⭐️ Bid for glory with the Metafilter Fundraising Auction! ⭐️

November 6, 2022 10:36 PM

The Metafilter Auction is now live! Head over to https://www.myminiauction.com/metafilter and place your bids. It’s part of Metafilter’s Fundraising Drive - to contribute directly, visit Help Fund Metafilter! Take a look at the listings and comment below to tell us which ones you love!

The Steering Committee, tavegyl, JHarris and I are delighted to announce that the first Metafilter Auction is now live!

https://www.myminiauction.com/metafilter

Take a look at the amazing offerings from the community. There’s unique art and photography, professional services that you or your organization might use, books, commissioned art and poetry, wearables, music, tech and much more.

After the auction ends, the Steering Committee will contact the winners to arrange payment via the Help Fund Metafilter page and connect them to the donors.

Please, please, publicize it! Please post it on your socials, tell your friends and colleagues, and if there are items you know others would enjoy, send them a link. The auction will only be a success if it spreads beyond Metafilter, so here is a script:

Hey {friends/fam/comrades}! MetaFilter, an online community that I {really dig/adore/care about/visit daily}, is holding an auction and I saw this [amazing item] that I think you’d love! If you’re interested, place a bid. If you win you’ll not only get this amazing [item/service], you’ll have the satisfaction of keeping one of the oldest and most vibrant online communities going! Visit https://www.myminiauction.com/metafilter

Thank you to everyone who’s donated items for the auction! k8lin, It’s Raining Florence Henderson, DaveP, The Last Sockpuppet, evilmomlady, JHarris, mochapickle, RobinofFrocksley, mersen, Winnie the Proust, mph, glaucon, Devils Rancher, aielen, chiefthe, brainwane, brilliantine, fruitslinger, dobbs, cortex, probably not that Karen Blair, MollyRealized, NotLost, Rhaomi, adrianhon and many more!

And finally, please carefully read the listings and ask questions if you have them. Some items include shipping within the US, a few include international shipping, and some listings are for multiples as noted. Thank you!

posted by Glinn to MetaFilter-Related at 10:36 PM (69 comments total)

The link seems to be broken?
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:08 AM on November 7, 2022

I'm seeing it, even in incognito mode (iow, not because I have mod access or something) ... I wonder if an ad or script blocker might be the problem?
posted by taz (staff) at 12:25 AM on November 7, 2022

It's working for me on a couple of different browsers and with adblocks running for what it's worth - maybe try refreshing?
posted by tavegyl at 12:26 AM on November 7, 2022

insomnia is my friend. I am seeing it. It is delightfully web 1.0
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 12:36 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

Won't load for me, but will try on another device.
posted by paduasoy at 12:43 AM on November 7, 2022

Yes, it loads on my work laptop but not my tablet (which may be an adblocker issue). Hopefully it is SFW.
posted by paduasoy at 12:53 AM on November 7, 2022

In case anyone else is worried - all SFW. And thanks to everyone involved in this.
posted by paduasoy at 1:00 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Really excited about the auction, we've got such fantastic items here, at every price point. Here are a few wearables I liked:

Starting price: $5: the hamster earrings by brilliantine are adorable.

Starting price: $7 (though it's already gone above this while I was writing this comment!) a toasty warm knitted cap, made to order by k8tlin. I love the colour of the one in the photo, but I see they'll knit one in any colour.

Starting price: $30: a gorgeous kinetic brooch by Eve Kaplin. It's a vintage piece from the 1980s, in the Memphis style, so it's full of colour. Playfui, abstract and I think it's really stylish.
posted by tavegyl at 1:19 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

extraordinary stuff up on this auction, really worth checking out ppl! amazing.
posted by lazaruslong at 1:25 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

I just placed a bid on cortex's snazzy stained glass MeFi favicon, though I know it'll go plenty higher!
posted by adrianhon at 2:28 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

Will you have a 2nd round (or rolling addition of items) in case other people want to donate stuff?
posted by lalochezia at 5:06 AM on November 7, 2022 [7 favorites]

Also : I think museums and serious art collectors should bid on that stained glass. I'm only half joking. If Mefites know that kind of folk, contact them. It's an early 21st century cultural artifact.
posted by lalochezia at 5:08 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Yes, a second round would be great! I completely missed the announcement and I do believe I have something to donate.
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:17 AM on November 7, 2022 [5 favorites]

Wow some of you are so talented! And some of you have way better stuff to clear out of your storage than I do.

