Here's the methodology we used:

If Value is less than or = $20 opening (Minimum) Bid is set at:

No minimum

Value is between $21 and $50 THEN $5.00

Value is between $51 and $150 THEN ¼ value rounded to nearest “0” or “5”

Value is greater than $151 THEN $50

If

Value is less than or = $50 THEN Bid increment is set at $2.00

Value is between $51 and $199 THEN $5.00

Value is greater than $200 THEN $10.00


Then there's always a few items where you override the "rules". For example, we had some watercolors donated that the donor/artist valued very high. If we had set the minimum according to our plan, we might not have gotten any bids on these unique paintings. On the other hand, we could give them back to the artist if no one bid the minimum. We compromised in the middle and had to return only one of 5 paintings.

[ 02-12-2003: Message edited by: Critter ]</p>

Now that we have all the wonderful items for our Silent Auction, how do we determine what the opening bid and increment bids should be?