Auction Guidelines











At every meeting, the club holds an auction of  live fish, plants and drygoods, typically over 100 items per month. At the October MegaAuction, you can expect to see 250 items or more. Here are the guidelines for participating in our auctions.


Buying Items







Selling Items

All sellers should read this article: How to Bring Fish to the Club Auction.
Meeting Time & Location:
Meetings are held on the first Saturday of every month.

October meeting location:  

Harry's Hoffbrau
390 Saratoga Avenue
San Jose, CA 95129
408 243 0434
(Find it on Google Maps)

Silicon Valley Aquarium Society
1.  Anyone may bid for and buy most items at the auction.
2.  Some items may be reserved for club members only (another member benefit!)
3.  Non-members must pay cash immediately upon winning an item.
4.  Club members in good standing (current dues paid, all past auction items paid) are
     permitted to run tabs at auctions. Bidder cards for auction tabs will be available at
     the auction table. Tabs must be paid up before leaving the meeting.
Auction Sign-In Forms:


(right-click & choose "Save Target As...” to download to your computer)
1.  Anyone may donate items to the club for auction. Receipts from donated items
     will go into the club treasury. Sellers are encouraged to donate items to help
     fund club activities.
2.  Only SVAS members in good standing (current dues paid, all auction items paid)
     are permitted to sell items.
3.  All auction items must be registered by 7:30pm using the Auction Sign-in form (pdf)
     (You can fill in and print these versions: Rich Text.rtf, Word .doc, Excel .xls)
4.  No items may be removed from the auction table after being registered.
5.  Juvenile fish should be large enough to enable positive identification.
6.  Fish must be bagged properly!  No sandwich or Zip-Lock storage bags allowed.
     Please double-bag all fish!
7.  All bags must have sufficient air inside the bag, except for "breathable bags."
     If in doubt, ask the Auction Chairperson whether your bag has sufficient air.
8.  Please add colored dots (red, green, yellow or blue) to all items. It's up to you
     to decide to use all one color or split your items between colors. Donated items
     will be auctioned off first and then items will be sold by color. The order of
     colors will be picked at random at each meeting.
9.   Do not feed the fish the day of the auction, or put food in the bag. This keeps
      the bag water cleaner, longer.
10. No more than six small fish, two medium fish, or one larg fish per bag.
11. Each seller will receive a percentage ("split") of the selling price for each item.
      The percentage of the split the seller receives increases as the sale price
      increases.  For example, the split is 25% for a $1.00 item and 80% for a $21.00
      item.  The full split table is available here.
12. The Silicon Valley Aquarium Society or its representatives will not accept
      responsibility due to loss, theft, or damage to any items.
13. All questions should be directed to the Auction Chairperson.
14. The decision of the Auction Chairperson is final.