Placed a couple of bids, and set an alarm to check back in at the end of the auction to see if I can still afford anything.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:22 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

I see someone's bid on the auction for vinyl records at my store. Thanks!

Note that initially the listing said there was a second listing. That listing has been added here.

(I know the two are linked together, but just in case people bid before the second listing was made, I wanted to point it out.)

Thanks, SC!
posted by dobbs at 5:23 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Thirding on the second round, or maybe making this a semi-annual thing? There is a lot of cool stuff in there, plus I am sure under_petticoat_rule and I have some good stuff or services to auction off.
posted by rednikki at 5:50 AM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

I would love to make some things for another auction like this one, but it takes a bit of time.
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:55 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Damn it, I missed when this was being organized. If there's another round, please let me know. I have a knitting problem, specifically a stranded-colorwork-mitten-knitting problem, and I am always looking for people to unload my mittens on. Erm, that is, I would be happy to auction off a pair of stranded colorwork mittens, which could be made to the winner's specifications if they're willing to wait a month or two. (Or I have a couple of completed pairs that I could send out now, because as I said, I have a problem.)
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:58 AM on November 7, 2022 [10 favorites]

Will you have a 2nd round (or rolling addition of items) in case other people want to donate stuff?

I hadn't thought about it, but if there's interest, a second round makes a lot of sense! But it's a lot of work behind the scenes - it took three of us (Glinn, myself and JHarris) working flat-out to get this set up, and we still managed to put it out late. So we'll have to discuss what's feasible for us to manage.

We still have a couple of lingering items coming in, so if you have something that's ready to go right now, send us its description, a photo, and your estimate of the value,* to [e-mail]. If we get it by the end of today, there's time to add it in for this round.

In any case, it feels like a keeper for Fundraising Month every year. Maybe next time we'll have the spare funds to invest in a less laughably retro website too, and put out a proper call for items well in advance.

(tavegyl from the Steering Committee)

Edited to add: please also tell us if you'll cover shipping costs, and if so, to where.
posted by tavegyl at 6:06 AM on November 7, 2022 [7 favorites]

You should post this on the blue and green as well. A lot of people aren't reading meta talk. I was hanging out with a friend, who I met through Mefi, and she said that just reading the other sites she had no idea how bad the financial situation was. I bet there are plenty of people who would like cool things who do not make it over here.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 6:09 AM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

it took three of us (Glinn, myself and JHarris)

I'd like to thank tavegyl in particular who really did the bulk of the work for this event (including this post). I will be happy to help with a second round and I think it's a great idea.
posted by Glinn at 6:26 AM on November 7, 2022 [7 favorites]

This is just another request that if we ever do this again I'd love to contribute some items. I got in to carving in the pandemic and would absolutely throw some spoons and/or pipes or maybe a salt cellar in to the mix!
posted by saladin at 7:04 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Another potential auction item donor here - sorry I missed the first notice about it!
posted by Sweetie Darling at 7:35 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

nthing a request for a second round, I would have a few kiln-fired glass jewelry pieces to donate!
posted by rachaelfaith at 8:03 AM on November 7, 2022 [5 favorites]

I may have missed it, but is it possible to see whether the bids for a particular item have hit the reserve price yet? Especially asking so people can bid more effectively on my scifi/fantasy posts.
posted by brainwane at 8:14 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

