RE: Jumping into the Auction Fray
Even I agree with this
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pumpkins@mallorn.com [o*@mallorn.com]On
Behalf Of Chris & Colette Wilbers
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 8:10 PM
To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
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
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