The Promises Auction will begin in September and run up to Friday the 13th of November when a Zoom event, to mark the end of the Auction, will take place.
Bidders and supporters will be able to join the Zoom call by invitation, sharing their email address with the Planning Team and receiving a link to the meeting . They will be invited to do this in good time before the live event takes place.
The Promises Auction Planning Team (a sub-group of the Criterion Fundraising Group) will be responsible for promoting and delivering the planning and activity prior to the event and the final Zoom call.
An on-line catalogue of items for sale will be open on the Auction Webpage by the 1st of October on the Criterion Theatre website and will be updated as new Promises are received.
Promise makers will be able to add their Promise or item, an image if appropriate and asked for their name, address and e-mail details. These details will be kept securely, following strict GDPR rules and only their name will be used in the catalogue.
The catalogue will ‘open for bidding’ on Sunday November 1st. Bids will be placed by email, or through members of the Planning Team by proxy on behalf of those preferring to place bids by telephone or by post.
On-line bidding will close at 6pm on the evening of Friday 13th November.
Bidding will continue in real time at the beginning of the Zoom event on the evening of Friday the 13th November.
Each Lot (or a representation/description of it) will be shown on screen during the Zoom event. The auctioneer will describe the Lot in more detail along with the name of the Promise maker, and then announce the opening price of each bid.
Higher bids will be accepted from people joining the Zoom event. The highest bidder will win the lot. The auctioneer’s decision as to who has won the bid will be final. If the winning bid is made by a person not in the Zoom event they will be contacted by the Planning Team, alerted to their win and asked to make their donation.
Details of the winning bids will be recorded by the auctioneer’s assistants and the on-line catalogue will be updated with the winners name and amount paid subject to the winner agreeing to the information being published. The information will be published on the Criterion website.
Some lots may have fixed starting prices or reserves and will be withdrawn from sale if the reserve is not met.
Winning bids must be paid on-line as soon as possible through the Donation button on the website.
Those who prefer not to access the on-line payment option will need to agree to pay by cash/cheque at a later date, by negotiation with the Planning Team ahead of time.
Once full payment has been received the winner will be put in touch with the promise maker and they will negotiate arrangement for delivery/access to the promised lot. Some Promises will not be able to be delivered or fulfilled until after current social distancing guidelines are relaxed.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure promises of goods and services are as described by the individuals or businesses donating them, The Criterion Theatre offer the lots as seen and in good faith. The Planning Team also reserve the right to exclude any inappropriate Promises made from the Auction!
Please be mindful that many of the lots offered by members and friends of the Theatre involve them giving up their spare time, and that winning bidders should be reasonable in arranging when or how the promise is fulfilled. Where promises have expiry dates or other restrictions on them we suggest that successful bidders contact the individual or company who has offered the promise within six months to let them know whether they still plan to use the item.
Any queries not covered in this document should be directed to the Planning Team by emailing friends@criteriontheatre.co.uk