I agree with others that the Buy it Now option will most definitely hurt your Gala ticket sales. Plus, what if people buy those items, and then people who DO go to the event are disappointed that the one thing they wanted has already been sold? Items tend to sell better at auction events where there is some healthy competition fueled by good fun and a little booze.

I also agree that the ticket price is very high for the average family, unless you live in an extraordinarily high income town.

My guess is that you have already have an auction brochure, and it think it would be unfair to change the availability of items that will be at the event. I would also NOT pull anything to have a raffle at the school

BUT, here are some things that I think may help:

Put minimum bid values on your auction items that are reasonable, bit still a good deal. For example, a $150 Ipod start the bidding at $95... That gives you the chance to get decent money for things, and then, if there are things that aren't bid on at all, THEN take those remaining items and have a raffle at your school. You could also sell those remaining things on ebay.. I have actually seen schools that list things for fundraisers on ebay.. Sometimes saps like us will buy from a school findraiser instead of " the other guy" just because we want to support you.

I would NOT suggest lowering your ticket prices. That " SCREAMS" this event is failing, and no one wants to go to a " dud" event. BUT.. What you can do is advertise " table rates".. a table of 8 people for $300, or a table of 8 for the regular $400, plus x # of free raffle tickets.

OR.. you could offer " status levels" of donations ( platinum donor, gold donor, etc....) which might include best table location, special bar privileges, free raffle tickets.. first to view items, names in program, or perhaps the last 5 minutes of bidding, after tables have closed for everyone else.. you could offer lots of special gimmicks.. people LOVE the status stuff...

Is any of the ticket price deductible? That can make a huge difference.

A similar event is being held by our district with tickets of $40. I'm a big supporter, but I have a conflict and don't even know if I can go. $40 is a lot to shell out, especially if I might not attend.

But then I asked if any of it was considered deductible. They answered that the dinner actually costs $15 per head, so their finance people had said ticket purchasers could count $25 of the value of the ticket as a charitable contribution. (The group is a 501(c)(3).)

They had no idea this was important information! It makes all the difference if someone is iffy about buying it. For $40, I'm a little hesitant, but when my real "cost" is only $15 - not such a big deal. Even if I don't end up going, I still get the $25 deduction.

I just have one worry about the Buy Now option. Suppose folks do shell out $60 - $100 only to arrive for the gala and find out all the really good items have already been purchased. Buy It Now works great on Ebay but could be a disaster for your event.

I'm assuming, of course, that the price of admission includes much more than the opportunity to bid on auction items. Perhaps, based on the kind of evening you have planned, the ticket price isn't out of line.

Maybe you live in an area where everyone can afford such a nice evening out. In all the places I've lived, it would reach a small percent of the community and be seen as an exclusionary event. It all boils down, I suppose, to knowing your community and what will work. Good luck with the Gala and Silent Auction!

I agree we do an auction & spring carnival - the carnival and auction are free admittance (tix must be purchased for games, food, etc)

Your maybe not selling because its like being taxed twice -- you have to pay to be admitted to bid on items in an auction-- we'd be hard pressed to sell even 1 ticket and our community is pretty affluent

Even affluent communities want 'bang-4- their buck'

I like the raffle idea and the 'buy now' ideas -- however if you can 'buy now' and not come to the gala wont that discourage people from attending gala (why pay $60- 100) when I can skip the muss & fuss and just 'buy now' and still support the school/PTA/PTO???

Juijeka makes a good point...unless your school is in a high income area people will be hard pressed to buy a ticket for $60. Our tickets for our event are $30 and we are a middle class area. I am willing to bet that we could only sell half of what we sell if our tickets were $60. We also always open up our sales to the community. We have 350 seats to sell and we sell them to whomever wants them. We publicize everywhere we can.

I can only speak for my school but I know this would not go over well. Very few people, myself included, would be able to afford that kind of money. Since it is such a worthy cause - have you opened it up to the community? Small business owners may be interested - tax write-off. See if you can get the mayor to come or some other public figures. Send letters to the police department, fire department, local pre-schools that may have incoming Kdg.

Good luck!