Absentee Proxy Bidding Rules
1. Absentee bidding is available only for those people who are not attending the event. If you are attending the event, do not send in a bid. You will place your bid in person during the auction.
2. How to send an absentee bid:
a. Absentee bids must be received by Friday, September 30, 2011 at noon eastern.
b. All absentee bids must be sent via email to metroproxy2011@yahoo.com.
c. Click the "BID" button below the item to open a direct email. Use this link supplied for each item so that the subject line of the email shows the name of the item you are bidding on.
d. The minimum bid on all items is $100, unless otherwise indicated.
e. In the text of your email, include your full name, daytime & evening phone numbers and maximum bid for that item.
f. If you wish to change your bid for an item, you may do so until noon on Friday 9/30. We will take the last amount that you send.
3. Absentee bids should be made in full dollar amounts in increments of $50. If your bid is not an even increment of $50, it will be rounded down (e.g., if your bid is $375, we will bid up to $350 for you in the live auction). Live bids placed at the auction itself may take precedence over absentee bids. If multiple absentee bids are received in the same amount, the earliest bid will take precedence. If items are put into a blind auction (see below), your bid will be entered in the amount that you send us, regardless of increment (e.g. a bid of $375 is put in as $375).
4. If you wish to bid on several items, send an individual bid email for each one with the title of the item in the subject line (please use BID button under pictures). If you win multiple items, you will be responsible for payment of all.
5. We will not notify you if you have been outbid by another proxy.
6. If you have the highest bid received by Friday afternoon, we will contact you either by phone or email. If we are unable to contact you within a few hours, we will go to the next highest bidder. You will need to give us your credit card number, billing information, and CSV code (the 3 or 4 digits usually on the back of your credit card). We will not store this information, but we will need to give it to AUTISM SPEAKS in order to process the credit card payment. You will receive a receipt from AUTISM SPEAKS for your donation.
We will notify you by email or phone on Sunday night or Monday that you have won and let you know the shipping cost. You will be responsible for paying MetroDolls for shipping costs on any items won. MetroDolls will need a check, money order or PayPal to cover the shipping costs. We cannot charge your credit card for them.
7. Auctions will be conducted in one of two manners (live auction or blind auction), depending on time constraints. Most items will be sold by live auction.
a. If your bid is for an item in a live auction, it will be used as a proxy bid against other bidders. MetroDolls will bid on your behalf up to your maximum amount, in increments above other bidders. For example, if you bid a maximum of $500 for an item and the next highest bidder at the live auction bids $300, you will pay either $350 or $400 (whatever increment the auctioneer decides on).
b. In a blind auction, all bids are entered secretly on a piece of paper and others do not know what bids there are. At the end of the auction, all bids are reviewed and the highest bid wins. It does not matter what the amount of any other bid is. For example, if you bid $500 and that is the highest bid, you will pay $500.
c. At this time, we have not decided which (if any) items will be sold by blind auction. It will depend on the total number of items that we receive and the amount of time we have.
Note to winning bidders: If you have a winning bid and AUTISM SPEAKS is unable to charge your credit card, MetroDolls will handle the situation at our discretion.
If you have questions about bidding procedures,
please email us at metroproxy2011@yahoo.com.
