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That is so cool! How about that! Another celebrity, from ‘The Harry Potter’ series comes out for a good cause! Good job!

I think this is cool, too – but the starting bid is set at $1,000!! There are no bidders yet.

I know it’s for a good cause, but it’s kinda sad that it’s set up so that only people with a lot of extra cash have a shot at it. Most Harry Potter fans, I would imagine, don’t have that kind of green laying around the house.

Wow, I would love to have some of that stuff.

Thats a lot of money that i don’t have but wish i did

Marcheline- well the whole point of a charity auction is to raise as much money as possible!

Hmm, I am so resisting the urge to kiss the screen at the minute…

I’m aware of what a charity auction is for.

My point is that in an auction, everyone should have a chance to bid. Even if someone with more money outbids you, it’s nice to be included and take part in the dream. By setting such a high starting price, it’s kind of like kicking the regular everyday fans in the teeth.

If Alan Rickman wanted to, he could donate fifty or a hundred thousand dollars to the charity and not even miss it. The whole draw of auctioning off cool memorabilia like this is so that the fans of the movie can own it.

The biggest fans of these movies are kids – what kid can afford to bid a grand on this stuff?

@Becca: Yes, dear, but they need to start somewhere, where they will get bids! It can always go up, doncha think?

@ Confederate Lady:

They have to start somewhere but they start high so that the pieces won’t end up getting sold for less than the auctioners want them to go for, plain and simple.

@ Marcheline:

Starting low just so people can bid is a fun idea, but it could backfire, if it allows someone who WOULD HAVE paid $1000 to win with a high bid of less.

@ Both – you’re assuming that these items will be so popular that the bidding will be high no matter what – that may not be the case. There’s a reason why valuable items have reserved minimums – if ‘the system works’ in favour of the item owner all the time, that practice wouldn’t be so common.

And also, consider Mr Rickman’s feelings – starting the bids at that price is in part a show of respect for him. Think of all the ‘Bachelor Auction’ fanfics and how the one being auctioned felt after the words ‘And the bidding starts at … two knuts!’

wow… i am so proud to be apart of the harry potter fandom right now… what w/ every one coming and giving so much to charities… from the Christmas Album, to Jo donating to the Greyhound Rescue Center and the Beedle the Bard thing, and now to this… just amazing. This shows how big an impact one person can have on the world.

-HPfreak

Look what my prince charming has done- he has a heart of gold. I love him. All you stay away hes mine, ALL MINE! sorry I lost myself for a min. Hes so sweet and sexy. I have kissed pictures of him before. Snapes my man! I cant wait to see him show off in the next movie. But there is one part of deathly hallows I am seriously dreading.

@Medea Callous – I disagree on two points.

1. You say that I am assuming “the bidding will be high no matter what, but that may not be the case”. If that is true, then there will be no bidders on an auction that starts at $1,000.

2. When you cite Alan Rickman’s “feelings” as a reason to start an auction on movie memorabilia at a high price… I am certain that an actor as experienced and as princely as Alan Rickman does not hang his self-worth on how much his charity auction items sell for. I trust he’s not walking the floor at night, wringing his hands and hoping the price goes up.

Let’s face it, we’re not talking about Snape’s wand actually used in the movie, or a collection of the actual potions jars from his office or anything here… it’s just a cast tee shirt and a couple of pages of one of the hundreds of scripts that he handled in the making of one of the many HP movies. If the item were to sell for a lower price to a fan, he could donate oodles of money to the charity, if he was really that concerned.

As a matter of fact, that goes for bidders, too – if people are really concerned about the charity, they’ll donate money whether they bid on an item or not.

Some rich person is probably going to buy this stuff and sell it for profit later on. It would have been cool if a real fan could have bid on it at least.

That’s all. Over and out.

- M

Marcheline are you dellusional it says it is for a charity so there for whether rich people or fans bid on the items it will go to the charity he has chosen. AND they may still need the other props like his wand and potion jars. Dont have a go at my prince charming like that I love him and he is doing a great thing.

This is fantastic and yes, the auction is starting at a high price but in the world of charity auctions, this is on the low side. As a person who’s worked in this field before, mostly at art museums hosting art auctions for charity, this is a paltry amount for a starting bid. Granted, paltry as it is it’s still out of my price range and out of the range of the majority of the fans, but we’re not talking about what’s best for the fans. We’re talking about what’s best for the charity.

when I say I love him I mean it. <we> their names are Jasmine Rose Snape and Damien Tobias Snape. Our son looks just like his father jet black hair and pale skin- he is so cute.

sorry my previous sentence doesnt make sense going from the word “we” to the two names of my fictional children. must have been a typing mistake. Are any of you looking forward to seeing how they decorate Snapes office in the 6th movie- you know with the pictures and gloomier look.

@ Marcheline:

I don’t think you understand how auctions work. First, yes, the reserved bidding price DOES affect the final price – there are people who might want a piece no matter what, but they will bid at the lowest acceptable starting point because – you’d better be sitting down because this might be a shock to you – people want to get the best price for something!! What if there is only one person who really wants the piece; if the bidding starts at $1000, they bid $1000 and get it at that price. If the reserved price is $500, all the fangirls bid $500-508, s/he bids $509 and the charity is out $491.

And if you think the organisers don’t consider the feelings of the donors, you’re naive. I’m not saying they absolutely did in this case, but it is frequently, frequently the case – and the more notable the donors are, the more carefully and deferentially they are treated, no matter what their reputation for good politics may be.

@ Bella

No, I’m not delusional, but I CAN spell it!

@ trelawney’s second

You said it. “It’s not about what’s best for the fans.”

@ Medea C.

Not only do I understand how auctions work, I’m a wicked-good ebayer. I can tell that you are a certified, card-carrying Charity Auction Price Setter, because only someone so experienced would know that organizers kissing celebrity arse is “frequently, frequently the case”. It was that second “frequently” that tipped me off.

@ Everyone else

It’s interesting to see how my initial post, which was completely polite, about my thoughts on a charity auction have resulted in people calling me names. So far I’ve racked up delusional, naive, and my capability of understanding simple concepts has been called into question.

It’s even stranger considering the fact that I never said anything derogatory about Alan Rickman (unless calling him rich is an insult), nor about anyone posting their opinions on this site.

I know how auctions work. I know what charities are for.

I think it sucks that the real fans will have no chance to even bid on these movie memorabilia items, because the starting price is so high.

- M

Quote: “I trust he’s not walking the floor at night, wringing his hands and hoping the price goes up.” AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (with alll due respect, this statement did make me laugh; it just sounded so funny) Good one.

I must say that is a very becoming picture of him. I think I have a bit of a crush now, really. I guess Cho and I got over Cedric pretty fast ;p

oh excuse me I typed one to many “l”’s- boo frickedy hoo- ( Dr.Evil)

@Joy

It’s nice to know someone around here has a decent sense of humor. Besides me, of course. (heh) Thanks for the return chuckles.

I developed a crush on our Mr. Rickman when I saw “Sense and Sensibility”... it only got worse when I saw him as Snape. Oh, my!! I do so love him in all his batlike gothic garb! And no one has a voice like his – perhaps with the exception of Lawrence Fishburn, one of my other crushes…. ever see him in Othello? Swoon!

- M