Auction!

[Rowan Green]

Hi everybody…

Long time no see… sorry for neglecting this board. I’m currently training for the London Marathon, and when I’m not training I’m hanging out on runners boards. Yes, me believe it or not! Anyway…

Cross posting this to every relevant list I can think of! Hope you don’t mind!

I’m currently running an eBay auction with lots of great stuff, including DVD’s, fun items and some really great signed candid pictures (Joe Flanigan, Rainbow Sun Francks, Aaron Douglas… loads of others!)

I’m also soon going to be starting a ‘Predict my Time’ competition for the London Marathon with more great stuff as prizes.

I’m raising money for the Stroke Association: in the UK stroke is the 3rd largest killer, the major cause of long-term disability and kills 3 times as many women each year as breast cancer. I’m also doing it for my dad, who has long-term problems as a result of stroke.

For information and a link to the auctions, please visit my fundraising page:

http://www.justgiving.com/moonrise

Thanks everybody!

Rowan Green, aka Helen

[Rowan Green]

Hi all!

First wave of my auctions is about to end. And the signed items are still going way too cheap! Click my sig for a page with more info and a link...

Thanks!

[Rowan Green]

Last Chance…

We are now into the last 12 hours of my charity auction, including some great, unique signed candid photos, being sold for the Stroke Association.

See http://www.justgiving.com/moonrise for information and a link to the auctions. (And to find out about the competition, starting tonight!)

I thought it was time for a bidding tip (especially as several of the items have loads of watchers, meaning we could be seeing some last minute snipes)

Top tip: Use automatic (or proxy) bidding! There’s nothing worse as a seller than at the end of an auction than having someone coming to you and saying they got outbid at the last minute/didn’t get their bid in, but they’d be willing to pay more than the person who won. eBay rules (and fairness) mean I can’t take up such offers. And in this case there are definitely not other copies of the same thing available…

Proxy bidding is an AUTOMATIC feature on eBay: you don’t have to do anything special to use it. All you need to do is decide how much you are willing to spend on an item, and bid that amount. eBay will then bid up to that limit on your behalf. But they’ll keep the maximum amount secret (including from the seller), and it will not be used unless needed. For example, if someone else has bid £5, and you are willing to bid up to £55, then put in a bid of £55! Ebay will then bid £5.50 on your behalf. When someone else comes along and bids £10, eBay automatically increases your bid to £10.50, so beating them. Even if there’s a last-minute snipe bidder, you can’t be outbid unless someone is willing to pay more than you!

Proxy bidding also explains the discouraging way some bidders seem to outbid you as soon as you put a bid in. It doesn’t mean they are watching every second of the day. It just means they’ve put in a maximum that’s above your bid. Don’t be discouraged and give up before you’ve reached your maximum: they can only beat you if they are willing to pay more than you. The next bid you put in might be the one that beats them.

By getting your bid in you are also making sure you are on the bidders list. That way you don’t have to worry about a computer crash before your last-second bid! And even if you lose, should the top bidder withdraw you might find yourself getting a second-chance offer (high bidders do sometimes have second thoughts…). So get your bids in, bid what you are prepared to pay, even if it’s much more than what’s shown now, or less than you think will win, and don’t lose out for a silly reason! Remember it’s for charity!

Thanks, Rowan Green