Charity Auctions

[fairsale14]

Hello, I am a new seller on this site and would like to know how the Charity auctions work. Once I identify a general charity, say disability, what happens next...to whom should the proceeds go? There is no list available. What percentage of the sale price should go to the charity?

[raindropsies]

OP if I understand what you are saying, (I hope I do )

I sell many many items for charity, mainly wdcs, see signature banner. I sell the items as normal, then you pay me as normal via paypal, google etc. I then ship to you, and periodically I send payment to the charity.

However, if a buyer wanted to send me payment for the item in the charities name and a payment for the postage in my name I would also accept this and then forward the payment to the charity for the sale price of the item.

So if I sell a dvd at 49p and postage is 50p as long as the charity gets their 49p and I get my postage cost, then I am happy, you are happy & the charity is happy. However this would only be able to be done by paying with cheques, postal order etc and not really viable for international sales.

Hope this helps

[astral276]

I can't really see how charity auctions work on here. All it seems to be is another category. That may be counter-productive as if someone is looking for a widget are they going to look in the widget category or the charity category? I would have thought the former. Maybe I've missed something?

I never used eB@y's charity setup as that just seemed like paying a middleman to send my donation to the charity. Why do that when you can send it yourself with no cut being taken from it. Plus you can use Gift Aid (assuming you pay tax) to increase the value of the donation.

I did look at the Cancer category and that is all there was - no subcategories. There should be at least three for the UK - Cancer Research UK, The Bobby Moore Fund, and Macmillan Cancer Support.

[raindropsies]

I can't really see how charity auctions work on here. All it seems to be is another category. That may be counter-productive as if someone is looking for a widget are they going to look in the widget category or the charity category? I would have thought the former. Maybe I've missed something?

I never used eB@y's charity setup as that just seemed like paying a middleman to send my donation to the charity. Why do that when you can send it yourself with no cut being taken from it. Plus you can use Gift Aid (assuming you pay tax) to increase the value of the donation.

I did look at the Cancer category and that is all there was - no subcategories. There should be at least three for the UK - Cancer Research UK, The Bobby Moore Fund, and Macmillan Cancer Support.

I can see where you are coming from, but I have to disagree with 1 point. That point is in pink. Firstly I take no cut from it. yes there might be a fee with paypal or google etc, but a charity "bricks & mortar" shop has rent etc to pay so there is a cut being taken that way as well. I don't charge for my time either as I would not expect to charge for my time in a charity shop.

I said in my previous post that I have no quarrels in the buyer giving direct to charity as long as I get the postage, after all, the items I sell are mostly 95%+ my donations and it would be unfair i feel to cover the postage cost as well. the other 5% is what others have gave to me to sell for charity, hence one of my ydc listings (the sudoku in a box)

Now I agree that some sub categories could be a good idea, but then where would it stop? I sell for animals, so would we have cats, dogs, birds, whales & dolphins, amphibians etc, and with cancer there are others like Marie Curie, breast cancer care. Children's charities are also endless, NSPCC, when you wish upon a star, just to name 2 that come to mind.

I will be making my first donation to WDCS very soon on behalf of my buyers, and the receipt will be put on my all about page. Now I don't raise thousands, but since starting about 6 weeks ago, I think I have made a decent amount for them.

Now with regards searching for an item, I always start with a keyword to find items, then go for the best deal, or I would no doubt pay a little extra for a charity item.

I list for charity in just the auctions for charity > animals section, but I know that Justpurrfect list in this same category & many different categories, but then puts them in the charity store.

Another thing to factor into the equation is that some people like giving to charity and get a small item in return, otherwise bricks & mortar charity shops would not exist.

Sorry for rather long post, it just takes me a while to put my full words into a post so I know I have explained my point of view.

[Gothicina]

In general the charity listings, other than YDC, are put in the relevant category for the item.
The Charity categories are only really there for a place for those who have a charity store. Until there are more charity stores there is little point in further sub division.
It's entirely up to each person how they run their charity listings or charity stores, eBid don't get involved.
IMO if you are only going to donate a % of the price you should state it in your listing.

[astral276]

I can see where you are coming from, but I have to disagree with 1 point. That point is in pink. Firstly I take no cut from it.

And I was NEVER suggesting that you do or would. I was referring to the eB@y system where donations from charity auctions go via Missionfish who do, as I read it, take a cut before they pass it on. That it what I was saying I didn't like (even if they are a registered charity) and would rather, as I have done in the past, just run normal auctions and passed the proceeds directly to The Bobby Moore Fund. That way I know all of it has gone where I want - plus the aforementioned Gift Aid.

I would also reinforce that I was talking about the eBid charity system (i.e. the category) and not YDC. It is just that...a category. There seems no benefit to using it over a normal category listing. There is no financial benefit - though with zero listing and selling fees there is not that much scope for that. There is no visibility benefit either - say free Featured in searches. Admittedly that could be open to abuse if the donation was not deducted before the seller got it. Which just brings us back to the point that I was trying to make - that I can see no advantage to listing under the Charity category and feel listing under an items normal category would be more productive.

So if you have spent the early hours (Do you ever sleep?) cursing my name for doubting your integrity then it was undeserved as I wasn't.

[madelaine]

I would dearly love ebid to create a charity marker rather than the charity section. I move my items from the charity section when I get round to it. They start off in there, in a shop department called "new this week", and then I move them.

[raindropsies]

Astral, I see where my mis-interpretation has come in.

I am not saying that you said I was taking a cut, or any sellers here are taking a cut.

I was not aware that feebay charity auctions were subject to a charge as I never sold charity auctions on there.

[rajah]

may i add not all charities are registered, i donate all profits to a lady in devon who runs a dog santuary for the terimanlly ill dogs who are no longer wanted called tailends and she just relies on donation she does run a web site called tailends and also for the homeless to my area i have purchased tins of beans tuna etc for them they are charity registered but every now and again i phone them up and ask them what they want then i get an order and away i go to the shops

[astral276]

In general the charity listings, other than YDC, are put in the relevant category for the item.
The Charity categories are only really there for a place for those who have a charity store. Until there are more charity stores there is little point in further sub division.
It's entirely up to each person how they run their charity listings or charity stores, eBid don't get involved.
IMO if you are only going to donate a % of the price you should state it in your listing.

Well I don't run any shops at present. Charity or otherwise. I do run auctions where the entire proceeds go to The Bobby Moore Fund. This is for items that once belonged to my late mother or sisters.

I don't advertise them as charity auctions. I simply tell the buyer that the money has gone to the charity on the packing slip and dispatch notice. They can believe me or not. As they have not bought in the belief of buying for charity I don't have to prove anything to them.

I still don't see the harm in adding subcategories to the charity category even at this stage of eBid's growth. Taking cancer for example...Many have been affected by it but of a specific type. If they are like me they like to target their giving at the type that has affected them. In my case bowel cancer is the one that has ravaged my family over generations. So the Bobby Moore Fund is where I concentrate my efforts. Followed by Macmillan who gave care to both my sisters in their final days.

Separate categories for cats, dogs, birds, etc. is going too far but any registered charity should be eligible for a subcategory to enable targeted fund-raising and giving.