Charity Auction for Flood Relief in the Philippines

[beetlebug]

I asked the moderators at FPN if I could conduct an auction of a few things for charity and they kindly considered my request and allowed it if I followed some rules they developed. So I am happy to present the first charity auction here. Two pens and 5 pen wraps donated will be auctioned off to raise money for flood relief in the Philippines.

 

Recently two disasters, tropical storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng, hit the Philippines’ largest city and northern section of the most populous island in short succession. Huge parts of Metro Mania (an urban area of over 11.5 million people) were under water and later the same happened to large populated areas north of there. Hundreds died; tens of thousands had to be relocated; and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage occurred to infrastructure, agriculture, and property. Just a short time ago another typhoon, Santi, contributed even more flooding to some already hard hit areas. Many lost much or all of what they had in the storms and shelter, food, medicines, and other supplies are needed for them. Assistance in these areas costs millions and aid agencies are doing their best to supply what is needed. The link below is to an article which relates more details about this:

 

Flood Toll in the Philippines

 

Here are the items for auction and after are the rules:

 

1. Sheaffer Balance Viceroy Autograph Lifetime circa 1938. This is a pen from my collection and is a model you don’t see every day. The reason for the fancy name is that the wide cap band is sold 14kt gold and was intended to have a signature engraved on it. This is a full size, lever filled, black radite pen in excellent shape with no damage. The lifetime nib is a two-tone medium point. Pen is in restored condition and works great. The best part is the solid gold cap band has no engravings on it. Below is a link to a Penhero page with further information on this pen:

 

Sheaffer Autograph Pens

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/vr-1.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/vr-2.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/vr-3.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/vr-4.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/vr-5.jpg

 

2. “Swan Self-Filling Pen” Circa 1920s. This pen was donated by Leigh Reyes (Leigh R on the FPN). A clipless pen in black hard rubber with a very nifty red ripple disc on top. There’s a little bit of fading to the rubber, imprints are strong and trim has some brassing. The nib is 14kt gold semi-flex and I think you can see if can be used to great effect in the lovely (as usual) writing sample Leigh created. The pen is in working condition.

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/swan-1.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/swan-2.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/swan-3.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/swan-4.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/swan-5.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/swan-6.jpg

 

3. Five handmade pen wraps. These are fabulous and made by a pen lover and talented sewing wiz. They each hold 6 pens and have a wonderful little silk bead/button that acts as a clasp to keep them closed. They are made of black and violet felt with silk brocade in blue bamboo, light green dragonfly, and floral beige/gold materials. I can vouch for the fact these a exquisitely made and very functional.

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/penwraps-1.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/penwraps-2.jpg

 

http://www.bleubug.com/wp-content/fpngallery/fpn/penwraps-3.jpg

 

There are 5 pen wraps so please specify which one you are bidding on. To help with this I’ll give each a letter you can use (in the order of the picture where they are laying flat, left to right):

A: is green/black (interior/exterior)

B: is beige/purple

C: is beige/black

D: is green/purple

E: is blue/black

 

For larger pictures of all items you can go here:

 

Larger image gallery

 

I will be giving 100% of the money earned from this auction to two charities: The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) and The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). Both did and continue to do exceptional and well documented work in relief efforts. 75% of the proceeds will go to the PNRC and 25% to PAWS. I will submit the donations to their listed PayPal accounts and provide a copy of the receipt notification for such in this thread. Links to their websites are below:

 

Philippine National Red Cross

 

PAWS

 

Instructions:

This auction will be for 7 items. Two pens and 5 handmade pen wraps. Here are the instructions:

1. The auction will end at 11PM EST on 11/14/2009. I will email the winners as well as announce them in this thread. Bids received on that day after 11:00PM, as time stamped by my mail server, will not be considered.

2. Submit your bids to the email address below in U.S. dollars. Do *NOT* make a bid on FPN as a response to this post.

The email for bids is: auction@bleubug.com

3. Please put in the email subject “charity auction”. In the body of the email put the amount of the bid what item you are bidding on. If you are bidding on more than one item make it clear what each bid is for.

4. Each item will have one winner. That winner will be the person who offers the most money for the item.

5. At least once a day I will put an update on what the high bids are. If they change often I’ll try to do it more than once.

6. Shipping is extra. In the U.S. I will use insured USPS priority mail. Expect it to run about $5 but I’ll get an exact amount when I receive the winners address. International shipping cost will be supplied when location of winner is known.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions at any time either here or to auction@bleubug.com. Thanks for your time and bids.

 

Once again:

 

Send Auction Bids Here

 

Auction ends at 11PM EST on 11/14/2009.

[beetlebug]

Hello. We're off and running. Current bid on the Sheaffer is $95.

 

Thanks!

[beetlebug]

Hi,

 

Pen wrap "B" has a high bid of $25 now.

 

I'm not sure if I should have put some kind of references in the post for myself. There are a few FPN members would vouch for my honesty if anyone wants such. Also, my Ebay user name is "aucktion" if you wish to look at my rating there.

 

Thanks!

[jpr]

Tom, many many thanks for doing this.

You well and truly are the embodiment of a true friend to us Filipinos and our country.

