Auction for Cody

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YouthMinisterDan

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Working on the auction for Cody...need a little input/help.

What is a good buy it now price for a ...

Slimline -

Cigar -

Sierra -


I know that there are lots of variables like plating and custom work, but if there is not special creativity, what is a good starting price.

I want the pens to move but do not want to give them away.

Thank you in advance for your help,
Dan
 
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mredburn

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Are you putting them on an on line auction service like ebay? or just setting them up so that people who would like to help with minimal fuss can grab a pen and pay? And Im the wrong guy to ask about pricing so I wont be of any help there. Just out of curiosity how many pens have you received so far?
Mike
 
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AKPenTurner

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It also depends on how unique the material is. If the pen is well made and has a nice finish, then maybe around $25-$35 (depending on the overall product) for a slimline. However, with some of my more unique materials, I've been able to get up to $50 for a slimline. Cigar kits, I typically sell for about $5 more than a slimline.
I would try to keep your prices more in the $25-$30 range (more unique, better quality pens higher, perhaps a few lower), you want to really encourage people to buy and to sell as many pens as you can.
I don't know if that helps any or not....
Good luck with the fundraiser!!
 
MesquiteMan

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Not to let the cat out of the bag too soon, but yes, there is going to be an online auction for many of these pens. It is NOT going to be flea-bay since we really do not want to give up any money to their fees (I know, they have ways to do it free). We are doing it all in house. I have already bought a domain name and am currently building a website with some pretty descent auction software and Dan is working on getting pics taken and each pen set up. We hope to go live soon.

Dan really needs an idea of prices to start out the auctions at as well as a good buy it now price should someone want to do so. We are thinking that the buy it now price should not be too cheap but it also should not be too expensive. We also don't want to insult anyone who sent in a pen if we happen to put too low of a BIN price on it. Of course we are not showing the artist name with each pen so it will be somewhat anonymous.
 
Displaced Canadian

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My pens retail for a minimum of $30 for slims. I would guess that something right in that neighborhood would be a good buy it now price. High enough to be worth while and there is a possibility it could go higher if it was bid for. I would also guess that the cigars and sierras would start a little higher.
 
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Gary Max

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Personally-----I would start them all at $10.00-----Buy It Now Price.
Lets say Dan has 50 pens in hand---break them into 3 or 4 groups.
Pull the top 10 pens ----$100.00-----the next group of 10---$75.00 and the rest at $50.00---That would be for a "Buy it Now Price"----if there's something in the pile that should be over a $100.00 (Lets say 2 pens) raise the price on them.
If I had the pile in front of me or if Dan wants to send me a pic of a line up I would be more than happy to do a break down for him in private.
 
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bitshird

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Man even here in the swamps where people still scratch messages in the dirt with sticks, and paper has a more valued use than writing, we can get 18.00 to 25.00 for a slim line 30.00 to 35.00 for a designer Euro, 35.00 to 45.00 for a Cigar same for Sierras, and a minimum of 45 for any capped pen, Jr Retros, Gentleman's start at 50 up to 75 depending on plating and material, Jr Statesman's start at 85.00, and they actually sell for more , to me this is the most under priced selling area in the English or sort of English speaking world.
 
bitshird

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Dan, I thought most of these were going to be sold or auctioned st a church social or something, Ho in the heck are toy going to get advertising and site direction to the site? It would seem to me that sales through a church fellowship or social meeting would be quicker and bring in money faster, On Line Auctions are a risky business.
 
hunter-27

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The costs Cody and his family will have will be on going. Why rush into getting these sold for far less than they could(should) be. Every pen does not need sold immediately to benefit the family. Why not have the local auction as planned, hold onto the pens not sold, plan and hold a second, third, fourth, etc. event down the road. At a minimun give Curtis and his team a chance to develop and advertise his site. Just my opinion, no hard feelings if you find it a stupid idea.

Landon
 
MesquiteMan

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Just to be clear, there is still going to be a local auction and benefit. However, with over 250 pens, I am not sure that there are enough folks in Forney, TX to participate!

