Develop a Killer Auction List

Getting and finding great items can be easy and fun. Start with a brainstorming session. Get your committee together, order pizza and beer, and have fun with all the crazy and great ideas you will generate.

First Steps
Review the demographics of the event audience. This way you'll be able to make sure the items you brainstorm will be of interest to them.  Are your attendees young, mature, hip, or classic? How much discretionary income do they have? Are they adventurous? Or do they prefer more leisurely activities? These decisions will make a difference in the ideas you come up with.

• No Idea's a Bad Idea!
  Write every idea down. The goal is to make a “wish list” of items to go after.  No ideas is a bad idea!  Even if it's really, really unique and has never, ever been done before.  So write them all down, no matter how outrageous.
• Steal Ideas!
  Ask participants what cool, unusual and great-selling items they've seen at other events.
• Identify Groups
  Most items on the list belong to a "category".  For example: travel, entertainment, electronics, cosmetic, adventures, hobbies, services.  Put your ideas into categories then see what other ideas you can come up with in that same category.  If your group loves travel, come up with more travel ideas.  If they love cosmetic services, come up with more of those.
• Divvy Up the List
  Now, go item by item and ask (or assign) who will be willing to solicit each item.  Don't leave highly-desired items unassigned.  If no one is soliciting it, you won't get it for the auction!  Make sure to keep a list!!!!!  You'll check against it at a future meeting to see what needs to be reassigned.  You'll also know who to ask next year when you do this event again.
• Unusual = Great Seller!
  Unusual items entice people to come to your auction.  You don't want to be "same old" with just another name.  Think of things that only your group can do.  For example, an advertising group offered a spot on the radio during drive time with the morning DJ!  A newspaper offered "plates" of top selling stories.  What unusual items can you solicit that will make people come to this year's event AND future events?  Get them!!!
• Use Your Influence!
  Explore your circle of acquaintances.  Make a list friends, neighbors, colleagues, business associates, and stores committee members frequent. Who has a celebrity uncle or who has a vacation house on Maui that they rent? Who can you enlist for help?

Make sure each committee member has all the forms, letters and emails they need to sign people up right away.  Also make sure to set a date by which these items should be available so they can be used in the pre-promotion to stir excitement.