Silent Auction for Amma's 73rd Birthday

We will have a silent auction at Amma's birthday program on September 26th. You can either donate items or take home some great bargains from the auction. If you have any questions/suggestions, or if you wish to donate to this auction, please contact mac.vino@macenters.org.

Donation Guidelines

We invite you to donate new items or services for auction. Here are some examples of items that have been donated at past auctions at the Center and throughout the country:

• Amma used or blessed items
• Gift certificates
• Artwork
• Unique/new clothing items
• Sailing classes
• Vacation rentals
• Home remodeling
• Cooking classes
• Yard cleanup
• Donation Guidelines:

1. Kindly submit the following information for all items or services you would like to donate in advance of the event, if possible:

Goods:

Brief description
Please explicitly indicate if it is an Amma used or blessed item. We shall be happy to help you with the write up if you need.
Items related to Amma such as photos of Amma, music or books related to Amma may be submitted but must be in very good condition.
All other items must be new.

Services:

Brief description
Fee that would normally be charged for the service.
Location of service – Specify city and state a client needs to travel to receive service. If you will travel to client location, please state the travel time or radius you are willing to commute and your reference location.
2. All donations of items and services are subject to approval by our auction committee.

3. If possible, please bring items to the Center to a satsang prior to the auction. If not, please try to arrive early on the day of the program so items can be labelled and priced.

4. If donating a service, please provide a gift certificate if possible.

__________________________________________________________________________

How a silent auction works

Each item will have a sign up sheet next to it with the following information:

• A short description
• Minimum bid – The lowest starting bid that can be placed for the item.
• Bid increment – The minimum amount by which the next person has to increase his/her bid.
• Fair Market Value - In some cases, it may be useful for the bidders to know how greatly discounted the starting bid price is from what the item would fetch in market. In such a case, a Fair Market Value would be listed on the sheet.

For example, if the item being auctioned is a weekend vacation rental, a valid description may state:

Description: 2 bedroom condo available for any weekend in March at Killington. Condo has fireplace, Jacuzzi tub and access to fitness center with pool. Mins from trails and restaurants. Condo sleeps 6.
The Fair Market Value: $350
Minimum Bid: $100
Bid Increment: $20
Here is an example of how a bidding sheet might look:

Name      Bid

Rob         $100
John        $120
Mary        $145
Rob         $185
In this example, Rob wins the weekend rental for $185 which is still well below the Fair Market Value of $350. Rob will have to pay for the item at the end of the program. Payments are accepted in cash, credit/debit card or check made out to M.A. Center Chicago. For bids on services, you will receive a gift certificate with instructions on how to claim the service.