I could be wrong but assumed the starting price was the reserve.
posted by dobbs at 8:16 AM on November 7, 2022

brainwane, I'll add it into the text. It's not possible to set an actual reserve price.
posted by tavegyl at 8:17 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Really nice work on the auction, tavegyl, Glinn, and JHarris!
posted by mochapickle at 9:25 AM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

Huge thanks to the auction committee for putting up with my late self! Really appreciate all the patience and help.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:44 AM on November 7, 2022

This is great, nice job putting it all together! I was glad to contribute and have chucked out a few bids of my own.
posted by cortex (retired) at 10:00 AM on November 7, 2022 [6 favorites]

I love a good auction, and will be excited to bid once I have a chance to look at these. Thanks for doing this!
posted by mostly vowels at 10:02 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

I sent in an auction item listing just now. I hope you'll be able to use it for this round. If not, next time!
posted by Liesl at 10:29 AM on November 7, 2022

Liesl, it's now up!
posted by tavegyl at 11:55 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Would love to see periodic auctions -- twice a year?

But at least once a year, in the autumn: our own ChristmasMetaFilterMarket.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:11 PM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Did Cortex’s stained glass favicon already get taken? I was going to bid it up! Oh well…
posted by adrianhon at 12:17 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'm afraid so - someone has offered the Buy It Now price.
posted by tavegyl at 12:21 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Congrats to them! Can I suggest reconsidering this for future auctions? If the goal is to maximise donations I’m not sure that offering Buy It Now necessarily helps (unless at some extremely high price), especially since the auction is so short.
posted by adrianhon at 12:34 PM on November 7, 2022 [20 favorites]

Yes, you are right - some poor planning on my part, born of worry that there would not be enough bids in the auction generally. I hadn't expected it to go within hours of the auction opening - but it was certainly a lovely piece.
posted by tavegyl at 12:42 PM on November 7, 2022 [8 favorites]

No worries, it’s the first auction - looking forward to the next (and I want to contribute something for that one too!)
posted by adrianhon at 12:47 PM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

Since I did not get to see the stain glass item, is there any way to see a picture of it? But mainly I just wanted to say thank you to all of the generous donors and to all of the bidders. I am sorry that MetaFilter finds itself in such dire straits. Still, I am enjoying the strong sense of community created by the hard work of so many people who love this place.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:08 PM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

Oh gosh, I’m delighted it moved so fast and that thats some gauranteed money in place for the site! But agreed probably better to let the bidding go on stuff where it does in the future. Too high of reserves is gonna be a more likely problem than anything else.

I don’t have another MF pane but I’d be happy to take a look at my pieces and see if there’s something else on hand that’d feel like a good fit to put up.
posted by cortex (retired) at 1:49 PM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

Here’s the piece in the thread where I tweeted about making it at the time.
posted by cortex (retired) at 1:55 PM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

Oh wow this is neat! And yes, if there's another round, I'll donate coaching sessions.
posted by iamkimiam at 2:29 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is just to say...

I have finished
the plums
that are in
the auction

and while
you were probably
hoping
for free thread

forgive me
it was thematic
so nostalgic
and so fun

(The title & plums are purple IRL! Now I am looking forward to the commission version. Thanks to JHarris and tavegyl and Glinn for putting all this together!)
posted by mersen at 3:35 PM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

I just set up my monthly contribution! And, if there is another round of auctioning I would love to contribute.
posted by tafetta, darling! at 3:39 PM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

You should post this on the blue and green as well. A lot of people aren't reading meta talk.

Agreed. There are people who don't look here. I was surprised this was where this appeared if it had to be only one post.

Ideally, I'd think this would be the post for noting the thing was up and gathering feedback about execution/ideas for next time, etc. (the meta part) and the post on the blue would be for talking about the things in the auction itself.

Also, it's great to see all the contributions, and I know just by seeing one part of it through a tiny crack in the fence that it took a lot of wrangling and coordinating from SC folks, so thanks to them.
posted by mph at 4:24 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

I just want to say how awesome it is to see some services on here. I love love love LOOOOOVEEEE the idea of bidding on services. I just bid on the editing services since I could really use some editing for a writing project I have in the final stages. If there were website editing/redesign services, I'd probably bid on those as well.

