AUCTIONS

Free and open to the public

All-Day Auctions & Tag Sales

Twice a year PVAS holds an All-Day Auction & Tag Sale: The Spring auction in April and the Fall auction in October on the Sunday following the first Saturday of the month. Auctions are free and open to the public. It's a great opportunity to buy and sell fish, shrimp, snails, aquatic plants, and aquarium-related equipment. Top fish breeders come from all over the Mid-Atlantic region to sell healthy, gorgeous fish unavailable in stores.

Registration opens at 9:30 am, Tag Sale opens and auction bidding begins at 10:30 am. Sometimes there is a short break for lunch. Raffles usually occur about 1 pm and 3 pm. Bidding usually wraps up about 4 pm but continues until everything is sold.

All buyers and sellers must be registered at www.MyGroupAuctions.com.

Monthly Mini-Auctions & Tag Sales

Monthly meetings feature a mini-auction after the program and raffle. Mini-auctions generally last from about 3 - 4 pm. They are a great way to pick up some rare and unusual or particularly beautiful fish and aquatic plants from top breeders in the club.

Only PVAS Members may enter items for sale in the monthly mini-auctions, and are encouraged to bring fish, plants, and related items.
Rules for the Mini-Auction are included in the auction rules.
Buyers: Please bring cash. No other form of payment will be accepted.
Sellers: Register your items at: www.mygroupauctions.com.
As always, donations are welcomed.

Auction Rules for the Seller

General Auction Rules for the Seller

No minimum bids listed on the item. The minimum bid spot on the MGA (MyGroupAuctions.com) form is to be used only for the fixed price of an item to be included in the Tag Sale.

Item limits: a maximum of 5 bags of the same fish or 3 bags of the same plant may be listed without a fixed price. Additional items may be entered as fixed price entries for the Tag Sale. Dry goods are required to have a fixed price.

At the end of the announced time for the Tag Sale, items that did not sell at the fixed price may be removed by the seller or transferred to the auction.

All items, whether Tag Sale or Auction, will be registered in MGA and labeled with the MGA information. Bringing labelled items is encouraged as waiting times can be long to print labels at the auction.

Sellers of live fish or aquatic animals must enter the following information into the "Description" field in mygroupauctions.com: Species name (scientific and common if applicable), Quantity in bag, sex if determinable. Use proper terminology on fish bags. Labels must include the email address of the seller. At the discretion of PVAS, mislabeled bags may be sold as a donation.

PAIR means a male/female of a species.
MATED PAIR means the pair has spawned successfully.
TRIO means 2 females and 1 male of a species.
REVERSE TRIO means 2 males and 1 female of a species.
COLONY means a mix of males and females of a species.

All items must be aquarium related and legal for sale.

Proper bagging of fish and aquatic animals is required. We strongly recommend that all fish are double bagged. Adult males and female fish should be bagged separately and the bags taped together or put into a third bag. Ziploc type bags will not be allowed for fish or plants. Buckets, tanks and bowls will be allowed to house fish for the tag sale and any container that is used will become part of that lot and sold along with the fish it contains. IMPROPERLY BAGGED FISH WILL NOT BE ALLOWED IN AUCTIONS. A re-bagging station will be available for improperly bagged fish and sellers will be encouraged to use it. PVAS also reserves the right to reject any lot that appears to be unsuitable for sale (e.g. sick fish, illegal plant).

All dry goods and aquatic equipment must mention condition in description. Wet substrate, used bulbs, opened food or chemicals are not allowed.

Once an item is entered in the auction it cannot be removed by the seller.

Neither PVAS, volunteers for the auction, nor the auction site will be held responsible for damage or injury occurring before, during, or after the auction.

Mini-Auction Specific Rules for the Seller

Only PVAS members may receive proceeds from mini-auction sales. Non-members are able to join at the meeting or donate items. PVAS takes $1 or 25% whichever is larger. Junior members get 100% of their sales. Members who are not juniors cannot sell under the junior's ID even if related.

