F.A.Q.
F.A.Q.
How does this thing work? When you click over to the gulf_aid_now journal homepage, you'll see several themed posts whose subject lines start with "Auction #2". If you are auctioning something, reply to the appropriate post with a comment using the nice, handy little template in the post itself. If you want to auction more than one thing, that's fantastic! Just create a new comment for every new item/service so everyone is clear what they're bidding on.
If you are bidding on something, reply to the auction comment with your bid amount. If someone has already bid on the auction, reply to the person who has bid, as you would if you were having a conversation via comments. Remember that as in a traditional auction, you must bid more than the person before you. Please try not to make a bid that you must retract. If for some reason you absolutely must retract a bid, contact the seller first, if possible. Then delete your comment. Please try not to do this. It's really the court of last resort.
Where does the money go? 100% of your donation goes directly to the charity of your (or the seller's) choice. The maintainers never touch it (or see it). Once you've been notified that you've won, simply go to the charity's homepage and find the donation page (some of the provided charity links go directly to Gulf-specific donation pages). Donate, make a screencap of your donation confirmation or thank-you page, and upload it to an image-hosting site (e.g. Tinypic or Photobucket). Send the link to your seller so they can confirm your donation, and receive the item or service you bid on. It's that simple.
Can I offer something that's not fandom-related? Absolutely. If you make jewelry, paint original art, would like to offer a private YouTube tutorial on how to draw a comic, etc., your offerings are welcome here. The only requirement (outside of the obvious "it can't be illegal") is that it can't be a retail resell--meaning that unless you're, for example, a recording artist who wants to offer a signed copy of your album or an author willing to provide a special edition of one of your books, you cannot sell anything you would readily find in a chain store like Walmart, Sears, Target, K-Mart, etc. This isn't to discourage people from submitting--it's just to cover legal bases. If you want to use a purchased item as a base for your item/service that's fine, it just can't be identical (or nearly so) to how it looked when you got it at the store.
I want to offer more than one thing. Can I? Absolutely! All we ask is that you make a separate post for each lot--it makes things easier for you and easier for your bidders. If you're offering multiple items as a single lot (for example, "three glass-bead necklaces," all of which go to the same person) or an either-or auction (for example, "the winning bidder gets either five icons, or a banner"), those will go in a single post, because it's one lot.
Just remember: Assume that all your auctions will be bid on, and offer within your abilities (I know someone who could probably offer 100 drabbles, sell them all, and finish them by the deadline, but she's very much so an exception to the rule). The last thing we want to do is drain anybody or leave items unfilled, if at all possible.
What about age-restricted items, like adult art and alcoholic beverages? You may offer these as long as they're not illegal, but you must get confirmation from your winning bidder that they are of age to purchase that item in their home state or province, and that the item is not illegal for them to purchase (e.g., you may not send absinthe to Canada, because importing it is against Canadian federal law). Bidders, in regard to the latter provision: you may wish to check questionable items (especially those containing food or liquor, due to fun things like Customs laws) before you bid.
How do I know my bidder has donated? See "Where does the money go?" above. In a nutshell, the bidder will send, to the contact you provide, either a screencap of the donation confirmation page, a confirmation number, or something similar. When we get a little closer to the auction end, there will be information on how to block out sensitive information like credit card numbers, last names, home addresses, etc. for those who don't want that information floating around.
Do I have to use a screencap to confirm my donation? No, as long as whatever you confirm with is identifiable as being from the charity you donated to. In other words, if they send e-mails with a digital letterhead, forwarding it is fine. If they send out paper thank-you letters, scanning it and showing the scan is totally cool. All that's necessary is that it's some kind of official something.
When does the auction end? The current auction, Auctin #2, will end on 5 July. Nina will get back with an exact ending time after she sees her work schedule, but rest assured: she's on PDT (Pacific Daylight/US West Coast time), so if you're across the pond it may actually be early on the 6th and if you live in the US, odds are good it may be very late in the evening.
If you have any questions this page does not answer, please feel free to ask them and they will be answered as soon as possible.
