And you’re reading my uncensored review of what I really though about the charity online auction websites I researched.

Note that this is a review though, if you want to go directly to my top choice, Click Here!

Why am I writing this? Well, when I was researching charity online auction websites for my daughters school, there really weren’t many reviews around so I thought I’d write one quickly to help any of you who are in the same position I was.

But be warned, I’ll be going into both the good and bad points, so if that’s something you might not want to here, then you may as well leave now.

If you haven’t been following my past reviews, I suggest you scroll down and read what I liked and disliked about each of the top online charity auction websites. This is my final review and I’m going to tell you about the service I picked and how it helped my daughter’s school.

After about a month of researching, we decided to go with IDonateToCharity.org. We signed up for the 50 auction item package for only $49.95 and it was plenty. We ran our auction for 30 days and had the parents and teachers donate items. We opened donations pages and sold tickets to our live event. At the end of our auction, we ended up rising over $60,000 for the school. We raised all that money and only had to pay $49.95. They didn’t take a percentage of what we raised and we were able to collect all the money.

When I signed up with IDTC, I was given one person that was my fundraising consultant. His name is Tom by the way and I would ask for him if you use them. I had his direct phone number and email. When I had questions, I just made a phone call or sent an email and got an answer instantly or at least within a couple hours. Even on weekends if you can believe that.

After the auction was over, emails were sent out automatically to the winners telling them to contact me for payment. Next year, I am going to use Paypal. They have Paypal integrated into their site so in those emails, people can pay instantly. I was able to collect cash and checks from everyone and they picked up all the items form the school.

Their auction system was so easy to use and they even have help videos for every section so its easy to figure everything out. We didn’t use the raffle system or sell any sponsor ads. Next year we might just so we can increase our donations.

So for the very low price they charge and the personal service you receive, I give IDonateToCharity.org my Top Choice! I would love to here your comments if you have used any other charity online auction websites services. This blog is to help other people get more informed. So by posting a comment about the good the bad and the ugly of other services, you will mike this blog more useful.

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IDonateToCharity.org

I listed this one first because I think it is the best and most cost effective online charity auction website. They offer online auctions and raffles, you can sell event tickets, sponsor ads and open donation pages and collect donations directly. They let you collect all money, so you don’t have to pay a percentage of everything you raise. This is the only company I found that doesn’t take a percentage. The packages are based on the number of auction items you are planning on listing and all other fundraising features are included. Packages start at $19.95 and go up to $149.99. This is a one time fee good for one year, so you can run several auctions for one low price. All auctions a private and you are given a dedicated URL to your very own home page/store. As you can see, with everything you get, this is by far my top choice for the price.

Cmarket

I listed Cmarket next, because they are the most like IDonateToCharity. They offer most of the same services except they don’t have donation pages or raffles. But everything else is the same. They charge a yearly fee of $595 and take up to 9% of everything you raise. To most of the charities I talked to, this to way to much money.

Ebay

Ebay is an online auction service and not good for charity auctions. They charge $.10 -$4.00 to list an item and take 8% of the final value fee.  They just offer auctions and would not recommend them for charity auctions.

Charity Folks

Charity folks are for larger charities. They take 20% of everything you raise. I don’t think I have to say much more then that.

Ready Set Auction

This is a good service, but again they charge a $349 to $599 set up fee and take 3.25% of the last bid amount with a $1 minimum. I don’t like having to pay upfront fees or percentages. They offer all the same features as Cmarket and most of the features IDonateToCharity.org does.

Read my next post for the final thoughts on my charity online auction websites review.

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I created this blog to let people know my finding of charity online auction websites. There are so many silent auction software companies out there, how do you know what ones are good or bad. When I started looking to run an online auction, I couldnt find any review of any of the sites. So in my next few posts, I’m going to share my findings and you can decide what charity auction company to go with.

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