Another thought for future auctions - does this have an auto-bid function? It'd be cool if so, and might drive up some bidding wars ;)
posted by mostly vowels at 4:25 PM on November 7, 2022

Wow there's some really great items for auction...

If I can suggest something - the auction should attract people outside of just metafilter users - because the items are actually nice! We (metafilter users) will want to advertise this on the other social media sites we're on.

From experience, to advertise on another social media site like tumblr, twitter, instagram, reddit,etc, what you want is a a nice-looking graphic that includes all the basic info about the event - what is it, the dates, the URL, etc. Something mefites can drop into their feeds and that will catch people's eyeballs.
posted by subdee at 4:32 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'm totally swamped this week until Thursday or I'd make a graphic for you guys! If anyone else reading this thinks it's a good idea and has design skills, think about it...

There's also canva.com and other sites like that where you can make something easily using templates.
posted by subdee at 4:34 PM on November 7, 2022

I regularly read Metatalk and also missed the auction set-up--there were so many financial posts I didn't read all of them closely. So seconding another round if possible!
posted by brook horse at 4:39 PM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

does this have an auto-bid function?

Unfortunately no. No reserve pricing, no auto-bids, and it's also a bit tricky to post multiples of an item though tavegyl worked around these obstacles very thoughtfully. (As long as people read through the descriptions!)

This site has a super reasonable one-time cost, where most sites take a percentage and of course the goal was to fundraise as much as possible. And if you bid you probably noticed you didn't have to sign up or make an account at the site. Another excellent feature is that winners will make payments directly to Metafilter rather than the auction site.

Finally, many online bidding sites are specifically for charities or non-profits. So, maybe next time a different site - but maybe not! I think it's safe to say this one is working out quite excellent(ly) for a first time out. (We were worried!)

It's nice to see all the suggestions (and enthusiasm) for next time.
posted by Glinn at 4:43 PM on November 7, 2022 [8 favorites]

My only complaint is that it's hella-bad on a phone. Most of my customers browse on their phones and holy-hell is that that print tiny.
posted by dobbs at 4:49 PM on November 7, 2022

Oh, that sucks about the phone, sorry to hear that.
posted by Glinn at 4:51 PM on November 7, 2022

Thanks for all your work on this! I was travelling and totally missed the callout for items, but I've just sent a book bundle description to the steering committee email.

I think it's a great idea to share it on other social media, and I'll do that, too!
posted by mcbaya at 5:03 PM on November 7, 2022

"This is a very Metafilter collection of items." --my partner who is not on Metafilter but who receives my running Metafilter commentary
posted by brook horse at 7:36 PM on November 7, 2022 [8 favorites]

"This is a very Metafilter collection of items."

What we don't have here is anything related to sports.
posted by NotLost at 7:41 PM on November 7, 2022 [6 favorites]

Thanks for the last minute submissions that came in. I've added a few last-minute listings, but this round of the auction is now full. We're discussing what's possible regarding a second round - it depends on SC and volunteer capacity. We'll put out a call for donations as prominently as we can manage if there is a second round.
posted by tavegyl at 1:33 AM on November 8, 2022 [5 favorites]

Yes, I was too intimidated to volunteer things this time around, but I feel a little more comfortable now that I'm seeing what's on offer. I think I can contribute some services.
posted by Shepherd at 3:24 AM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]

If there is another auction whenever in the future, maybe it we brainstorm possible donation items ahead of time, we would get even more. I thought of my own item a little late, and thought of more possibilities after the it was too late.

(None of which is to complain whatsoever. Great job!)