How does this thing work? When you click over to the gulf_aid_now journal homepage, you'll see several themed posts whose subject lines start with "Auction #2". If you are auctioning something, reply to the appropriate post with a comment using the nice, handy little template in the post itself. If you want to auction more than one thing, that's fantastic! Just create a new comment for every new item/service so everyone is clear what they're bidding on.
If you are bidding on something, reply to the auction comment with your bid amount. If someone has already bid on the auction, reply to the person who has bid, as you would if you were having a conversation via comments. Remember that as in a traditional auction, you must bid more than the person before you. Please try not to make a bid that you must retract. If for some reason you absolutely must retract a bid, contact the seller first, if possible. Then delete your comment. Please try not to do this. It's really the court of last resort.
Where does the money go? 100% of your donation goes directly to the charity of your (or the seller's) choice. The maintainers never touch it (or see it). Once you've been notified that you've won, simply go to the charity's homepage and find the donation page (some of the provided charity links go directly to Gulf-specific donation pages). Donate, make a screencap of your donation confirmation or thank-you page, and upload it to an image-hosting site (e.g. Tinypic or Photobucket). Send the link to your seller so they can confirm your donation, and receive the item or service you bid on. It's that simple.
Can I offer something that's not fandom-related? Absolutely. If you make jewelry, paint original art, would like to offer a private YouTube tutorial on how to draw a comic, etc., your offerings are welcome here. The only requirement (outside of the obvious "it can't be illegal") is that it can't be a retail resell--meaning that unless you're, for example, a recording artist who wants to offer a signed copy of your album or an author willing to provide a special edition of one of your books, you cannot sell anything you would readily find in a chain store like Walmart, Sears, Target, K-Mart, etc. This isn't to discourage people from submitting--it's just to cover legal bases. If you want to use a purchased item as a base for your item/service that's fine, it just can't be identical (or nearly so) to how it looked when you got it at the store.
I want to offer more than one thing. Can I? Absolutely! All we ask is that you make a separate post for each lot--it makes things easier for you and easier for your bidders. If you're offering multiple items as a single lot (for example, "three glass-bead necklaces," all of which go to the same person) or an either-or auction (for example, "the winning bidder gets either five icons, or a banner"), those will go in a single post, because it's one lot.
Just remember: Assume that all your auctions will be bid on, and offer within your abilities (I know someone who could probably offer 100 drabbles, sell them all, and finish them by the deadline, but she's very much so an exception to the rule). The last thing we want to do is drain anybody or leave items unfilled, if at all possible.
What about age-restricted items, like adult art and alcoholic beverages? You may offer these as long as they're not illegal, but you must get confirmation from your winning bidder that they are of age to purchase that item in their home state or province, and that the item is not illegal for them to purchase (e.g., you may not send absinthe to Canada, because importing it is against Canadian federal law). Bidders, in regard to the latter provision: you may wish to check questionable items (especially those containing food or liquor, due to fun things like Customs laws) before you bid.
How do I know my bidder has donated? See "Where does the money go?" above. In a nutshell, the bidder will send, to the contact you provide, either a screencap of the donation confirmation page, a confirmation number, or something similar. When we get a little closer to the auction end, there will be information on how to block out sensitive information like credit card numbers, last names, home addresses, etc. for those who don't want that information floating around.
Do I have to use a screencap to confirm my donation? No, as long as whatever you confirm with is identifiable as being from the charity you donated to. In other words, if they send e-mails with a digital letterhead, forwarding it is fine. If they send out paper thank-you letters, scanning it and showing the scan is totally cool. All that's necessary is that it's some kind of official something.
When does the auction end? The current auction, Auctin #2, will end on 5 July. Nina will get back with an exact ending time after she sees her work schedule, but rest assured: she's on PDT (Pacific Daylight/US West Coast time), so if you're across the pond it may actually be early on the 6th and if you live in the US, odds are good it may be very late in the evening.
If you have any questions this page does not answer, please feel free to ask them and they will be answered as soon as possible.