Helping to finance...

Hi,
I'm fairly new here, but I've been on other forums for some time. I've been on a knife forum called "The Usual Suspect Network" (USN) for over a year. Usual Suspect Network
The USN does not sell advertisement banners. It's totaly member supported. The way they help finance the USN... over 17,500 members strong... is to hold auctions.
Members wishing to help simply open an auction in the "auctions" area. The member donates the item,opens the auction by introducing and describing the item, posting pictures, and setting a timeframe ( 7 days, 10 days...etc).
When the auction is over, ADMIN. closes the auction and notifies the winner.The winner bidder pays the ADMIN. The ADMIN gives the donator notification that the auction has been paid, and the donator ships the item to the winner. The donator pays for shipping the item.
There are also "giveaways". Mini "contest" determine the member that recieves the item(s), and the "giver" sends it to them.

Just a little food for thought on making XOC a little stronger. ThanX for a great forum.

Jeff!

Any thoughts on this? I'd be willing (since it's my idea) to donate some stuff to kick this off and maybe Mod the sub-forum.

Jeff!

Okay, so not only would the person donate the item(s) but then they would have to pay the shipping costs out of their own pocket? Yeah, I think that's a deal breaker. Shouldn't the shipping cost be the burden of the recipient? The auction would need to include a "put in your zip code to calculate shipping costs" if this giving stuff away out of the kindness of your heart is at all feasible.