For baskets - I like the practical ones - some of my favorites over the years have been pretty simple - pool basket, snack basket, and one super couponer made a very full bucket of women's razors.

bigger ticket items that i have bid on have been baseball/football tickets, disney tickets with southwest giftcard, museum memberships.

In public elementary, experiences always went for a lot

--first in line for lunch
--lunch with favorite teacher
--extra special (music/PE/Art) for the class

Parking spots

Anonymous wrote:A group dumpling making class at someone’s home and a dinner party catered by a parent who is an amazing cook were both super fun. We bid with a group of friends for both.

Three families in the same apartment building offer a "progressive dinner" and it's wonderful. So much fun.

Lunch at a pizza/arcade/ice cream place with their favorite teacher and a friend of their choosing.

Anonymous wrote:Public or Private?

I think it’s whatever school your kids. Go to that have auctions.

Mine is the vacations.

I helped out with our elementary school's PTA silent auction for several years. And I bought things myself to support the PTA. Here's what I bought:

1) Ice cream with the mayor experience for 4 people (he was a dad at our school and an elected volunteer).

2) Real ambulance tour (meant for a party, instead I had them give a demo at younger kid's daycare) (parent was an EMT and the ambulance company does free outreach)

3) Lunch with a teacher at a restaurant across from the school. (I went too - I liked the 1st grade teacher so much!). These lunches were a tradition and most teachers offered them. An on-campus variant was delivery pizza for 3 in a teacher's room during lunch period.

4) Grocery store gift card to my regular store (I purchased it at face value).

5) Canvas with kindergarteners' handprints from my kid's class (still have this - it was well done)

Things I liked but did not bid on or win:

1) American Girl Doll (I only have boys). The company used to allow one every two years for children's charity purposes. They don't do this anymore. But the idea of a child's luxury toy is solid.

2) Theater ticket gift certificates (didn't want to get tied down to particular plans, but seemed popular)

3) Principal for a day (this always went for a lot)

4) School sign one-day takeover for Happy Birthday message (also too expensive)

Total duds

1) Fancy lice removal toiletries

2) Folk art/bric-a-brac from our local boutique. Wooden angel cat thing.

People really liked gift packages/bundles of items that had a theme. We had an organizer who was talented at combining things into groups.

We also occasionally had completely new items that people had probably gotten as gifts (like Lego sets still in shrinkwrap).

At one point we had a "kid's auction" that was kind of like a raffle baskets event. The kids bought tickets, wrote their names on them, then put them in ticket cans in front of a toy they wanted to win. We had a long table with about 20 new toys on it. Then a volunteer drew the winners. Kids seemed to enjoy this game a lot. We sometimes got new toys donated and sometimes we bought them from Target-type stores.

This was not a big money auction. We would raise about $5-$6K. My purchases ranged from $25 to $90.

Lego basket or a paint night party with an actual artist

A group dumpling making class at someone’s home and a dinner party catered by a parent who is an amazing cook were both super fun. We bid with a group of friends for both.

Public or Private?

Caps tickets

Gift cards to restaurants

Outdoor heater
Beach items
Car cleaning kit

Hi All - What is everyone's favorite item they have ever bid on at their child's school auction? I'm looking for procurement ideas for my daughter's school auction.

Thank you