There is no incentive for entering fixed price items in the mini-auction.

Tag sale items can be removed by the owner or his designee at any time without penalty. Tag sale will conclude at the conclusion of the regular mini-auction. Unclaimed tag sale items will be auctioned as normal items.

Item ordering will be via the last digit of the MGA item number. The starting point will be determined randomly and will cycle sequentially through the lots.

Seller payment for mini-auction will be at the conclusion of the meeting.

All-Day Auction Specific Rules for the Seller

PVAS takes $2 or 25%, whichever is larger from member's sales and $2 or 35% from non-members, whichever is larger. Junior members get 100% of their sales. Members who are not juniors cannot sell under the junior's ID even if related.

Early registration of auction items will result in them being auctioned in the first group of auction items. This incentive is available to the first 200 items listed and is limited to 20 items per seller.

Items will be available via fixed price in the Tag Sale for most of the auction. Auction staff will determine the Tag Sale closing time. At the end of the announced time for the Tag Sale, the Tag Sale area will be closed off and sellers will be invited to remove their items. Sellers may move items having a fixed price of $10 or more into the Auction. The Auction Chair, in his or her sole discretion, may accept an item with a list price of less than $10 into the Auction if he or she believes there is sufficient interest from bidders. All other Tag Sale items not moved into the Auction must be picked up by their Sellers by the announced deadline, or those items shall be discarded by Auction Staff.

Auction Rules for the Buyer

General Auction Rules for the Buyer

You are responsible for your purchases and the security of them. PVAS, its auction staff or committee, nor the venue where the auction is being held will be responsible for the security of your items once purchased.

All items are sold "as is, where is" with all faults, known and unknown. Please inspect any items you are interested in thoroughly to your satisfaction before purchasing anything. Once the auctioneer announces an item sold, ownership immediately transfers to the winning bidder.

Sellers give no guarantee or warranty on anything in the auction.

ALL SALES ARE FINAL.

If you need to re-bag your fish, a self-service re-bag station is available to use at no charge.

Minimum bid increment will be $1.00 and bid increments used will be at the discretion of the auctioneer. The auctioneer's decision is final and absolute.

Please remember to properly acclimate your fish and plants when you get home. It is strongly recommend that all new fish be quarantined for a minimum of 2 weeks in a separate aquarium before introduction into any community or established aquarium. Please, be a responsible aquarist, NEVER RELEASE ANY FISH OR AQUATIC PLANT INTO THE WILD.

Mini-Auction Specific Rules for the Buyer

Payments are due in cash when the item is won. On a very limited basis the auction committee may allow tabs for mini-auctions with advanced approval.

Fixed price items may be purchased for the price listed at any time during the auction. No sales during the meeting speaker presentation.

All-Day Auction Specific Rules for the Buyer

All persons wishing to participate in the auction must have a bidders' card and be registered to buy at the auction. There is no charge to register. You will need to leave a piece of ID (like your driver's license) to receive a bidder's card.

All bidders must run a tab and pay on the way out of the auction room. Both fixed price and live auction items will be recorded to the bidders tab.

Payment is due on the day of the auction. Forms of payment include cash, check (PVAS members only) or credit card (VISA, MasterCard, Discover). Credit card users will be charged a 3% administrative fee that will be added to the selling price of each item.

In the event an item is bought and then abandoned and not paid for, the buyer will still be liable for payment and any related disposal costs.

At checkout, the bidder's card must be surrendered to the check-out table, and a receipt will be printed for verification and payment.

To bid on an item, raise your bid card in the air so that the auctioneer can plainly see it.

Items will be offered for auction in a random fashion. If you would like to move a particular item up, you can purchase a "Bump-Up" sticker for $2 at the cash-out desk. Please see one of the auction staff members for assistance when placing the sticker on the bag being bumped up. You can purchase as many bumps as you wish at any time during the auction.