AW Auction?

brainstorm77 · Aug 15, 2009

Didn't they use to have one to raise funds to run the site? I think this should get on the go again.. I would donate something.. Mods move this whereever it should be I thought OP was good cause it gets alot of views... People what do you think?
And can I still buy a AW coffee mug? Dawno I didn't see one on the CafePress site but I know they use to be available...

rhymegirl · Aug 15, 2009

How about an AW calendar to raise money? Something clean, of course. Smiling faces of AW members. Just a thought. If a lot of people bought one, it could bring in a lot of money, perhaps?

alleycat · Aug 15, 2009

I think it got to be quite a chore for the person handling the auctions.

Are you volunteering to run it?

;-)

alleycat · Aug 15, 2009

rhymegirl said:
How about an AW calendar to raise money? Something clean, of course. Smiling faces of AW members. Just a thought. If a lot of people bought one, it could bring in a lot of money, perhaps?

If they put my face on a calendar no one would buy it!

How about some inspirational stock images, with a sidebar of some selected quotes on writing?

brainstorm77 · Aug 15, 2009

I would put something up sure.. Not sure what It would entail but even if it was just for one or two days.... I'm guessing payments went to the AW Paypal account and once the payment was accepted the item got shipped out?
A calender is a great idea.

brainstorm77 · Aug 15, 2009

alleycat said:
If they put my face on a calendar no one would buy it!

How about some inspirational stock images, with a sidebar of some selected quotes on writing?

There are some pretty dandy photographers here too.

alleycat · Aug 15, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
I would put something up sure.. Not sure what It would entail but even if it was just for one or two days.... I'm guessing payments went to the AW Paypal account and once the payment was accepted the item got shipped out?

You know, that's an interesting idea. Instead of having it be a continuing things, as it was in the past, have a annual auction. Someone could "collect" all the prizes during the year, then for a two-week period, auction the items off.

Yes, previously people paid for the items via PayPal and then once payment was received the donor would get a notice to ship the item.

brainstorm77 · Aug 15, 2009

alleycat said:
You know, that's an interesting idea. Instead of having it be a continuing things, as it was in the past, have a annual auction. Someone could "collect" all the prizes during the year, then for a two-week period, auction the items off.

Yes, previously people paid for the items via PayPal and then once payment was received the donor would get a notice to ship the item.

Exactly

brainstorm77 · Aug 15, 2009

You know there is going to be an AW poetry anthology too

alleycat · Aug 15, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
You know there is going to be an AW poetry anthology too

I think there's a few copies of Atlanta Nights left.

Wayne K · Aug 15, 2009

I say we do "The Girls of AW" calender, say the hell with taste, and cash in.

Who's with me?

scarletpeaches · Aug 15, 2009

rhymegirl · Aug 15, 2009

alleycat said:
If they put my face on a calendar no one would buy it!

Yes we would, you mystery man. If you prefer, we'll take a butt shot. Didn't you post one of those at one time?

How about some inspirational stock images, with a sidebar of some selected quotes on writing?

Pictures sell calendars, ac. Those other things are nice, but look at how many people contributed to Deathwizard's thread of before and after pics.

Marcus · Aug 15, 2009

can i suggest bumper stickers? they are relatively cheap to have a large number printed up and can sell them for like 2 bucks a piece.

Maryn · Aug 15, 2009

As I understand it, the problem wasn't the amount of effort it took to run each auction, although that was probably no fun at all. It was the tax and other financial considerations affecting Our Fearless Leader negatively.

I think it behooves AW (thanks for the excuse to use behooves) to identify and consult a member who happens to be a tax attorney or something similar, to see if there's a way we can fund-raise for the site without any negative impact on Mac.

I, for one, would gladly bake caramel corn or bread and flat-out sell it, shipping in the US included, rather than auction it off, with the payment going to Mac instead of to me.

Or, in lieu of that, pay me for it, and I write Mac a check.

Or bake your own goodies and write Mac a check.

Maryn, who makes real good caramel corn

Fenika · Aug 15, 2009

I also have it on good gossip that tax issues killed the idea dead.

But since Mac just posted about one annual fundraiser (for Strange Horizons) I'm wondering if that would be any easier?

Plus, I could auction off my books when I leave the country. Well, some of them

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Aug 15, 2009

The best thing y'all can do for AW is donate. Any amount. The PayPal button is at the bottom of every page... and if you're not a PayPal kinda person, there's a link right under the PayPal button that will take you to alternative methods of donation.

The Auctions were a blast - yes, they were a pain, but they were worth the effort - but the IRS didn't like 'em so they had to stop.

Fenika · Aug 15, 2009

I'm still holding out for a bigger av for those who donate directly

Think about it. The current avs are 125x125. I'm not talking those crazy smoo sized monsters here. The side bar is, what? 200pixels wide? So a 200x200 av could be done, ya? And I know, there are server issues to consider, but it would balance out, ya?

And yes, I've been meaning to donate for awhile. And yes, I admit to being motivated by petty bribery

And hopefully I don't start some insanities with this suggestion, but I think it's a decent one

alleycat · Aug 15, 2009

Bahamutchild said:
I'm still holding out for a bigger av for those who donate directly.

I'll donate to have KTC's reduced.

;-)

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Aug 15, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
Didn't they use to have one to raise funds to run the site? I think this should get on the go again.. I would donate something.. Mods move this whereever it should be I thought OP was good cause it gets alot of views... People what do you think?
And can I still buy a AW coffee mug? Dawno I didn't see one on the CafePress site but I know they use to be available...

For those interested in the CafePress site... here's the link.

There are some mugs there, but there's a particular mug that's only available to Mac and she hands 'em out like the Lone Ranger used to hand out those Silver Bullets. They're special.

kalel32 · Aug 15, 2009

Wayne K said:
I say we do "The Girls of AW" calender, say the hell with taste, and cash in.

Who's with me?

I going with Wayne on this one.

MacAllister · Aug 15, 2009

The folks who ran the auctions worked their little hind-ends off, and I can never express adequately my gratitude and appreciation for everyone who participated.

There were a couple of very rare but unfortunate instances where people had some differing expectations about what they'd paid for, and some issues around timely shipping. Then WA state got cranky with me about raising funds that way, too -- so the AW Auctions are, sadly, a thing of the past.

Silver King · Aug 15, 2009

We've tried to nudge Mac a couple of times to resume the AW auctions, which were a lot of fun and created a great deal of community spirit; however, the upside of those were no longer worth the tax implications, so the auctions were discontinued.

As Jen mentioned, the best way to help is to donate a few dollars here and there, which helps to pay the bills to keep this a free site for all of its users.

ETA: Cross-posted with Mac.

scarletpeaches · Aug 15, 2009

Ol' Fashioned Girl said:
For those interested in the CafePress site... here's the link.

There are some mugs there, but there's a particular mug that's only available to Mac and she hands 'em out like the Lone Ranger used to hand out those Silver Bullets. They're special.

Do I get one when I win the Booker Prize and mention AW in my acceptance speech?

alleycat · Aug 15, 2009

Silver King said:
We've tried to nudge Mac a couple of times to resume the AW auctions, which were a lot of fun and created a great deal of community spirit; however, the upside of those were no longer worth the tax implications, so the auctions were discontinued.

There was another problem with the auctions now that I think of it. I donated a few books, and would have been glad to donate more--the problem was with the shipping. This is an international community, so if someone overseas bought an item, there was an excess shipping charge. It might be a ten-dollar book donated, but to ship it to England would cost $9. I think I finally made my donations contingent on "free shipping within the US only", but that wasn't a perfect solution and probably made some people feel left out.

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