FROM THE VAULT: How to Use Consignment Travel Items in Your Fundraising Live Auction
In this From the Vault episode of Auction Is Action with U in It!, Bobby D. Ehlert breaks down one of the most powerful and underused live auction strategies available to nonprofits: consignment travel packages. Bobby walks through exactly how these no-risk experiences work, how the math plays out for your organization, what to watch out for when choosing a vendor, and why donors who are already planning a vacation are your best bidders.
If your live auction is running out of high-quality items, or if you want to add a revenue stream that costs nothing upfront and carries zero financial risk, this episode is the place to start.
Key Takeaways
Consignment Items Are No-Risk Live Auction Packages
Vendors provide luxury travel experiences at a wholesale price. You feature the package in your live auction, collect the winning bid, pay the vendor their cost from the proceeds, and keep the difference as net revenue. If the item does not sell, you owe nothing.The Math Works in Your Favor
A package with a retail value of $10,000 might cost your organization $5,500. If your auctioneer drives the bid to $13,000, your net profit on a single item is $7,500. The higher the bid climbs above the vendor's cost, the more your mission benefitsYou Can Sell the Same Package Multiple Times
Unlike donated items, many consignment packages can be sold to more than one bidder in the same night. If two guests both want the trip, sell it twice, pay the vendor twice, and double your net revenue on a single item. Bobby has seen this generate $14,000 in net profit from one package alone.Your Donors Are Already Planning a Trip
Nine times out of ten, guests at your event are planning a major vacation in the next two years anyway. A consignment package lets them spend that money with you, connect an exceptional experience to your mission, and come back next year ready to do it again.Vendor Reputation Matters
Not all consignment companies are created equal. Watch for packages that appear donated but carry hidden per-person, per-day fees that get passed to the winning bidder after the event. Work with reputable vendors who specialize in the nonprofit fundraising space and stand behind the experiences they provide.Consignment Items Are Flexible
These packages can be placed in your live auction, silent auction, or used as a raffle or Golden Ticket prize. The no-risk structure makes them easy to add to any part of your event program.Let the Vendor Handle the Booking
Once the item sells, the consignment company manages all booking and coordination directly with the winning bidder. Your team stays focused on running the organization, not playing travel agent.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Bobby D.: Well, hello there everyone. Bobby D. here with Heart of the Gala podcast, Call to Auction, Inspire Hearts Fundraising, and Star Benefit Auctions. I wanted to answer a question that came through a Facebook post in one of so many great fundraising and nonprofit Facebook groups out there in the world. I love being able to provide a resource and some answers to some very interesting questions.
On the Nonprofit Fundraising Professionals Facebook group, our buddy Vincent says: "I was watching the video about GiveButter for the live auction. It shows a guest placing a bid on a spa resort package. Does GiveButter already have these packages set up with the companies, or do you have to get your own donations from companies for your live auction?"
All right. GiveButter, worked with them a couple times, like them, they've got good stuff going. Good people over there. The items that you are talking about are what they call consignment items, or no-risk travel experiences, provided by many vendors out there in the marketplace.
The way this works is these vendors, or consignment companies, provide no- or limited-risk travel experiences to nonprofits at a wholesale price. So let's say there's a trip to Boise and it's a $10,000 value. Eight people, they stay in a villa, all of those things. Now all of these experiences are coordinated by the vendor. The consignment company is the one doing the booking with the winning bidders. They work with the lodging and the experience providers in that space. They're the middleman between you as the nonprofit and your donors who want a great live auction experience or a vacation.
So this $10,000 package, the cost to the nonprofit could be $5,500. Then you get it into the live auction and your professional auctioneer is going to go: a thousand, two thousand, three, four, four thousand five hundred, five, five thousand five hundred, six, six five, seven, seven five, eight, eight five, nine, ten thousand, eleven, twelve, thirteen thousand. Going once, going twice, sold for $13,000.
What ended up happening there is the price went above the value. The profit margin can work really well within a consignment item like this. The cost to you is $5,500. Your winning bidder writes a check or swipes their card for $13,000. The vendor submits an invoice, you pay it, they connect with the winning bidder and handle all the booking on the back end. You keep the extra money. If it sells for $13,000 and the cost was $5,500, quick math: that's $7,500 in net profit to you.
And that's great, because I don't know if you know any friends that have a beautiful villa for eight in Boise, but these consignment companies do. They have the connections to create opportunities that your guests can bid on and cannot find anywhere else. And nine times out of ten, any donor at your event is probably planning a major vacation in the next two years. So why not knock a couple things off the checklist right away? Provide an exceptional travel experience on a trip they would probably take anyway, and have the money they spend go directly to your mission. Everybody wins. You have a great live auction item. The winning bidder goes on an exceptional experience. They connect that trip to your brand and your mission. And then they come back next year: "Are we going to Tuscany? Are we going to Napa? Where are we going?"
You can continue to utilize these consignment items over and over again.
Now, a word of warning. There are some out there I am not going to name, that are a little shady. I had this happen a couple of weeks ago where a package was given to a nonprofit as a donation, but in the fine print there was a per-person, per-day fee for the all-inclusive experience. So the person who bid $3,000 to $5,000 in the live auction still had to pay another $1,500 to $2,500 directly to that company just to actually use what they bought. They really did not buy anything. They just bought an opportunity to book a vacation. I do not like that. Watch out for items like that. Look for reputable companies that can help your guests have a great experience and help you raise as much money as possible.
Another perk of consignment items: many times in a live auction, donated items can only be sold once. But with consignment, you can sell the same package to multiple bidders. Where that trip to Boise sells for $13,000, you might have a second bidder sitting at $12,000. You can say: "You know what, guess what? You are both going to Boise." Sold and sold. The consignment company has the capacity to book multiple experiences because that is the business they are in. So now you have netted $7,500 in profit from the first sale, plus another $6,500 in profit from the second. You have now netted $14,000, which I think is a pretty good deal.
And another perk: you are not playing travel agent. I can barely book my own travel, let alone somebody else's. The consignment company handles all of that. You have better things to do, like actually running your organization and completing your mission.
And here is the no-risk part. If the bidding does not hit the threshold you need, you are not out anything. You can pass the item, let people know you need to sell it for more, and you owe the vendor nothing. Zero risk. Put it in your live auction, your silent auction, use it as a raffle item. There are lots of ways to utilize consignment items.
I hope I answered your question, Vincent. Go out there, raise some money, make an impact, and let's make this world a better place. Because we are doing it all together, and there are lots of roads to get to that destination. Thanks again everybody. Bobby D. here with Heart of the Gala podcast, Inspire Hearts Fundraising, Call to Auction, and Star Benefit Auctions. We will see you next time. Keep asking those good questions. Happy days. Bye bye everyone.
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At Call to Auction, we specialize in turning galas and fundraising events into mission-driven, revenue-generating experiences. From paddle raises to live auctions, our team knows how to excite donors, engage audiences, and inspire generosity in the moment.