The Indie Auction Block
Independent artists, makers, renters, and other suppliers donate items or experiences to a high-visibility marketplace/auction platform. All revenue goes toward causes of the supplier’s choosing.
This concept is the result of a three-week validation sprint by an IDEO team with collaboration from ideas42, a nonprofit organization that uses behavioral science insights to address complex social problems. For more information about the context and background of this work, read this blog post.
The following is a representative user scenario based upon our IDEO team’s interviews with real people:
Jamila designs jewelry and decorative metal work as a hobby, and has built a successful Etsy shop selling her work over the years. After discovering this indie auction block from a fellow artist on social media, she decides to donate five pieces of excess inventory to raise money to a local arts program in Houston where she volunteers. The previously unsold items from her store wind up raising $650 for the nonprofit.
If people have inventory they can’t sell, they’re going to donate it anyway, why not donate to this new platform you’re talking about?
Creator / Seller on a multi-sided marketplace
Traditional charity auctions depend on individual nonprofits to organize them, often leading to expensive overhead. Newer digital auction platforms tend to only feature gifts from celebrities or companies. In both scenarios, donations for those events tend to come from a limited pool of well-connected donors or corporations. There’s an opportunity to democratize the experience, and streamline the access.
With the right collection of donors, each designating a unique cause that’s important to them, one can imagine a younger, modernized auction block featuring art, jewelry, travel experiences, memorabilia, concert tickets, and more; all of it generating millions of dollars a year for a wide variety of organizations. This new auction block would be designed for (and by) a new generation of emerging donors on the platforms more likely to engage them.
From the buyer’s experience, a single site and/or social media feed would feature a weekly rotation of items and experiences to bid on. The one-of-a-kind offerings paired with confidence that all the money goes to support a cause could build a tremendously popular brand.
I’d be more likely to buy something if the money went to a good cause.
Potential platform user
I want to benefit my community … if I got to pick where the money goes, I’d definitely donate a two or three night stay.
Airbnb host
Are you working on something similar? Have feedback to give us or insights that we should know about related to this exploratory concept? We’d love to hear from you! Please write us a note at [email protected]
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