YDC Rules - Open Discussion

[PoppyGrove]

There seems to be a lot of discussion as to how a winner is chosen so that that person gets to choose the beneficiary of the next auction.

May I suggest that instead of putting everyone's name in a hat - sellers, sellers+ buyers, sellers + buyers + bidders etc etc etc., that those sufficiently intrested send Babs the name of their favourite charity, and that there is a closing date for nominations. Then Babs need only pull 11 out of the hat and that is enough for one per month except Christmas. In December start again with a closing date of say mid January. If there is more than one nomination for a particular charity the duplicates get thrown out of the hat.

There are probably as many ways of doing this as there are eBidders so while I am all in favour of democracy, I would also like to suggest that as Babs does all the work, that she be left to make all the choices, and forget about winners. It is certainly all the same to me, All charities need funding so we all give as much as we can each month and leave someone to make distribution decisions.???

O.K. Now you can chop my head off !!!!

Thats another idea - which on the upside will make things easier in one respect, but on the downside it wouldn't allow for any 'on the spur of the moment' charity occasions that spring up in the inbetween time - for example last year Yorkies auctions did a sponsored walk in respect of the NSPCC and the charity nominated for the YDC just before the walk was the NSPCC. If I collect a bundle of charities now for the forthcoming year then something like this where a member needs the support of other members wouldn't be able to be taken into account. It may also make it difficult for new people to join in through the course of the year with their favourite charities.

But - as I said - its all on the table for ideas to be tossed and turned like a good salad - and I'll go with the majority rule on each one.

[PoppyGrove]

If the person who chooses the next beneficiary is picked by names out of the hat method, does this mean that the maximum value any auction is expected to reach still has to be £20? If that could fall away then there may be some very generous folk out there and a lot more could be raised?

The £20 ceiling is not necessarily what its expected to make - some items are lucky if they finish on their opening bid. Its a threshold of value to give people an idea of the maximum street value of the item to donate. It isn't the set value of the item that you wish to list or what your item has to finish at. As the auctions are for charity it is difficult to say what they'll finish on as recent past YDC's have shown us - things can end up over £150.

Most of the items that I've listed for the YDC have either been things that I have made myself - the quilt squares are a classic example of this. I have also listed pots of home made chutneys, house & summer bedding plant cuttings that I have taken and rooted, and for the BCC auctions that we had last October I listed some of my hand crafted glasses cases. At the end of the day the YDC is all about having fun, a bit of playful banter in the pimp thread, and raising money for charity - whether its the nominated charity or one of the other charities that a lot of YDC regulars contribute to.

I hope that helps.

[PoppyGrove]

The only problem I see with any of it is why can't it just be left as it was,the one who raises the most on one item chooses the next months charity, so some of you got a bit pi??ed off with HELP FOR HEROES, isn't that just tough, you didn't have to go with the nominated charity did you, as a lot in fact didn't...........

The only reason I was choosing so often was circumstances beyond my control, two people asked me to do it for them when they won Borderdoors and jimmy g, and H4H wasnt choosen everytime, I can in fact remember choosing Yorkies walk as well and another charity as well I think I maybe wrong on that one the memory is slowing fading away belive it or not.

I doubt wether I will be in the situation to be the winner anytime this year, can't afford stupid money on the t-shirt, Mrs huddy would kill me if I done it again.

Start prices not bothered about that really.

I'm sure Mrs Huddy will let you put a bid or three in the YDC - if you ask her nicely and promise to pay her parking ticket. or put a bit on something for her in the process.

Thanks for your input Pete - Its nice to have other peoples ideas. I can see where your coming from - to keep things as they are - this is why I've opened it up for ideas to be thrown around.

The idea of the hat was mentioned - and up to a point there was no oposition to is. The reason for that was perhaps not necessarily to stop any one charity getting the nomination, but perhaps to allow some of the smaller local charities to have a look in.

Something else that you've touched base on - which is another reason for the discussion - you mentioned that you can't afford stupid money on the t-shirt - I can accept that too - especially nowadays as if memory serves me correct, we have a lot of people that participate in the YDC that are either out of work, or have partners out of work and are on a restricted budget. By putting the names in the hat - it will allow all YDCers a chance to pick the charity - regardless of their financial situation. I hope that makes sense.

