Do you ever go to model auctions? Whether it’s your own model club having one, some other model club having one, or some other place/group that’s having one? I’m curious to know what people think of them.
Does your local model club host one? What tips and advice can you share to make model kit auctions more successful?
Has anybody ever got “burned” at an auction? (Missing parts in a kit, bidding gone wrong, etc.)
My local club hasn’t held any auctions and at contests I buy tickets to support the host club but I usually don’t win anything.
Here’s something I’m curious to ask regarding model auctions:
At my local club auction today, I donated a Detail & Scale book on the F-8 Crusader aircraft. As I was browsing the tables filled with model kits, I noticed somebody had donated an F-8 Crusader model kit to the auction. I made a suggestion to our club treasurer (who handles the auction) that it might be more beneficial to bundle the F-8 book WITH the F-8 kit and hopefully we could get a higher monetary bid with the both of them together instead of trying to auction each off seperately. BUT…the club treasurer was against bundleing. He didn’t want to do it. And I’ve tried to get him to change his mind in past years about bundling stuff, but he’s still against it.
Another example: If you had an aftermarket resin 1/32 scale F-16 wheel set, would you try to auction that off seperately or would you bundle it with a 1/32 scale F-16 kit? Which option do you think would bring in more money?
Well I watched the South Park episode where a Japanese game company offered a “Banduru”, and the customers went wild. So yes, I think a model auction banduru is a good idea.
WhatIfRebel, I agree with you about bundling things that naturally go together. You’re more likely to get more buyers interested and probably get a higher bid too.
Two of my old clubs, OC IPMS & So.Cal. AMPS both had annual or twice a year auctions as club fund raisers. IPMS had a “distressed kit” auction 2x per year which would be kits donated by members that may have been started, simply missing a part or two, or perfectly fine. AMPS would also get kits donated by members, plus a few from the local hobby shop who was a big supporter of the club, as well as “parts bundles” for lack of a better term. Those were essentially excess parts from multiple kits of the same subject that could be used to improve other parts. Usually the auctions were lively fun events. Occasional bidding wars did happen, but its all in good fun in the end.