Silent Auction Donation Decision-Making

I have once again been asked to donate a piece to another fundraiser, a woman's night out in May. The set featured is what I did for them last year. When deciding on what "spring" colours to focus on, I went for general appeal rather than something like green, which was a hot colour trend for 2013. I thought of doing all black or all white but then I decided to include both in this set, which is made up of Czech glass "large" seed beads, white quartz and lacy silver plated spheres. As I worked through compiling the piece, the trends of white lace, black and white stripes and the continuation of the statement necklace were in my mind. But that was 2013. I added the drop earrings, although personally I tend not to wear earrings that are that matchy matchy. My personal style would put a black hoop or a silver drop with the necklace rather than the perfect match that I made.

So now I have once again promised to donate a piece or set. Interestingly the rose quartz Y necklacefor Isabel (Monday, March 24, 2014 post) sold higher in February of this year than the black and white set did (a more costly project for the maker). So my thoughts are to go simpler. What are my options? Fuschia? That's what Panetone is proposing this spring. Yikes! I do want it to sell. 

Funny with silent auctions. In some audiences, items go higher in the spirit of the fundraising efforts and in others, the audience is out for a deal. I've heard bidders at some auctions trying to outsmart the system by promising not to outbid each other. So much for the cause. Anyway, I'm still contemplating . . .