We plan to post the link here and ask everyone to share it with all the folks you know. If you have sent in pens and DO NOT want them in the online auction, please let Dan know and your wishes will be honored.
 
hunter-27

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MesquiteMan said:
Just to be clear, there is still going to be a local auction and benefit. However, with over 250 pens, I am not sure that there are enough folks in Forney, TX to participate!

We plan to post the link here and ask everyone to share it with all the folks you know. If you have sent in pens and DO NOT want them in the online auction, please let Dan know and your wishes will be honored.
Click to expand...
I agree, so is they possibility of giving it some time to advertise your endeavor a bad thing? I have no problem with how my pens will be used. I just don't want to see everyones hard work sell for pennies on the dollar of what they are worth. Thanks to Dan, Curtis, and all others involved.
 
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SteveG

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Even with just my few years in the business of pen turning, I had never pictured myself BUYING a custom pen. I have now revised my thinking. Looking for the auction.
 
seamus7227

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I agree with everyone, but this is also about a charity and raising money, So we need to consider this to be our good deed, regardless of what "MY" pen sells or auctions for, Especially if the constructive criticism is in regards to a slimline:rolleyes:. The fact that we as a group have joined in to help Cody's cause, is HUGE!!

Curtis, I think the website is also a great idea! thanks for donating your time to build and set that up, If everyone on here with websites would be willing to post a link on their sites, think of all of the traffic that would generate!
 
Mack C.

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MesquiteMan said:
Not to let the cat out of the bag too soon, but yes, there is going to be an online auction for many of these pens. It is NOT going to be flea-bay since we really do not want to give up any money to their fees (I know, they have ways to do it free). We are doing it all in house. I have already bought a domain name and am currently building a website with some pretty descent auction software and Dan is working on getting pics taken and each pen set up. We hope to go live soon.

Dan really needs an idea of prices to start out the auctions at as well as a good buy it now price should someone want to do so. We are thinking that the buy it now price should not be too cheap but it also should not be too expensive. We also don't want to insult anyone who sent in a pen if we happen to put too low of a BIN price on it. Of course we are not showing the artist name with each pen so it will be somewhat anonymous.
Click to expand...
How about the donors of the pens suggest the price. They are most likely more in tune with what their pens bring in, as well as the specific pen model & plating.
 
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YouthMinisterDan

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The majority of the pens will be sold at the actual benefit on Sept 25th at the church. The issue is that if everybody that bought one of the mini packs that Curtis offered makes of pen out of the 8 or so kinds of woods you have lots of pens with a similar make out of the same wood.

I will try and get as many people from the DFW to our church on the day of the benefit through the Dallas Morning News and other advertising means in order to help with the sales of these pens. We are a small church of about 100 people, in a community of less than 8000 people so it is crucial that we draw people from the Dallas area to our little suburb in order to help make this successful. More information regarding the website will be coming out shortly....hopefully on Tuesday. Just be patient and it will all be ok.

Dan

bitshird said:
Dan, I thought most of these were going to be sold or auctioned st a church social or something, Ho in the heck are toy going to get advertising and site direction to the site? It would seem to me that sales through a church fellowship or social meeting would be quicker and bring in money faster, On Line Auctions are a risky business.
Click to expand...
 
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YouthMinisterDan

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Thanks for the input Landon,

I would say this I will do everything in my power to sell every pen for a reasonable amount. I do not plan on having three or four auctions.. If you realize just how much time that I have spent on this project so far you would fall over. If I had the vacation time, I would schedule a week right after the benefit was over just to relax from the craziness and all the time this has taken and it is not over yet. I will be spending most of my time tomorrow on this. I think you will be surprised at how well the website is going to do with this project. Just trust us.

Thanks everyone,
Dan

hunter-27 said:
The costs Cody and his family will have will be on going. Why rush into getting these sold for far less than they could(should) be. Every pen does not need sold immediately to benefit the family. Why not have the local auction as planned, hold onto the pens not sold, plan and hold a second, third, fourth, etc. event down the road. At a minimun give Curtis and his team a chance to develop and advertise his site. Just my opinion, no hard feelings if you find it a stupid idea.

