Auctions for charity?

Genie · #1 05-26-2002, 03:07 PM

Just wondering if any of you have some knowledge of this before I spend the day scouring the Ebay message boards...

I'm walking in the Avon 3-Day breast cancer fundraiser in a few months (60 miles in three days!) and I was thinking of trying to sell some mini prints with the proceeds going to support the walk.

Does anyone here know if there are any restrictions or special rules on that kind of listing? I took a quick look at the charitible auction link there, but I'm having trouble making heads or tails of it. Or maybe it's just that all these training endorphins have scrambled my brains.

Thanks.

Genie

CarlyHardy · #2 05-26-2002, 05:56 PM

Ebay does not allow auctions for charity....unless they are ebay originated like the Auctions for America. This keeps folks from posting listings that offer items for sale with the proceeds going to charity...and then they don't actually give the funds to the charity (fraud). However, you can sell your items and give the funds to charity....you just can't say that in your listings.
carly

Genie · #3 05-26-2002, 08:44 PM

Thanks, Carly. Even though I hadn't located a restriction I suspected there must be one. It just makes sense.

You saved me some desperately needed time.

Completely unrelated question - has anyone here tried selling art at Amazon? My husband has been selling books there (fixed price listings,not auctions) and is nearing the point where it makes more sense fee-wise to open a storefront, so I'm thinking next month I might tack on a couple of paintings just to see what happens. Once he's paid the monthly fee for the storefront, there's no charge for additional listings unless items actually sell, so I can't see a down side.

Genie

timelady · #4 05-27-2002, 05:17 AM

YOU *CAN* AUCTION FOR CHARITY:

To auction for charity you need to set up a new ID (just for the charity auctions) and email eBay with information and a letter from the charity stating that you are raising funds for them. If you have a fundraising pack this might be enough, best to ask eBay. I found the eBay UK charity people very helpful by email. (I tried to do this quite a while ago and got the account set up and the leter from the charity but actual auctioning never came about because we were trying to manage auctions from several artists through one ID. If you're just auctioning stuff yourself it should be easy.

Good luck!
Tina.

Genie · #5 05-27-2002, 10:38 AM

Tina, this is wonderful news! I'll write to Ebay today and ask them what proof would suffice.

Thank you so much.

Genie

CarlyHardy · #6 05-28-2002, 10:44 PM

Genie, I wasn't even thinking of the Cancer Society doing the fundraising thru ebay. Thanks Tina, for that info.

I do know of some folks who had letters from ebay about having an auction for a fund raising cause. They had to take it off their auction descriptions. But they didn't have any prior approval.
carly

Genie · #7 05-29-2002, 07:41 AM

Well, now my problem is where to email the information. I tried writing to support@ebay and charity@ebay only to get automated responses telling me to read the website for information.

If all else fails, I guess I can snail mail the stuff.

Genie

Shai · #8 06-01-2002, 04:03 AM

This one looks like a link that might come in handy:

http://pages.ebay.com/community/char...=CharitySpot12

It has some stuff on coming up with fundraising events at eBay. There's also a list of existing charity sales. Hope this helps.

Genie · #9 06-01-2002, 09:29 AM

Shai,

Thanks! It took a few days, but I did get an e-mail from a helpful human being at Ebay.

Turns out that I don't need to submit any documentation since the funds are going to a large charity. She had some good suggestions and said I can mention in the listing that I've placed a link to donate directly on my about me page. I think that's a great idea, and whether anyone makes a simple donation or not, it will add to confidence. I can link to the official Avon Breast Cancer Crusade page with my name, photo, participant number and pledge total!

Helpful and encouraging. It will probably take me a week or two to get some listings together and up - I'm in the middle of searching out snail mail addresses for fundraising letters and this is all more time consuming than I had realized. Between deskwork and training my son thinks I've taken on a new job. (I guess I have, temporarily.)

I've let it cut into my painting time, and I've got to find a way around that - I'm getting cranky!

Thanks so much, all of you.

Genie

Shai · #10 06-01-2002, 11:14 PM

'Hope you raise lots of funds! All the best to you and your organisation.

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