one really successful sale they had, they decided to do a clothing/fashion/jewelry sale during a large town wide event. We had everything set up and one lady made a remark that there was a lot of nice stuff there, but there was nothing for the men. Not being a very fashionable guy, I wasn't sure I could help, but I thought about it for a moment and told them to hang on for a few minutes, I've got an idea. I went home and brought back several storage bins full of tools. They said we can't sell that, that's not fashion related. I said hold on a second, went back to my truck to get a magic marker and some cardboard, and made a sign that said "men's jewelry". It was their best seller, all I got back was empty bins. Some other times that I've given them tools though, none sold.

Just writing a check is easy, but the thing about these kind of events is that it brings parishioners and the community together, and it also allows people who may not have money another way to help out.

 

[Old tool guy]

Do you do woodworking? Make anything? Back when our church had auctions, nice hand made items were hot sellers.