RagsReborn's first charity auction.

I had an absolute blast at my first Quarter Mania auction!! I will be participating in the next Quarter Mania (they happen quarterly & the show organizers are currently looking at available dates for the next one) and I highly encourage you to come. All proceeds benefit a different charity each time. 

Before I start, I want  to let you know that if you are looking for a home in Oklahoma, you should totally check out the city of Mustang. The houses are nice--aka new, large and in a quickly developing suburb, the people are beyond friendly and their community center is the nicest thing I have ever seen. 

       In the middle of town, there stands the Mustang Town Center. It is a ginormous complex that includes a library, fitness center, park, and multiple banquet halls. The auction was held in The Great Room (one of their larger banquet halls that had a kitchen). I've never been to Mustang, let alone the Town Center, so I parked on the entirely wrong side of the building. I must have looked bewildered because the first person I happened upon offered to help (she, unfortunately, didn't know where the auction was, either). I then wandered into the fitness center and the girl at the front desk gave me very detailed directions to The Great Room. She offered to walk me so I wouldn't get lost but her supervisor wasn't around to grant her permission and she couldn't leave her post. I found the room with no problem and checked in. The women running the auction were incredibly friendly and helpful. I dropped off my quarters & chose my table to set up my items for sale.

       Then came the task of hauling all my items in. As I was walking to my car, I saw two teenagers wearing shirts that announced they were "staff." I asked if they could help me carry in my trunk of pillows and they had no objection!! (I'm always stunned when I come across nice teenagers.) They were very polite and informed me that there was a much closer parking lot where I could move my car to unload the rest of my items. I parked right by the doors and managed the rest of the unloading on my own. Like I said before, Mustangians (or whatever they call themselves) are beyond friendly.

I set up right in front of the west window at sunset. Not smart.

Okay...back to the auction. This was my first Quarter Mania and didn't know what to expect. Luckily, I set up between two veterans. I was in between Brandy, who sold Pink Zebra and children's book author, Carly Cartmill. (Shout out to these lovely ladies!!) Doors opened at 5:30pm and patrons flooded in. All of our auction items were set up on a long table for viewing. Patrons could purchase paddles and quarters. There were so many in attendance that we ran out of paddles and the show organizers asked for people to sell their paddles back if they had bought multiples. There wasn't much time for shopping but vendors had tables along the walls just in case shoppers wandered by.

Pink Zebra to my right and Carly Cartmill to my left. She was promoting her latest book, Stuffed.

Patrons browsed & shopped, ate yummy Frito chili pie and mingled until about 7pm when the auction started. Here's how it worked:
1. The MC announced an item--which vendor the item is from, a brief description and how many quarters it cost to bid. Ex. OU themed tote and pillow gift set from RagsReborn. Two quarters to bid.
2. A volunteer (vendors were volunteers for the night) would grab the item and walk around showing it to all the tables.
3. Then the bidding would start. Each item cost either 1, 2 or 3 quarters per paddle to bid. If you wanted to be entered, you would drop your quarters into a little Tupperware that runners (that was my job) would pass out and collect. If an item cost 1 quarter and you bid 1 quarter, you got to raise one of your paddles, 2 quarters for two paddles, etc.
4. Once bidding ends and all the quarters are collected and all the paddles are raised in the air, the MC draws a number from the hopper.
5. If the number corresponds to the number written on your paddle, you win!

The OU basket was my highest grossing item.

It was simple & fun and everyone participated. It was crazy! I was on my feet all night running around everywhere collecting quarters and depositing them to the bank. What a riot! Everyone was in high spirits and items were flying off the table. After the first hour, we had a 10 minute intermission. I used that time to have a quick bite and make a few sales. I was able to network and meet some new friends.

Then the second half of the auction started and it was just as busy as the first. At the end of the night, I had a bag full of quarters and eight pillow sales! (That doesn't sound impressive but there was barely any time to for making sales, so I believe that was an accomplishment.) And more importantly, I passed out all of my Spring Craft Show schedule flyers & a lot of business cards. I talked to almost everyone in the room and gained some interest in custom orders. I even got invited to be a vendor at an event next weekend! I had to decline since I am participating in D.U.C.K Week.

I posted short videos of the auction on my Facebook and Instagram pages. I'm really glad I was a part of this and I am already signed up for the next one. I hope I see you there!