Re-Envisioning the Online Auction

Those of us who have worked in the auction fundraising world for some time remember the advent of the online auction. Clunky though the tools may have been in retrospect, the ability to sell online to a wider audience over a longer period of time was a revolutionary development – and one that brought with it the promise (or at least the possibility) of significantly increased auction revenues.

Rather than becoming the primary method by which to sell items, however, the “online auction” or “pre-event auction” often developed in those early days into an entirely separate entity – one that required much of the same attention and planning that the “real” auction did. At the same time, committees were apprehensive about selling their best items in the online auction, preferring instead to rely on the tried-and-true method of day-of-event sales. As a result, organizations found themselves spending a significant amount of time soliciting and managing a set of low-value or low-interest items for an online auction that resulted in minimal—or at least a disproportionately small—share of revenue.

As mobile bidding platforms became more ubiquitous in recent years, many organizations still used the old model of hosting one or more separate and distinct “online auctions” before their marquee event. The difference in the quality of the pre-event online auction and the “real” silent auction that occurred during the event itself became more pronounced, as did the disparity between staff and volunteer time consumed and revenue earned. (One C2Auctions client had historically held an online auction that included nearly 1/3 of its solicited items, but only brought in 7.5% of its total silent auction revenue.)

C2Auctions engages in a collaborative data-analysis process with clients to determine whether the revenue from the discrete online auction is “worth” the work it entails. Almost to a one, we have found that our clients could hold a single mobile bidding-enabled silent auction with fewer items (and certainly fewer low-value or low-interest items that were typically relegated to the online auction), and drive up bids via increased demand to cover the revenue “lost” by eliminating the separate online auction. (The client referenced above preserved 100% of its silent auction revenue while eliminating 120 (“online auction” items.)

This streamlining work positioned C2Auctions’ clients to pivot with confidence into the (mandatory) virtual environment in which we now find ourselves, as their items, processes, and sales methods were already designed for maximum efficiency online. In fact, C2Auctions’ virtual auction clients from March through August of 2020 experienced, on average, a silent auction revenue retention rate 96% as compared to their last in-person auction.

Interested in a consultation to learn how C2Auctions can analyze your organization’s auction revenue data? Click here to contact us.