[beetlebug]

JP,

Thanks for the extremely nice compliment but it's undeserved. After hearing stories of the devastation from friends I just wanted to help out. It's just a tiny thing for me but, for example, the woman who made the pens wraps spent a lot of her time and effort. Now that's a very giving and generous action.

 

Best,

TAO

 

Tom, many many thanks for doing this.

You well and truly are the embodiment of a true friend to us Filipinos and our country.

[beetlebug]

Hi,

 

Pen Wrap "E" has a high bid of $20. Thanks so much!

[beetlebug]

The Sheaffer (Pen #1) now has a high bid of $125. Thanks much!

 

Still some stuff with no bids on it!

[hcsk8ter]

Excellent work!

[beetlebug]

Hi,

 

Another bid! Pen wrap "C" is at $25. Thanks!

 

Here's the summary if of what is above:

 

What's has bids and what they are:

Pen #1: Sheaffer Autograph $125

Pen Wrap "B" $25

Pen Wrap "C" $25

Pen Wrap "E" $20

 

 

No bids on Pen #2, the Swan, or wraps A and D.

 

 

Thanks so much to those who have bid and looked.

 

This Auction ends in a little over two days!

[beetlebug]

We have some more bids.

 

I'd like to thank both people who bid $30 on the Swan Pen (pen #2). I should have put this in the rules but first bid at an amount will take precedence. That's kind of standard for online auctions and I think it should be here as well.

 

So, here are the new bids:

 

Pen #2 (Swan) $30

Pen Wrap "D" $20

 

Thanks all!

[beetlebug]

Hi, there's a day and a quarter to go on the auction now. All the items have bids (thanks everyone!) Here's the rundown of the current high bids:

 

Pen #1 Sheaffer Autograph $125

Pen #2 Swan $30

Pen Wrap "A" $30

Pen Wrap "B" $25

Pen Wrap "C" $25

Pen Wrap "E" $20

Pen Wrap "D" $20

 

Thanks to everyone for their generosity.

 

-Tom O.

[beetlebug]

Hi,

 

This auction ends tonight at 11pm EST so if you want to bid now is the time.

 

We've got a new bid on the Swan which is $50.

 

Here's the high bids as of now:

 

Pen #1 Sheaffer Autograph $125

Pen #2 Swan $50

Pen Wrap "A" $30

Pen Wrap "B" $25

Pen Wrap "C" $25

Pen Wrap "E" $20

Pen Wrap "D" $20

 

 

Thanks again everyone!

 

-Tom O.

[beetlebug]

Hi,

 

Pen #2, The Swan, has a new high bid of $60.

 

Thanks!

 

-Tom O.

[beetlebug]

Hi,

 

The bid on pen #2, the Swan, is now at $75. Wow, Thanks!

 

Best,

Tom O.

[beetlebug]

Another update on Pen #2, the Swan: Bid is now at $85 for it.

 

 

Thanks all!

 

-Tom O.

[beetlebug]

Hi,

 

The auction ends tonight at 11PM EST.

 

Below are the current bids as of this post:

 

Pen #1 Sheaffer Autograph $125

Pen #2 Swan $85

Pen Wrap "A" $30

Pen Wrap "B" $25

Pen Wrap "C" $25

Pen Wrap "E" $20

Pen Wrap "D" $20

 

I'm going to be out this evening and I will not be able to update this again till I get back which could be after the end of the auction. I'll check any new mail and post the final results and contact the winners.

 

Thanks for all the bids!

 

Best,

Tom Overfield

[beetlebug]

Hi,

 

It's all over now! Thanks to everyone who bid! Also, thanks to everyone who just took the time to look at this auction.

 

All items have received bids so they have all found new homes. I'm going to email everyone who was the high bidder by tomorrow morning. I've not mentioned any names here in case bidders wanted privacy. I'm not going to put the winners names here either for the same reason. If any winner wants me to mention their name, and since they have done a great thing by contributing to charity I think recognition is deserved, they can give me the "OK" in response to my email.

 

Here are the final bids:

 

Pen #1 Sheaffer Autograph $125

Pen #2 Swan $100

Pen Wrap "A" $30

Pen Wrap "B" $25

Pen Wrap "C" $25

Pen Wrap "E" $20

Pen Wrap "D" $20

 

 

I'd like to thank the Fountain Pen Network administrators for allowing me to do this here. I'm happy it worked out so well. It's great that pen folk are such a caring lot. Soon I'll post the receipts for the contributions to the charities.

 

Best,

Tom Overfield

[Gerry]

I want to personally thank Tom for holding this auction. To have raised $345 for charity is an honerable thing to do - and I admire those donors who donated their treasures for auction.

 

Together we have achieved quite a remarkable thing. I hope others will try to duplicate it.

 

Warm regards,

 

Gerry

[jpr]

From all of us at FPN-Philippines, a heartfelt THANK YOU to TAO and ALL THE DONORS that participated in the auction.

We are truly grateful to all of you for caring about a country half a world away.

[beetlebug]

Hi,

Emails have been sent out to all the winning bidders.

 

Gerry: Thanks for your help in this. I do think it was a very good thing.

JP: I think the bidders deserve the bulk of the credit. Thanks again to them.

 

Best,

Tom O.