Re: Jumping into the Auction Fray
Cute and well stated........wayne
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris & Colette Wilbers <nevus@sofnet.com>
To: pumpkins@mallorn.com <pumpkins@mallorn.com>
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2001 11:53 PM
Subject: Jumping into the Auction Fray
>Hi, List,
>
>I really hate to see the list get bogged down in controversy. I left the
>list for a while some time ago, and generally sit on the sidelines now,
>because of this tendency.
>
>However, I had a thought or two about the auction concerns that I thought I
>would share.
>
>I really have no problem with people placing seeds up for auction, and I
>agree wholeheartedly that these auctions can make seeds that are otherwise
>unable to be found. I agree that it is an excellent way to entice people
to
>give money for worthy causes or organizations by giving them something of
>value to them in return. I have acquired some seed through auction.
>
>However, one problem with selling any seed for high $ amounts... everyone
>then assumes that the selling price is the current "market value" of that
>particular seed. So a Stelts 801.5 for $300 sold on a public auction
>results in any holder of that seed considering its value to be $300. The
>result...the seed becomes a much more rare commodity that ever was before
>the auction. I think most of us would agree that no seed really has $300
of
>intrinsic worth. $300 of hopes and dreams maybe, and I don't discount
>those, but a seed is not a finished product -- it is only a potential
>product. Although there are a few of us who win stand to win more than
$300
>yearly on giant pumpkins, most of us have to admit we will never see any
>monetary return on our investment in pumpkin growing. Each of us can set a
>personal value on an individual seed, but to purchase the seed for that
>value in a public forum may set a public value on that seed which is far
>above what it should be, and place it out of reach of other people's hopes
>and dreams.
>
>A couple of brainstorming ideas that might help resolve this problem,
>without squelching our free market economy:
>
>Idea #1: auctioneers of great seed decide ahead of time what you feel is a
>reasonable market value of the seed, which you would like to see it sold
>for, and publish that at the start of the auction. First person to offer
>that price for the seed gets it, or the highest bid below that value,
>whichever comes first. I like this idea better, but it will limit the
>income for the organizations doing the auction, at least for their most
>desirable seed lines.
>
>Idea #2: auctioneers decide ahead of time what you feel is the reasonable
>market value of the seed, and publish that at the start of the auction,
>setting this as the "floor" or minimum bid. This is the amount that would
>NOT be tax deductible in a charity auction. Then take bids over and above
>this for the privilege of purchasing the seed from them at this time. Then
>it is clear to the buyer and observers from the beginning what the
>established value of the seed is, and what portion of the purchase price
can
>safely be considered a "donation" to the selling organization.
>
>I realize there are lots of ways to shoot these ideas full of holes, but
>perhaps they can be a starting point to come up with a real solution to
>artificially inflated seed prices spurred by the adrenaline of an auction
>situation. Raffles are probably a reasonable part of the solution, but I
>hope that they will not be the only solution; there is no lasting value in
a
>"chance" for a great seed once the seed goes to someone else. I think the
>minimum would be to establish and publish a value for the seed before
>starting to take bids on it. Nearly every auction of "new goods" that I
>have ever seen has done this.
>
>As Dave Stelts proves, growing pumpkins has a lot more to do with
intangible
>things like hopes, dreams, achievement, endurance, patience, comradeship
and
>a lot of other great qualities that are in shorter supply today than money.
>I hope we can all help to keep those qualities in our sport/hobby, and keep
>the dollar signs out of our eyes.
>
>Just my 2 cents worth, unless I hear a higher bid!
>
>-- Chris Wilbers
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>Pumpkin-growing FAQ: http://www.mallorn.com/lists/pumpkins/search.cgi
>To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
>message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Pumpkin-growing FAQ: http://www.mallorn.com/lists/pumpkins/search.cgi
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