As it stands - there has been no final decision made either way. I am waiting for more input from other people as well as people that have already replied to come back with either more ideas or arguements as to why or why not. Yes, I'm the 'head' of the YDC - but I am restricted by the majority rule in this matter and will not make any changes without the majority rule.

[PoppyGrove]

I kinda look on the YDC as being RNLI and H4H time about with BCC thrown in during October - everyone has heard of them - however last year I noticed some were for their own favourite charities and that is fine too.

The YDC is about charity - which is the nominated charity depends on who wins - as the rules currently stand. Besides the nominated charities for the UK and the USA there are other charities that benefit from the auctions - these range from supporting animals, animal sanctuaries, elderly, local or national charities. In truth, I don't know the full extend of these charities as there are so many sellers that will list one or two items for the nominated charity and also list a few for their favourite charity or charity that they regularly support.

I hope that helps.

[PoppyGrove]

... I have only been here a few months - recognised the charities so joined in - eventually asked about YDA and YDC - better fun than just buying a raffle ticket

Definitely more fun that buying a raffle ticket - and you've got a better chance of having your 'prize' this way too.

[PoppyGrove]

This is not a complaint or criticism, but those lists only show the nominated charities / good causes that the YDC has raised money for.

For instance...in each years list I have regularly entered the YDC and raised money for 'Friends to Seniors' and 'Stitches of Love and Kindness'. Two 'charitable causes' which are too small to register for charitable status...yet neither has been shown...not that it bothers me, but I am sure there are other sellers who have put auctions up for their own chosen charities/causes that aren't mentioned in the lists.

Sorry Syl - thats probably my fault in the way that I've worded the thread - or post. I'll rectify that to show that other charities have benefitted too - although which ones they are altogether I have no idea as I know that a lot of YDCers support their own charities.

[PoppyGrove]

I must say I have to agree...
the current system is open and transparent...we can see who is the winner at source...

I used to have a monthly prize draw on one of my charity groups. Everyone who contributed to the charity either by sewing or otherwise was entered and I had to pick someone out of the hat each month. I know I did it fairly and honestly...one month I even asked the postie to pick the winner from the hat...but that doesn't stop some people from thinking it may be open to favouritism or whatever, especially if the same person is picked out twice running...

In no way do I think it wouldn't be done fairly here...but this is a open competition and doing it that way lays the 'picker' wide open to all sorts of comments etc from participants.

I can tell you from experience that the 'pick out of a hat' system can be stressful to say the least...

I know you will all come back and say how fair it would be and how trustworthy everyone is...and at the moment I would agree wholeheartedly. But putting a system into place which will be there in the future when there are more participants and possibly different people involved can come back and bite you....

but then, at the end of the day, its not up to me.

I can see where you're coming from here too. It leaves me wide open (or whoever else get to do the draw) to comments along the lines of 'cheat', 'favouritism', and others along the same lines. At the end of the day - it does all bottle down to trust - and as new members wouldn't know me from adam, then it does leave an area of doubt on their part. That I can understand.

I think I picked up on the idea when it was mentioned as it would allow the smaller charities to benefit without the need to be a 'big spender' - especially as nowadays with the economic climate as it still is, and with quite a few members having partners out of work, or being out of work themselves.

However, as the rules stand there is the lure of being the winner and then being able to pick the nominated charity that encourages the bids to bring in the money for the current nominated charity. If that makes sense. So, on the downside for the 'names in a hat' would it distract from the frantic bidding, and result in less money being raised each month for the nominated charity. This is something that I have to weight up too as being in the position I am, in a sense, I have a responsibility to all the YDC charities, not just the nominated one - and whatever descision I make on this, could result in one loosing out somewhere along the way - which is something that I definitely don't want to happen.

[PoppyGrove]

Perhaps if we use the hat draw, the winner of one month would not be "in the running" the next month?

There is that too - perhaps the one who wins the draw could be a new member who has joined specifically to bid on a particular item, win it, receive it and never to be seen again. Its a 100 to 1 shot - but it is something that we have to consider.