Landon
Click to expand...
 
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YouthMinisterDan

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In our society today, we tend to want the answers or how something is going to work before we get started. This is one of those things were you just have to step out in faith and do the hard work and leave the results up to the Lord. Curtis and I have talked this over at length and both feel like this will be a good thing, and actually help out in the overall outcome of the benefit. I would say this, thank you for just trusting that the best decisions will be made.

I have not known Curtis as long as others but I would say this...as with everything that I have seen about Curtis, his ethics and the way he lives his life, nothing is half way! It is 100% and will be top notch. He does not sell anything on his website that has a flaw or that he will not use personally himself. He has had this same type of mindset in regards to this benefit for Cody. He has been such a blessing and a huge help in making this so successful so far. I think when this has been completed we will all be surprised at how successful it will be.

One of the reasons we went with Auction software is to allow people from the IAP or people that are connected to IAP members to participate as well. As Curtis said there will be no auction fees with this website, only those from paypal.

Thanks again guys...

YMD
 
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toddlajoie

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I think Ken's pricing is pretty close to my thoughts. As for my contribution, my only hope is that you would get more for them than they cost me to make (otherwise I would have been better off sending you the $$), so if you get more than $15-20 each for what I sent (Cigars/Navigators) then I'm even happier for you and Cody. I had thought about putting a suggested starting price on each of them, but figured that might be either tacky or too restrictive on your end. I did label each of mine with pen type and plating, so just keep in mind that generally Platinum and Black Ti are more $$ than chrome ( I don't bother with any-K gold plating, and WC doesn't sell the Cigars/Navs in Gold TN.)

But in the end, the market drives things, so they will sell for what they sell for, and no worries...

Of course, Curtis' generous offer of blanks kept my production cost crazy low too!!!! I somewhat wondered about having everyone make pens from the same types of wood, and considered using some others, but the blanks were so nice, and I had never worked with most of them before...
 
nava1uni

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I think that all ways to make money for Cody and his family should be explored. Since it will take time on all fronts it seems only right that it will be an ongoing process. Cody and his family will need all the support they can get and a steady stream of dollars will benefit them.
Thank you to Curtis and Dan for all of their work and to all the turners who have contributed to this benefit.
 
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YouthMinisterDan

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Thanks Cindy...very well stated.

nava1uni said:
I think that all ways to make money for Cody and his family should be explored. Since it will take time on all fronts it seems only right that it will be an ongoing process. Cody and his family will need all the support they can get and a steady stream of dollars will benefit them.
Thank you to Curtis and Dan for all of their work and to all the turners who have contributed to this benefit.
Click to expand...
 
ed4copies

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A lot depends on how you write your "ads" for the pens.

Stress the "Good cause" aspect and folks are more likely to pay a little "extra".

Even with that in mind, I would suggest some have very affordable prices ($20--gift category). Remember you are pricing with the "plus freight". You can always charge a flat freight, then send the pens First class and save a few bucks.

As has already been said, I trust both Curtis and Dan to walk the tightrope between "too cheap" and "never sell" to the best of their ability.

To Curtis and Dan, keep remembering, "No good deed goes unpunished!!"

Happy fundraising!!
 
GaryMGg

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Dan,
Is there a possibility you can also schedule a fundraiser at one of the larger churches in Dallas proper?
I don't know if that makes sense or not, but if you have an affiliated church in Dallas, you might have a much larger, affluent audience.
I'm not objecting to an online auction -- that's a real good idea.
I'm just asking if another option makes sense.

ps: What timing. Right after submitting this, Curtis' email arrived.
I think all options which can raise money for Cody and his family's benefit should be considered.
I think the website is a good means to achieving a valuable end.
 
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ribanett

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seamus7227 said:
Curtis, I think the website is also a great idea! thanks for donating your time to build and set that up, If everyone on here with websites would be willing to post a link on their sites, think of all of the traffic that would generate!
Click to expand...

Curtis,

Post a link, and I'll put it on my site.
 
