how to secure payment for a charity auction

House_Mouse

Hi everyone, I'd like to hold a sports memorabilia auction as part of a charity event. However, I'm not sure how I ensure someone pays for an item they've bid for. Are there any general rules/legalities? Unless someone turns up with chequebook with card, or cash, how should I ensure I'm able to get payment from them. I'm happy to allow 10 days for payment to be made. Has anyone used a legal form before that I could plagiarise from? It's also worth noting that I have no way of processing credit card payments. TIA for any help.

Savvy_Sue

Personally I wouldn't want to wait 10 days, although I suppose at our auctions we're not going into the £000s. We expect people to bring cheque books or fat wads of ready money.

We have a couple of people who write the lot no. on a piece of card, how much the successful bid was, and take it to the person who's 'won' while the auctioneer gets on with the next lot. Then at the end you bring your card to the payment table, write your cheque and collect your voucher (for some items) or the article itself. No payment, no 'prize'. It works for us, although when we auctioned pieces after a fashion show we had a few people who didn't come and claim their lots, maybe changed their minds?

House_Mouse

Good stuff. Thankyou Sue.