Auction Phylogeny
by Don Zilliox
First published in Some Things Fishy, Newsletter of the Tropical Fish Club of Erie
County
Aquarticles
Wow! What a big word! According to Webster: phylogeny; the history or course of the
development of something such as a word or custom. Thus, the history and course of the
Tropical Fish Club of Erie County's annual all species auction.
It all started back in the late 1980's when members of our club traveled many miles to
auctions put on by other fish clubs. Many of their loyal members went home with their
seller's money in hand before some or our items were even presented. Their members took
the items to the auctioneer so naturally they took items belonging to their members and we
were left holding the bag as you might say, with our items coming up after many of the
bidders have already left. "This is way wrong!" we said, so we went about to
hold our own auction under new rules. On February19, 1989 we held our first ever auction
with a 70/30 split and instituted the 20-table system. No fees of any kind are charged; be
it for sellers or bidders! There were 830 items auctioned off that day and it was a start
of something so big, we could not comprehend at the time. This system had its problem in
that if your bag was number 34, sellers didn't know if it was to be placed on table #4 or
#14. Still we found it to be better than letting someone select their friend's item just
so he or she could take advantage of the early crowd. The following year there were 1030
items and we were on our way.
In 1991 we started the two-auctioneer idea but still with the 20-table system. Our
items increased to about 110 per hour which was a big increase over previous years. The
system works this way; while one is putting an item through the auctioning system the
other is already looking at the next item up for sale. This may not seem like a big time
saver but it eliminates the banter between items while the auctioneer is trying to find
out just what he will have up for bid next. Then in 1992 came the big move to the 10-table
system, which we still use to this day. Now everyone knows exactly which table his or her
items are to be placed on.
Moving ahead to 1995 we auctioned off 1600 items, which was quite a dilemma as our
computer program could only hold about 1300. The last 300 items had to be entered in the
book manually. We now use an unlimited item, seller and buyer computer program. This way
we are able to pay out monies to all the sellers if they wish to stay around for about 45
minutes after the final item is auctioned off. The year 2000 was no different than the
rest; we auctioned off 1882 items not counting those that were not sold for lack of a $1
bid or not reaching a stated minimum bid. The new record is 176 items per hour sold! Any
item not sold the first time is never brought up for bid again even with a lower minimum
bid. Once is enough!
We know many groups still use the old one "red dot' for each 5 or 10 bags system
and others distribute 4 or 5 different color "dots" and select which color goes
next but we believe this is the most fair of all systems to date. Each has it's flaws and
ours is no exception as some people leave before a particular bag they want to bid on is
presented. Yet we have buyers driving 8 hours to get here and some staying over in hotels
as many as two nights just to be there for the entire auction which now goes on for almost
12 hours. Another problem is the size of our hall. The auction starts at 11 a.m. and by 10
a.m. all the chairs are taken! Soon we will be expanding another 20 feet and we hope this
will help alleviate the problem. Each year, the same people state that if we don't move to
a bigger hall, they won't come back! I said, each year they tell us! But they come back
because it is the big one!
Items alone don't make an auction. Each year, a local fish store, The Fish Place,
donates a large tank combo for our raffle. Beside that we have at least two 50/50
drawings and also run our own kitchen where hot dogs, chili, pizza, snacks, coffee and
soft drinks are available. These extra happenings add a good amount of revenue to the
total package. The kitchen is essential for an eleven plus hour auction. Don't say you've
been to the BIG ONE until you've been to North Boston, New York, always the Sunday before
President's Day.
|