YDC Rules - Open Discussion

[PoppyGrove]

Some sellers (them what donate) are happy for payment to be made direct to someone's giving page. In most cases the P&P seems to go to the charity as well. But I am never sure who wants paid what and where (may be just me).
I am easily confused but didn't understand about clicking on Giving Pages to begin with either, although I think it is a good idea, so easy

It is easy for a light item to have free P&P but if someone is donating a bigger or heavier item it is not really fair for them to feel they have to donate the postage as well.

Um, that's it...

I totally understand what you mean.

The donating of the p&p is optional - it is up to the seller whether he / she wishes to do so. Some sellers go for donating the p&p as an extra, some include it in the bid price, and then we have others who are happy to donate items, but are not in a financial postition to donate the p&p (I was one of those autumn of last year) or perhaps as you mention, donate a heavy item with hefty postage and prefer not to donate the p&p.

This last one is one reaon why we try to steer away from having heavy items on the YDC because of the high p&p. Not because it has to be given to the charity, but it does tend to put some bidders off as they themselves prefer not to end up paying - for example - £5 p&p for a charity auction item where the final bid is something like 99p. If that makes sense.

I hope that helps.

[tjsprinting]

I totally understand what you mean.


This last one is one reaon why we try to steer away from having heavy items on the YDC because of the high p&p. Not because it has to be given to the charity, but it does tend to put some bidders off as they themselves prefer not to end up paying - for example - £5 p&p for a charity auction item where the final bid is something like 99p. If that makes sense.

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But that can be the same in any auction, if the postage is reasonable for the item I would have thought the bidder would still bid.

[CarnoustieCats]

there are exceptions - the YDC without Borderdoors is like 'thingie' without 'whatsit' .. don't stop -

[tjsprinting]

I have a few little things in store for the next one and will be sending your drawers out now that TNT are back to somewhat normal.

[CarnoustieCats]

I have missed my drawers recently - however I have coped without them

- why not wait and see if I get something else - they could travel together.

[PoppyGrove]

But that can be the same in any auction, if the postage is reasonable for the item I would have thought the bidder would still bid.

Oh yes, I agree - at the end of the day - as long as both buyer & seller are happy with the prices just the same as the standard auctions. Its nice to have an assortment of items all fighting to get the attention of the bidders. If in the process of this there are a few heavy items - then thats fine. I myself will shy away from what could be termed as ridiculously high or overstated postage charges - irrelevant of if they are charity items or not - these are the ones we wish not to have on the YDC - and to be honest - so far, we've not had any.

Picking on your handworked cabinets - to be honest I'd happily pay the rate that you've quoted in previous YDC's - although to be honest, by looking at the cabinets, I think you're under quoting the p&p.

[pearlygirl555]

It sounds reasonable to limit the use of a single charity to one YDC per person each year; after all, we can list items in our stores that benefit our favorite charities any time we like Perhaps during the YDC when charity buying is at its zenith, people could post a signature link to their non-YDC charity auctions and gain some exposure that way --- and people who are inclined to support the same charity multiple times could buy something during the YDC timeframe, but not as part of the YDC? Or would that be perceived as detracting from the YDC?

[meebo1]

I shall just bring this to the top in case anyone else wants to add something

[PoppyGrove]

Well, haven't you all done well? There have been some interesting ideas tossed around - Did you all have 'Thinking Caps' from Santa - or has the christmas and new year break re-charged your batteries? Thank you everyone for your input and ideas. It has helped enourmously.

I have amended post 1 of this thread to reflect some of the ideas as they have been bantered around the thread. These will come into play for the YDC set to start January 29th

If you have any comments or thoughts then drop them here.

Food for thought - picking up on things that have been mentioned in the thread

As we have a maximum figure set in GBP - would it be useful to use a rounded up figure for USD and / or Euros? Our overseas friends would be better placed to answer this one.

Could we target a specific charity when they are having their biggest fundraising drive and do a themed YDC during that period? EG this month is the RNLI SOS fundraising drive - we could have promoted this YDC to aim specifically for that - The BCC Pink fundraiser, although it was run separately to the YDC - could we target a YDC for a similar purpose for other charities - or perhaps even the October 2010 YDC aimed at BCC Pink?

[bykimbo]

Could we target a specific charity when they are having their biggest fundraising drive and do a themed YDC during that period? EG this month is the RNLI SOS fundraising drive - we could have promoted this YDC to aim specifically for that - The BCC Pink fundraiser, although it was run separately to the YDC - could we target a YDC for a similar purpose for other charities - or perhaps even the October 2010 YDC aimed at BCC Pink?

The problem with that is it clashes with the basic idea that each month's winner chooses next month's cause. It was luck, and generous donating by Marie, that got the RNLI SOS and YDC to match this month. If Marie's item hadn't won her the choice, we could all be raising money for something quite different.