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YouthMinisterDan

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Cody benefit this Saturday!

The Benefit is just a couple of days away...this Saturday!

Lots to do....

Sweep & mop the gym floor today (small church, I help with that too)

Tomorrow...set up tables and organize the room

Friday - organize items for Auction

Saturday - put out items for auction and hope to have a great benefit for Cody (luckily I will have some help from friends including IAP'ers and my wife).

Lots to do but looking forward to meeting new people and helping Cody and his family out.

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, we would love for you to come by and have some homemade ice cream. We would love for you to buy an item or two ...or three but that is not required! Invite all your friends too!

The event will be in the gym at
Calvary Baptist Church, 1204 N. Highway 175, Seagoville, Texas 75159
972-287-1145. It starts at 6 pm. Hope to see you there!
 
OKLAHOMAN

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YouthMinisterDan said:
The Benefit is just a couple of days away...this Saturday!

Lots to do....

Sweep & mop the gym floor today (small church, I help with that too)

Tomorrow...set up tables and organize the room

Friday - organize items for Auction

Saturday - put out items for auction and hope to have a great benefit for Cody (luckily I will have some help from friends including IAP'ers and my wife).

Lots to do but looking forward to meeting new people and helping Cody and his family out.

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, we would love for you to come by and have some homemade ice cream. We would love for you to buy an item or two ...or three but that is not required! Invite all your friends too!

The event will be in the gym at
Calvary Baptist Church, 1204 N. Highway 175, Seagoville, Texas 75159
972-287-1145. It starts at 6 pm. Hope to see you there!
Click to expand...


Good luck and hope you sell out....
 
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YouthMinisterDan

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OKLAHOMAN said:
YouthMinisterDan said:
The Benefit is just a couple of days away...this Saturday!

Lots to do....

Sweep & mop the gym floor today (small church, I help with that too)

Tomorrow...set up tables and organize the room

Friday - organize items for Auction

Saturday - put out items for auction and hope to have a great benefit for Cody (luckily I will have some help from friends including IAP'ers and my wife).

Lots to do but looking forward to meeting new people and helping Cody and his family out.

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, we would love for you to come by and have some homemade ice cream. We would love for you to buy an item or two ...or three but that is not required! Invite all your friends too!

The event will be in the gym at
Calvary Baptist Church, 1204 N. Highway 175, Seagoville, Texas 75159
972-287-1145. It starts at 6 pm. Hope to see you there!
Click to expand...


Good luck and hope you sell out....
Click to expand...

Me too...wouldn't that be awesome!
 
THarvey

THarvey

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YouthMinisterDan said:
The Benefit is just a couple of days away...this Saturday!

Lots to do....

Sweep & mop the gym floor today (small church, I help with that too)

Tomorrow...set up tables and organize the room

Friday - organize items for Auction

Saturday - put out items for auction and hope to have a great benefit for Cody (luckily I will have some help from friends including IAP'ers and my wife).

Lots to do but looking forward to meeting new people and helping Cody and his family out.

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, we would love for you to come by and have some homemade ice cream. We would love for you to buy an item or two ...or three but that is not required! Invite all your friends too!

The event will be in the gym at
Calvary Baptist Church, 1204 N. Highway 175, Seagoville, Texas 75159
972-287-1145. It starts at 6 pm. Hope to see you there!
Click to expand...

Post some pics of the auction item here. You might get a few absentee bids.
 
nava1uni

nava1uni

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Best of luck with the auction. How is Cody doing? It is a lot for anyone, let alone a teenager, to handle. Give my bet to him and his family. Acts of generosity, as seen here on IAP are what makes the world a better place and they affect more then just the person that receives the generous act. Thank you again to Dan, Curtis, and everyone for doing this work.
 
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toddlajoie

toddlajoie

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I wish I was withing reasonable driving distance to drive out and give you a hand, but if I left now and drove strait thru, I'd probably still arrive after the fact.

Dan, You have really gone above and beyond in this endeavor, and I hope your turnout for the event reflects all your work!!! Best of luck with the day!!!
 
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