GCI's Least Unique Bid Auction (win things for really, really cheap)

The first official announcement. Green Campus Initiative will be hosting a Lowest Unique Bid Auction. Official event name is TBD. Not sure what exactly that is? Keep reading!

It functions much like a regular auction. People make bids, and the winning bid wins the item. However, in order to be the winning bid, it must be the lowest (as in dollars and cents) and must be the only bid at that number. Let's look at some examples.

Jessica Alba, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Lupe Fiasco, all advocates of environmental issues, hear about this cool event called the 5th Annual Fundraiser for Awesome Environmental Organizations. This year, the theme is a lowest unique bid auction. There are hundreds of way cool items, like a wind-powered car and Bloom boxes.

In order to bid on one of these way cool items, you need to pay a very small fee of $1. For now, you can make multiple bids on 1 item (we might change this for GCI's event). However, our three heroes are penny pinchers and only buy 1 bid each.

They then decide to bid on the wind-powered car. Jessica Alba bids $.05. Leonardo DiCaprio bids $.04. And Lupe Fiasco bids $.06. Then come along some other people. Julie, Jefferson, Homaira, Steven, and Lauren all decide this car's pretty dandy. Julie and Jefferson both bid $.01 because their names begin with J. Homaira bids $.05, because she had a nickel left over from buying a Coke from the vending machine. Steven, unlike the other, thinks about this for a little bit. "Everybody's gonna bid $.01, and I saw Homaira pocket a nickel earlier. I'll do the smart thing and bid $.02". Lauren takes a look, too, but she doesn't like the car (she already has a bike).

The final tally of bids

$.01- 2 people

$.02- 1 person

$.04- 1 person

$.05- 2 people

$.06-1 person

The lowest, unique bid was Steven with $.02. At the end of the night, he drove home in a wind-powered car after giving up $1.02

Of course, we won't have wind-powered cars at our event (do they even exist?) Ours will be along the lines of gift cards and items from primarily environmental businesses. We're still working on compiling items, so stay in touch. GCI is also thinking about selling bids in the weeks leading up to the event. We'll maybe even provide internet bidding for those who won't be able to make the actual event.

Hope you're excited,

Willy