Charity auction: pricing and mounting questions

aquaticvideographer

So I'm donating a few pictures to my work's charity silent auction and I have some questions I'm hoping y'all can help me with. This is kind of a n00b post, as I'm strictly amateur and have never sold or donated a photo in my life.

First of all, I'm planning on printing the photos with the new metallic paper. (I ordered a few prints on it and they absolutely look amazing!) However, I read here that some kinds of glass, like non-reflective, can flatten or dull the effect of the metallic paper. So, does anyone have any suggestions for what kind of glass to use when framing the photos and best show off the special qualities of the metallic paper? Or, is it better to go with something like the lustre paper and just do normal non-reflective glass? If at all possible I'd like to stick with the metallic and get the special look it has, but if it's just going to end up looking kind of flat under glass, then I'll save myself the money and pain and just get lustre.

Secondly, I'm lucky to have a good friend who is a framer--she is collaborating with me on this. She does a great job and will be charging me wholesale materials cost (probably <$15 per frame) for the whole job, with no labor charge. Combined with the cost of printing, I'm figuring that the total materials cost for the two prints will be somewhere around $40-$50.

So my other question is, what should I put down as a minimum bid for the two works? I was thinking maybe around $50-$60 per print (they will be offered separately), and hoping that the works would get bid up. Most of the people I work with make decent but modest salaries, so I'm unsure how to set a minimum bid. On the one hand, I'm not making any "profit" off of the prints, so setting it low may make it more accessible to my co-workers. On the other hand, I would obviously like the works to earn as much money as possible for the charity.

Any suggestions/advice/feedback?

Thanks in advance.

johno

Not sure if this will help or not... but here we go.

I donated several shots to be auctioned recently at a youth event. Parents and students attended. The money was for several programs I work with in Africa.

I printed on metallic paper also, however I created a false matte in Photoshop and made it look like a gallery print. I mounted it on black foam board and that was it. OK, two of the pictures I threw into cheap frames I bought at the craft store.

I didn't have a friend to help me out and the whole project cost around $400 For about 25 prints.

18 were 11x14, an the rest were 16x24... i think I had one extra 24x36 that I threw in.

The photos raised over $3000. Not a bad return. People were buying into the charity not really the photo. Although some did go for a lot more than others.

The lowest priced pic was an 11x14 that sold for $30. The highest 11x14 went for $200. The 24x36 sold for $350.

I would start your bid no less than $100. If they take Visa, I'd start higher.

What are the photos of? How big are the prints including matte and frame? How much did it cost you to take the picture in the first place? Did you have to travel, take a day off from work?

You don't want to have spent $50 bucks on gas to get to the location, hiked all day to find the right angle and wait for the right light. Take 3 personal hours of post work, etc...

Starting at $100 might be to low.

Just my ramblings.

peace.
johno~

aquaticvideographer

johno wrote:

Not sure if this will help or not... but here we go.

I donated several shots to be auctioned recently at a youth event. Parents and students attended. The money was for several programs I work with in Africa.

I printed on metallic paper also, however I created a false matte in Photoshop and made it look like a gallery print. I mounted it on black foam board and that was it. OK, two of the pictures I threw into cheap frames I bought at the craft store.

I didn't have a friend to help me out and the whole project cost around $400 For about 25 prints.

18 were 11x14, an the rest were 16x24... i think I had one extra 24x36 that I threw in.

The photos raised over $3000. Not a bad return. People were buying into the charity not really the photo. Although some did go for a lot more than others.

The lowest priced pic was an 11x14 that sold for $30. The highest 11x14 went for $200. The 24x36 sold for $350.

I would start your bid no less than $100. If they take Visa, I'd start higher.

What are the photos of? How big are the prints including matte and frame? How much did it cost you to take the picture in the first place? Did you have to travel, take a day off from work?

You don't want to have spent $50 bucks on gas to get to the location, hiked all day to find the right angle and wait for the right light. Take 3 personal hours of post work, etc...

Starting at $100 might be to low.

Just my ramblings.

peace.
johno~

Thanks, johno. Very helpful food for thought. I'm concerned about starting the bidding at $100 as that could price people out, but your point about people buying into the charity and not necessarily my outstanding art is well taken.

Mitchell

I've done this too.

The bottom line is that this is for charity. You need to let go of any personal bias of what your work is worth. Remember, you donated the photos. The goal here is to raise any money possible for the charity.

Suggest they start the bidding at $50 and let it go from there. Once people start bidding, the prices will go wherever people want to take them.