AUCTION XXVII - April 1, 2007

It’s spring, and time for the annual migration of astronomical paraphernalia from one garage to another! On Sunday, April 1, 2007, an astronomical auction and swap meet will be conducted at Houge Park in San Jose, sponsored by the San Jose Astronomical Association. The SJAA Auction is a great opportunity for beginners to purchase their first telescope at a great price! Experienced observers often find equipment they need for their next observing project, from O–III filters to finders to star charts. All kinds of interesting items are found in the auction.

It’s an odd year, so Jay Freeman will be our auctioneer. Those who have observed his performance in previous auctions have learned to appreciate his skillful evaluation of classical astronomical items on the spot. Great entertainment for all!

Doors open at 11:30 am to register material for the auction. All material must be registered by 12:30 pm to allow sufficient time to enter the items into the computer and to allow bidders time to view the auction material. Over the years, we have discovered that the maximum number of items we can sell before the audience gets restless is about 100. Please limit yourself to about four items maximum for the auction. In order to reserve your spot in the auction, please pre–register your items so that people know what you are bringing as described below. The club reserves the right to accept only appropriate material for the auction.

The auction is a fundraiser for the SJAA. In the past, we charged a flat 10% commission with a $50 cap on any one item. It was brought to our attention that this might prevent your payment from being completely tax deductible and possibly could complicate things for the club. So, we have eliminated the mandatory commission and any payments to the club are now voluntary donations, thus are definitely tax deductible. Our Auction program has been updated so now, you can voluntarily donate any portion of your sales to the SJAA. You can also cap the maximum amount of the donation to any value you wish! For example, say you wish to sell an LX200 telescope. When you register the scope, you can set the donation value to 20% with a cap of $100. Say the scope sells for $1000, we would calculate your donation to be $100 since the cap was reached. Think of your donation as a tip. Remember, tip for good service! You can help even more by donating the item to the SJAA! Typically, 80% of the auction revenue is from such donations.The auction will begin at 1 pm, and will run as long as needed. Sellers may specify a minimum bid, which, if not met, will return the item back to the seller with no donation requested. After the auction, buyers and sellers settle up using one check to (or from) SJAA and claim their items. We do not handle charge cards. There is no fee for bidder cards, nor for entrance to the hall.

After the auction, material for the swap meet will be allowed into the hall, about 3 pm. The swap also allows people some additional haggling time for those items that were too optimistically priced by the seller in the auction, or to sell those odds and ends items which were better off being in a swap, or turned away due to the 100 item auction limit. Sellers are encouraged to bring items that would interest the astronomical audience such as astronomical, science, computer, or tech items. Joe Sunseri of Earth and Sky Adventure Products is expected, with many fine new and used items, including eyepieces, finders, and binoculars. At the swap, each buyer pays the seller. Sellers are to keep track of their sales, and a donation (10% is requested), as for the auction. There are no table fees. All donations to the auction and the swap are tax–deductible, as SJAA is a 501(c)(3) educational organization.

The SJAA offers free advertising if you pre–register your items for the auction. Please email the auction team at auction@sjaa.net with a description of the item and a picture if possible. All items submitted by 6 pm on Friday, March 30th will be added to the auction website. This allows the bidders to find out how much that APO scope is really worth, so you will be more likely to sell it.

Part of running a successful auction is to make sure that there are people who are new to astronomy in attendance. We can use your help to make this so! Go to the auction website linked off the main page, download, and print a auction poster to display. Post them at the bulletin boards at work, at church, at your local library, or where you think people might be interested. Hand it out to a friend who has expressed interest in getting a telescope. You get the idea! Thanks for your assistance!

For more about SJAA, visit our web site , or email to the above address. See you there!