Forms to use to post an Auction

[bugface711]

The auction forum now has forms that allow you to post your auction quickly and effectively. No more waiting for a moderator to approve your auction.

If you would like to post an Auction, an Auction with a Buy It Now option, a Dutch Auction, or a Dutch Auction with Buy It Now, please use these forms to post them.

Choose the type of auction you are hosting from the list below and click the link to the corresponding form. The form will walk you thorugh step by step so you do not miss any information.

Types of Auctions:

Auction one item or one set of items. Form HERE
Auction + Buy It Now option. Same as above, but members have the opportunity to "buy it now" at any time. Form HERE
Auction + Dutch Option More than one set of the exact same thing. Form HERE
Auction + Dutch AND Buy It Now Options. More than one set of the exact same thing where members have the opportunity to "buy it now" at any time. Form HERE

We hope these forms help take some of the questions out of hosting an auction and they will certainly let the bidding start immediately!

Please keep in mind, that because the auctions are not checked before going live, you have to be very clear in what your auction terms are. We recommed that before you hit submit, you click preview and read over your auction.

Then, as soon as you submit your auction, you check the auction forum and review your auction. If you see an error, reply to the thread right away with the fix, and then send a private message to meggers, rebate_queen, Gnorga, and ELLE-TN.

Please note: Because this is a form, your signature will not show up in the original post. If you need your wishlist link to show up for bidding, it is OK to bump right after you submit your auction with a note saying "bumping for wishlist link". This will not count toward one of your 3 bumps.

[meggers]

Guidelines for HotCouponWorld
Helping Hand Auctions

First and Foremost:

• All HHH auctions must be approved prior to hosting. If you see a post made by Queenofthehivemomof5 or a Supermod in the HHH forum, you may consider that to be an instant approval to hold an auction for the recipient. Even so, please PM meggers prior to posting. ETA: Our HHH fund is currently depleted & therefore, no auctions are currently being allowed for individual members.
• If there's no aforementioned HHH post, please PM meggers, who will then get approval from admin. Keep in mind that the recipient must give their permission for the auction to be held & any part of their circumstances to be shared on our board.
• General Christmas/Secret Santa auctions do not need approval. All HHH Christmas/Secret Santa fundraisers must have payment sent directly to the HHH fund via PP or to Bugface711 if sending CC.

Holding a Helping Hand auction can be very time consuming, so please make sure you can attend to it & follow through with it.

Donations:

• You may get pm's from members that would like to donate anonymously. That is fine, but make sure they're a TRADER & keep all correspondence to & from them until you know the winner of the auction has received their contribution.
• You may get pm's from TNT's that want to donate, but cannot post in the auctions. These will need special permission from bugface711.
• If they are not a trader or TNT, let them know they can sign up to be a TNT & then request permission to donate.
• Be specific with donations such as BTFE's, Coke codes, etc.. e.g. Do the BTFE's all expire 2012 or later? Are the Coke codes 10pts.?
• In the spirit of HHH auctions we only require donators to list any fine print that isn't a variation of "one per purchase."

Tips for a successful Auction:

• Don't hold an auction too long. HHH auctions tend to pick up steam quickly with most donations & bids occuring within the first few days. While we may think "the longer, the better," that's never been the case with these types of auctions.
• Keep track of the items being donated to your auction. You can make a list of those items that may interest a bidder & give an itemized list of coupon values, gift card totals, stamps, BTFE's, etc. in place of a bump here & there. You can also pm the mods to update the title with an estimated value.
• Encourage bidders to up their bid by stating you'll add "such & such" when the bidding reaches "this amount."
• Minimum bids & bid increments are rarely advised for HHH auctions, unless you're doing several small ones.
• Unless you're doing several auctions for a member & will be accumulating donations to send all at once to the recipient, it's advisable that you offer free shipping to the winner.
• Keep bidding simple. Go with concealed cash or Paypal. If the recipient can access a post office easily, maybe allow a postal money order as these can be cashed at the post office & are a safe alternative to sending cash.

Special Rules & Guidelines

(these do not replace the auction rules,
but are in addition to them)

• All winners, regardless of feedback, will be required to send payment prior to any items being shipped.
• All donators of an auction are required to ship their end out in a timely manner (once payment is received) & all except the host are required to ship at their own expense.
• These auctions are subject to bad trade proceedings just as any other auction would be.
• In the spirit of HHH auctions, we allow the donators, as well as the host of the auction, to bid if they so desire. They may opt to keep their donation or send to the recipient should they win. Furthermore, in the event that they do bid, they do not need disclose which they prefer to do.

The End:

• At this point, you reallly want to have your recipient's Paypal address & home address on hand so that you may quickly send to the winner.
• HHH auction bids must come in before the ending time, just as in all other auctions. So, make absolutely sure you have picked the correct bidder.
• You do need to declare the winner by name for the record. Then PM them with the recipient's info according to the bid type used.
• If they're mailing payment, you can advise them to send via certified mail or with some type of confirmation that requires a signature. This is not required, but very advisable if the winning bid is a significant amount (You may require this by stating such in your auction if you desire, but again...it's not required).
• Once payment has been received by the recipient, you will need to send out a PM to all donators with the winners address. The mods should have the OP updated with every donation & their name, which will link to their profile. You can simply copy & paste the list of donations into a PM for easy reference or send them a link to the auction. Also, let them know to please put their user name & "HHH" on the envie/package.
• Ask the winner to please leave feedback for the individuals as they receive the envies/packages so that the donators know their end was received. Tell the winner that they can link to their profiles straight from the auction's OP. Just click their user name above their donation.
• If the winner doesn't receive an envie from someone in a timely manner, please advise them to pm meggers.

[bugface711]

Bumping up

All 4 forms are complete! Thanks to everyone who used them while they were in the testing stage. Your feedback was very helpful in getting these up and running.

Now that these are no longer in testing mode, please use the forms when hosting an auction going forward.

[bugface711]

another quick bump up

[bugface711]

bumping up