Thanks to tavegyl, JHarris and Glinn; the donors; and the bidders and buyers!
posted by NotLost at 6:16 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

Thank you to Glinn, tavegyl, and JHarris for getting this turned around so quickly. Maybe this is something we can do twice a year in the future.
posted by kimberussell at 6:23 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

NotLost: If there is another auction whenever in the future, maybe it we brainstorm possible donation items ahead of time, we would get even more.

Yes, definitely. We did actually announce it our fundraising post, but we announced a bunch of other things as well to avoid taking over MeTa, so I'm not surprised a lot of people didn't see it. With the haste around the Fundraising Drive there wasn't much time for pre-planning or staggering out announcements. But if it becomes a regular event, then there will be more time to plan.

Out of curiosity, what would be a good timeline to announce an auction so people can start getting their things ready? Three months in advance, then again one month in advance? More announcements? (Leaving out the actual visibility of making announcements as MeTa posts - hopefully that is something that can be improved over time.)
posted by tavegyl at 6:53 AM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]

My gut feeling is a month lead time on announcing is about right: plenty of time for folks to sort stuff out or get things made, not so long that you end up with agonizing waits or the "well three months ago I thought this would be work but that was three months ago..." situations. Especially if this becomes a twice a year sort of thing: folks who need more than a month lead time can start getting something ready for the next auction, etc.
posted by cortex (retired) at 7:37 AM on November 8, 2022 [7 favorites]

The included script above was a really helpful starting point to share. If anyone else is looking for ideas, here's what I just posted to FB and Insta:

(Online community fundraiser!) The social site I visit most often isn’t Facebook or Twitter — it’s Metafilter.com, one of oldest (and best!) online communities around.

As social networks are being run into the ground by narcissistic billionaires, Metafilter remains a cozy and inclusive community with excellent moderation and thoughtful contributors. It’s a great source of news, a forum to discuss movies and pop culture, and a supportive place to ask and answer questions about a huge range of topics.

Of course, it costs money to moderate and maintain a site that isn’t based on selling your private data or exploiting users with addictive dark patterns.

That’s why I donated a special signed bundle of books (and a chat with me) to the Metafilter fundraising auction, which runs til the end of this week. There is a delightful and eclectic mix of items available! Link in bio.
posted by mcbaya at 7:54 AM on November 8, 2022 [7 favorites]

I'm really enjoying some of the nominative determinism in the bids right now, particularly the record store credit bid from OOT Record Guy, and the guitar pedal bid from daisystomper.
posted by terretu at 10:56 AM on November 8, 2022

I would definitely donate services if this happens again.
posted by sudama at 12:58 PM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]

Out of curiosity, what would be a good timeline to announce an auction so people can start getting their things ready?

More than a month lead-time puts it into the “I’ll get to it mañana,” pile. Which as anyone in New Mexico knows doesn’t mean tomorrow, it means “not today.”

I was trying to think if there was enough time to have a second fundraising auction before Christmas, and my thought is that it would be tight, but if there was one, I would make sure to have something ready to go. But whoever won items I donated might want to have them shipped directly to their recipient(s).

Just my two cents.
posted by DaveP at 2:36 PM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]

I have been having way too much fun making things on my university's laser cutter. For the second round, I would love to donate any or all of the below:

- a layered wooden wall art piece of a medieval manuscript capital letter of your choice, painted with mineral paints that are as close as you can get to the type they used in the medieval era without grinding the pigments yourself. This would be a great tie-in with the sponsored post. I'll get a picture of one as an example, but people could pick out an image they like from the resources in the post. (BTW, I have bunch of letters from The Book of Kells ready to go.)

- the laser cutter project of your choice, within reason. You supply the files, I go cut them out.

- a wooden baby name puzzle that reads "X Æ A-12" and has a Twitter bird and/or a blue checkmark piece(s) on the side. Great for Internet clout.
posted by Soliloquy at 3:17 PM on November 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

Last day!
posted by JHarris at 6:03 PM on November 12, 2022 [1 favorite]

Looks like I will be writing a few scifi recommendation posts!
posted by brainwane at 6:28 AM on November 14, 2022 [3 favorites]