WINING AN AUCTION

Have you ever come across a relatively attractive, framed painting or photograph,  that was offered as an auction item?

Recently, my wife spotted a rather nicely framed landscaped "print" resting on an easel inside a Giant Tiger store. The print was an item to raise money for Ducks Unlimited. If you wanted to purchase it you had to make an offer - a bid - over the starting bid of $200. If your submitted bid was the highest, you  would get the print.

Although the print was very colorful and pleasing to the eye, the frame was not good quality or what you would expect for the price of the opening bid, simply because it was plastic and looked very cheap. But my wife made a bid anyway, well ahead of the closing March 6 deadline.

Whenever I've gone to an auction and had the highest bid, I paid the agreed price, collected the item and that was that. I was under the impression this auction by Ducks Unlimited wold be the same - we would either collect the print from the store or, at Ducks Unlimited, paying at either place, the amount we owed. No so.

This afternoon we received a call from Ducks Unlimited indicating we were the highest bidder.  To get our framed print we would have to wait four to six weeks for it to be mounted and framed. Plus, we were told there would be a charge of nearly fifty dollars for this service, plus the cost of shipping. How would we like to pay?

Two things came to mind right away. 1) Why wasn't this outlined on the display, and 2) if we pre-paid nearly $400 what guarantee did we have that it would be the same as the framed print on display?

Now, I have nothing against Ducks Unlimited. I've supported them in the past, and appreciate the work they do about protecting the marshlands. My first impression at seeing the $200 starting bid was a laugh. A great way of raising money, but certainly not for the print on display, especially when most of the prints they offer on their website are only in the $20-30 range. Mounting and adding a  moderate wooden frame at Michael's would be half the price and take only three days to complete. 

I think Ducks Unlimited should rethink their print and poster auctions.

We withdrew our bid.