How to Sell Multiples at Your Live Auction (Without Losing Paddle Raise Money)

Why "Selling Multiples" Is Different From a Bidding War

Most nonprofits watch their auctioneer sell the top item to a high bidder and an underbidder, then move on. But the highest-grossing galas do something different: they sell the same item five, ten, even thirty times in a matter of minutes — without cutting into what the room gives during the paddle raise afterward.

Every auctioneer rolls a bid up and sells to both the winning and the underbidder — that's standard practice. Selling multiples is different. It's a deliberate technique for getting far more than two buyers on the same item, using a fixed price instead of competitive bidding.

The reason it works comes down to two kinds of bidders in every room:

• Transactional bidders — extroverts who enjoy the competition of driving up a bid.
• Philanthropic bidders — donors who care about the cause but find open bidding uncomfortable, and who typically hold back until the paddle raise.

Selling multiples is built specifically to bring that second group into the live auction.

The Three-Step Method

1. Establish value. Before the item goes up, the auctioneer tells the room what it's genuinely worth — for example, framing a consignment travel package at its full retail value before bidding opens. This sets the anchor price in the audience's mind.

2. Set a fixed price. Instead of letting the bid climb indefinitely, the auctioneer calls a price roughly double the item's cost to the nonprofit and locks it in: bidder after bidder can buy in at that same number, no competition required.

3. Ask for the sale — with the right phrase. The auctioneer doesn't just call for bid cards; they add four words: "Who else wants one?" That phrase does the real work. It signals social proof — other people in the room have already said yes — which lowers the psychological barrier for a philanthropic bidder to raise a card for the first time.

Placement matters too: this technique works best on the back half of the live auction, after the room has already spent through the bell curve of items, rather than as the opening move.

Mini takeaway: A fixed price and four specific words — "Who else wants one?" — turn a one-time sale into a repeatable one.

Why It Grows the Paddle Raise Instead of Shrinking It

The most common objection nonprofit leaders raise is that selling an item 20 or 30 times must be pulling money out of the room that would otherwise go to the paddle raise. In practice, auctioneers who use this method consistently see the opposite.

The explanation is a well-documented sales principle called the foot-in-the-door effect: once someone agrees to a small request, they're measurably more likely to agree to a larger one later. A philanthropic bidder who raises their card once during the multiples sale has, in that moment, redefined themselves — from someone who watches the auction to someone who participates in it. By the time the paddle raise opens, they've already crossed that psychological threshold once, and they're more likely to give again.

There's a second, longer-term payoff: selling multiples routinely surfaces new mid-level donors — often people attending for the first time as a guest — at a giving level that would otherwise take a development team months to identify and cultivate.

Mini takeaway: One small "yes" during the multiples sale makes a bigger "yes" at the paddle raise more likely, not less.

The Retention Effect

Auctioneers who run the same event year after year report selling the identical consignment trip to repeat buyers for years in a row, because guests come back specifically expecting to buy it again. That expectation compounds: a donor who has a great experience at your live auction and returns three years running is one of the strongest single predictors that they'll become a major or lifelong donor to your organization.

Mini takeaway: The guest who buys the same trip three years running isn't a coincidence — they're your next major donor in the making.

Putting This to Work at Your Next Event

Selling multiples isn't a trick — it's a structured way to give philanthropic donors a comfortable, low-risk entry point into your live auction, without the pressure of competitive bidding. It works best with an item that has genuine, easy-to-establish retail value, which is exactly why consignment travel packages are a common fit for it.

If you want help building consignment travel packages your auctioneer can put this technique to work on, HGA's team is here to help. We partner with nonprofits, schools, and organizations of every size to strengthen fundraising events from item selection to the final ask.

Insights in this article are drawn from the Hey Nonprofits! LIVE episode “Raise More Money at Your Live Auction With This One Phrase – Guide to Selling Multiples”, featuring host Trevor Nelson and guest fundraising auctioneer Dan Lyles.