Livestock & Equipment AUctions
We have mini-auctions at each general meeting where members can buy and sell aquatic life including fish, invertebrates and plants that are legal to trade in in the state of Wisconsin. Twice a year we also have our Great Big Public Auctions. Anyone can sell or buy or sell in these public auctions. Both are a great way to get really nice stock and equipment at very reasonable prices. Fish bred by local breeders tend to do better in our local water and are most often more healthy and of better quality than those found at big box pet stores.
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MAAH uses MyGroupAuctions.com to run its live auctions. http://www.mygroupauctions.com/ If you plan on buying or selling items at the auction, you will need to register and associate yourself with our group, “Madison Area Aquatic Hobbyists.” Follow the prompt. After registering for the application, the User Guide located at the top of the page will show you how to enter items into the auction.
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If you are unable to pre-register with MyGroupAuctions before the auction, PLEASE ARRIVE AS CLOSE TO 12:30 AM AS POSSIBLE for general meetings and 10:30 for the Great Big Public Auctions …. especially if you are a seller with bags to enter. There will be someone available to assist you in registering and entering your lots.
Monthly Mini-Auctions
Rules for selling items at the general meetings
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Each item being sold must have the seller’s name listed in the description on MyGroupAuctions.com.Each seller is limited to a maximum of
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15 lots per auction.
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Only 2 lots of the same species(or variants of a species) or non-live goods may be entered per seller.
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All fish must be bagged properly: Ziplock bags or breather bags are not acceptable for fish or invertebrate entries.
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Buckets with a bag liner and closing lid are acceptable for large fish.
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Labels are required for all items being sold. Each label should be clearly written or typed, and have the following information:Lot number, assigned from MyGroupAuctions.com, and species of fish or invertebrate, or description of non-live item.
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Quantity of item.
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Seller’s contact information.
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Note that labels can be printed on MyGroupAuctions.com.
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Improperly bagged fish will be re-bagged at a cost of $2 per bag.
Donations
If you wish to donate proceeds for any of your entries being sold in the auction, be sure to include the word “Donation” in the description AND check the box marked “Donation." Donations items are subject to the same rules as any other item.
Items that cannot be sold
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Used gravel or sand substrates.
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Lots consisting solely of Lemna (duckweed) and/or Azolla (mosquito fern) species.
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Opened containers or out-of-date consumable products (food, medications, fertilizers, etc.).
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Items not related to aquariums or ponds.
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Anything that is prohibited or restricted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This includes, but is not limited to, certain species of fish, invertebrates, and plants. NO CRAYFISH ARE PERMITTED.
Public Auctions
Twice a year we hold public auctions are run slightly differently than our mini-auctions at the general meetings. The split is 30/70 - where the seller gets 70% of the sale price of the item and MAAH getting 30% of the sale price of the item.​
GENERAL INFORMATION (BUYING AND SELLING)
MAAH uses MyGroupAuctions.com to run its in-person auctions. https://www.mygroupauctions.com/
If you plan on buying or selling items at the auction, you will need to register and associate yourself with our group, “Madison Area Aquatic Hobbyists.”
Follow the prompts. After registering for the application, the User Guide located at the top of the page will show you how to enter items into the auction.
If you are unable to pre-register with MyGroupAuctions before the auction, PLEASE ARRIVE AS CLOSE TO 10:30 AM AS POSSIBLE…. especially if you are a seller with bags to enter. There will be someone available to assist you in registering and entering your lots.
RULES FOR SELLING ITEMS
After the CLEARLY PRINTED lot number assigned by MyGroupAuctions and the following information is securely affixed securely to the lot, you may place your lots on the tables indicated with a number 0 – 9. The last number of the lot corresponds to which table to place the items on.
Each lot MUST BE CLEARLY LABELED IN THIS ORDER
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Lot Number
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Number of items in the lot
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Age reference
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Scientific name
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Variety and/or common name
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Your name and contact information
Each seller is limited to a maximum of 50 lots, not more than 5 lots of any one species/variety or non-live goods.
All live items must be bagged properly
Animals should be double-bagged
Plants should NOT be bagged with water, but a damp paper towel is acceptable.
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There will be a $2.00 re-bagging fee deducted from the seller commissions for any item that must be re-bagged.
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Ziplock bags, plastic containers with snap-on lids, bags closed with twist ties, or breather bags are NOT acceptable for any animal
Mislabeled or unreadable labels that cannot be attributed to a specific seller will become donations to the auction.
Items cannot be removed from the auction after they have been checked-in.
RULES FOR HOW THE AUCTION WILL RUN
MAAH uses the 10-table system with tables numbered 0 – 9. The last digit of each item number corresponds to the table that the item is sorted onto.
Priority bag markers may be purchased for $2.00 each. Each person is limited to five priority bag markers. No priority bag markers will be sold until after the second table has sold.
Bags that are called up with a priority marker will be placed on the expediter’s table but are not guaranteed to go across the block at any specific time.
The first items auctioned will be donations and priority lots.
The auctioneer is in charge of selling auction lots, and the decisions of the Auctioneer are final.
Anyone deemed to be purposefully attempting to delay, disrupt, or otherwise affect the auction will be ejected.
MAAH is not responsible for incorrectly identified special or varieties being sold, or the organisms’ health. If the organism is obviously mislabeled, the auctioneer may announce the mistake, but is not obligated to do so.
All sales are final.