[pearlygirl555]

It's very possible that I have not explained myself clearly here --- such a chasm between the sense that something makes in my head, and then the finished result out in the world

What I meant was, if I was the winner of the YDC in February and nominated a charity, I would not be eligible to nominate the charity even if I were lucky enough to have the winning item in March. You know, not being able to nominate two consecutive months? Which actually did happen to me early last year, and frankly, collecting the money those two consecutive months was a pain in the......nevermind. Whatever else was going on in "real life" at that time was harrowing enough that something as simple as rounding up donations was really stressful for me --- thank goodness for Jackie doing the tally. The second month I tried to make things a nudge easier and encourage buyers to pay the charity directly, but between missed emails and who-knows-what, it ended up just as confusing as the first month. Admittedly this was early in the USA-YDC, and the people who participate most actively are all up to speed now.

So, for myself, I like the idea of being able to participate in the YDC without running the risk of "winning" it; I could just leave my name out of the hat. I confess that when I consider items to list, I'm torn between wanting to list something that might bring a better price for the charity, yet not wanting to "win" the thing and be committed to getting the payment together. Again, I recognize that for a normal person, getting the donation together isn't a big deal.....but for me, it stands to be one thing too many.

What else do I like about the current YDC? I like the flexibility and evolution of it, as it responds to current events like Yorkie's walk or perhaps the Haiti situation. More broadly, I like how the eBid forum community is able to be flexible and evolutionary in this way, so I'd be inclined to keep the "winner picks the next one" method. Wouldn't matter to me if the winner was chosen as we do now, or drawn from a hat. Suppose we could try the hat thing for 6 months and re-evaluate it during the summer lull?

I like the option for members to promote their own good cause apart from the nominated charity. It's interesting to see what good works people are up to and it allows everyone to be a winner, really, because no one "has" to support the nominated charity. There have been times when I have run a few items for the flagship charity, then other auctions for some charities that I support regularly; the YDC money was just added to the amount I had already set aside to donate that month.

The bidding wars are fun and I suspect that will always be a feature of the YDC, regardless of price caps, how the winner is chosen, whatever. Those dedicated tick-nickers can smell unguarded green ticks, and aren't going to leave them alone because some silly little rule has been implemented

One thing I liked from some YDCs last year were the vouchers, I know I won one from Jay and I think there were other vouchers listed around the same timeframe. It gets around the shipping cost and it's fun to have a little credit you can put toward something; I gifted mine to a fellow eBidder, and that was fun too. One idea for a voucher would be auctioning off a voucher to be used in your eBid store, that would essentially expand your YDC listing to include everything you've got on offer here, or the lion's share of it.

Okay, that's more than enough of me for one session......sheesh, I'll do about anything to delay doing the dishes

[burgyeb]

The only problem I see with any of it is why can't it just be left as it was,the one who raises the most on one item chooses the next months charity, so some of you got a bit pi??ed off with HELP FOR HEROES, isn't that just tough, you didn't have to go with the nominated charity did you, as a lot in fact didn't...........

The only reason I was choosing so often was circumstances beyond my control, two people asked me to do it for them when they won Borderdoors and jimmy g, and H4H wasnt choosen everytime, I can in fact remember choosing Yorkies walk as well and another charity as well I think I maybe wrong on that one the memory is slowing fading away belive it or not.

I doubt wether I will be in the situation to be the winner anytime this year, can't afford stupid money on the t-shirt, Mrs huddy would kill me if I done it again.

I tend to agree with Huddy that things should be left as they were (at least for now). If major changes are to be made to the YDC rules, they should be made in an orderly fashion, in an upcoming YDC, after consideration by more participants. This month's YDC is only 2 weeks away, and serious considerations are being discussed to be set in motion right away. This does not seem to be a fair way to approach change. Also, I don't care for the idea of picking the winner from a hat, as it is not a transparent process.

I've heard alot of debate concerning the t-shirt, although there are other big ticket items. I don't think it is fair to remove the shirt from the possibility of being winner or to limit the amount it can win. I never heard anyone complain when the shirt generated hundreds of dollars. It wasn't considered "stupid money" then.

People pay thousands of dollars for a dinner for charity; it's not "stupid money" it's charity. People can give or pay anything they want.

I have a recommendation, this may be an appropriate time to retire the t-shirt from the YDC auctions. This would help to level the playing field and give more participants a chance to get their favorite charities selected. Any thoughts on this recommendation?