Where and when will your material be offered for sale?
IWOC auctions are included in annual Club convention programs. In our live auctions, the auctioneer actively solicits bids from registered attendees. Silent auction material is displayed at the same time, with item descriptions on cards for listing written bids. There’s no active sales pitch from the podium other than periodic reminders to place silent auction bids during breaks, and warnings when silent auctions are closing. Using both methods helps control the auction’s length.
Consignments and donations may be offered as part of either the live auction or the silent auction. If you want to restrict specific items to the live auction, that must be negotiated with the auctioneer in advance. There isn’t always room in the live auction for additional items when they arrive in the days just before an auction; however, every effort will be made to meet with requests, and, if approved by the donor/consignor, such items may be retained for a later live auction.
The return of unsold consignments is at the expense of the consignor unless they were hand-delivered at the auction site or by another arrangement. Unsold donated items such as newer reading copies and inexpensive collectibles will either be offered in later auctions or, at the auctioneer’s discretion, put to other Club use. For example, we use donations as prizes and give reading copies of Oz books to children at events. When we promote memberships as public festivals we can sometimes offer donated items as membership incentives.
Please understand that we can’t guarantee your items will be sold at the next occurring Oz Club auction. Similar items may already be included. We strive to assemble for each auction a variety of items that will pique a variety of interests; there could be a real need for your items at a later auction. Too much of something—even a really good thing—also can mean less active bidding, and we all hope to see the best price realized for auctioned material.
More information about IWOC conventions, where our auctions are held, is available online here.