THE AUCTION IS OVER, WHAT NOW?
The auction officially ends on Saturday 11th January at 11pm Syd/Mel time. This is a fundraiser to support the brave and deadly work undertaken by Australian firefighters during the worst fire conditions ever recorded. Please bear this in mind during the final arrangements of the auction and preserve the tremendous community spirit of #AuthorsForFireys. Thank you for being part of it.
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If you are the person hosting an auction, READ THIS ---->
Step 1: Check through your Twitter thread carefully, and make sure you've seen ALL the replies with bids.
Step 2: Identify the person who made the highest bid. Tweets have a date and time stamp on them. Reply to the highest bidder on Twitter to let them know. You will ideally want to do this within 24 hours of the auction finishing - the quicker, the better, as many people have made multiple bids and may not be sure of which auctions they have won. Tell the highest bidder you will send them a direct message with more details, or provide them with your email address so they can email you (it's best not to ask them to post their email address publicly.).
NB. In order for them to receive a direct message from you on Twitter, they need to either be following you, or have their settings set to accept direct messages from anyone. You may receive notifications for DMs which then don't appear in your regular DM feed. Check 'Message Requests' - you may find people (you don't follow) who are trying to show proof of payment.
Step 3: Optional, but you might like to also tweet and congratulate your highest bidder, or write a general tweet to thank your other bidders and let them know they weren't successful.
Step 4: Once you have made contact with your highest bidder privately via email or direct message, ask them to provide you with proof of their donation. The donation information can be found HERE. Proof of payment can be in the form of an email receipt or a screenshot of a bank transfer. (Please note, the CFA is currently estimating it will take up to 10 days to provide an emailed receipt for donation.) You can also explain to them how you will be providing them with the prize, including when they can expect to receive it.
Step 5: Once you have received proof of the donation, proceed with either providing the recipient with their prize (eg. sending books in the mail) or giving very clear details of how they can claim it in the future, and when, and the best way to contact you to organise it (eg. manuscript assessments.)
Step 6: We’re keen to tally up the results of this huge community effort. Please email us ASAP with the verified amount, once you've received proof, from all of the items you auctioned. Send us the proof of payment and your bidder's Twitter handle, too. Please also include the specific fund it went to. authorsforfireys@gmail.com
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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING AN AUCTIONEER.
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If you are the person with the highest bid, READ THIS ---->
Step 1: Wait for the person running the auction to confirm you are the highest bidder before you take any action or make any donations. You should receive confirmation within 24 hours of the auction ending.
Step 2: Once you have been confirmed as the winner, make contact with the person running the auction via direct message on Twitter or email, and confirm details of the prize, the amount you will be donating, and which organisation you will be donating it to.
Step 3: Make your donation to fireys from our recommended list. Some auctioneers may have specified the state they want you your donation to go to. Click here for the full list.
Step 4: Email or privately message the person running the auction with proof of your donation, either as an email receipt or a screenshot of your bank transfer. Don't post this publicly.
Step 5: Confirm with the person running the auction when you will receive your prize or when you can be in contact in the future to arrange it.
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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR DONATION.
Something has gone wrong!! I need help! READ THIS ------>
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I was the highest bidder but the prize was awarded to someone else
Let the person running the auction know as soon as possible, and hopefully it can be fixed in time. Mistakes happen, unfortunately, especially on Twitter threads with a lot of replies.
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I don't know how to take a screenshot of my donation
On your iPhone: Hold down the power button and home button at the same time
On an Android: Press the power button and volume down key at the same time.
On a Mac computer: Press Shift-Command-4
On a PC: Press Alt + PrtScn or use your snip tool
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I was the highest bidder but I can no longer make the donation
Let the person running the auction know ASAP (don't wait for them to contact you), so they can contact the next highest bidder.
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I was the highest bidder but I haven't heard from the person running the auction
Wait 24 hours from auction end, and then reach out to them. If you haven't heard after several attempts, and a week has passed, let us know and we'll see if we can help.
I have contacted the highest bidder but they haven't responded to me
We recommend waiting at least three days before contacting the next highest bidder. You'll also need to let the original highest bidder know that you've moved on to the next highest bidder when you didn't hear from them.
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DISCLAIMER: every effort will be made to honour the correct highest bidder in each individual auction, and, acting in good faith, each individual, organisation and commercial entity offering goods and services in return for donations to approved state fire services as part of the #AuthorsforFireys auction will attempt to rectify any genuine errors in timely fashion. However, auctioneers retain the right to determine the winning bid on each item offered within reasonable limits, and no further correspondence will be entered into. Thank you for participating and we urge everyone to make a donation to a bushfire-related charity regardless of your success or otherwise in the auction.