Help! Silent Auction Question?

Someone Donated these Antique Earrings. How high of a reserve should I set? I want them to sell, but I want them to make a certian amount of money.





Item: Antique ‘Floral Bouquet’ Cameo Earrings


Medium: Genuine Bull’s Mouth Shell


Mount: 800 Silver


Circa: 1900


Condition: Mint


Estimated Value: $250.00

Help! Silent Auction Question?
I do quite a bit of fundraising. I am hosting a huge silent auction in March for an abused childrens shelter.





I usually start my silent auctions at 25% of fair market value. Understanding that most items end up selling for less than full retail.


One of my items is a 3 night stay in Breckenridge, value 1800.00. I am starting bidding at $500.00.





You have to have some discretion, if it is high ticket. What you have is a pure impulse item, and would not appeal to everyone. I'd set the reserve price at $100.00 %26amp; see what happens.





Lots of luck!
Reply:I would set the reserve for $200.00 and if they don't sell this time around, relist it and lower the reserve a little.
Reply:sick friend---start at $500.00 remember the cause
Reply:It all depends on what the "estimated value" represents.





If the ring was valued at $250 then that may have been a replacement value, and therefore easily DOUBLE what it would make in a normal auction. If that was an insurance valuation, same thing. Keep this in mind.





Nothing kills a lot dead like too high a reserve and a greedy owner. Sorry, that has to be said.





It's worth what someone is willing to pay for it on that occasion, not what you decide it's worth to you.





If it's a silent auction at a sort of charity sale, and people are drinking and someone falls "in love" with it, then it may go higher. Are they "fashionable"? Can you imagine wearing them yourself? If not, keep the reserve reasonable. Drunken punters mean higher prices at any auction, especially if they are private buyers with too much money and it's a good cause.





Personally, if I were in charge, I'd set the reserve at $125 or $150.
Reply:ONE PENNY
Reply:...........................................
Reply:set the reserve at 245