Benefit Auction - Bidding Guide & FAQs 

Auction FAQs

What is Diamond Day?
Diamond Day is an early bidding window when ALL Benefit Auction quilts will be available for $1,000. It starts on September 13 at 2:00pm EDT (GMT - 4) and will remain in effect until September 16 at 1:30pm EDT. 

If you miss this early bidding window, you can still purchase ANY quilt at the Diamond Day price of $1,000, regardless of what section is open for bidding. Please contact us at auction@saqa.com for more details. 

What is the Bidding Schedule?
Each week, a different section of Auction quilts is available for bidding. The bid price is reduced each day (at 2pm EDT) as follows:

SAQA uses Eastern Daylight Time for bidding purposes. The current time will display on the bidding form but you must refresh your page to update the time.

How do I know if a quilt is sold?
Sold quilts will be marked with a red border around the thumbnail image. You will also see the word SOLD displayed on other screens / lists. To view a listing of all SOLD quilts, click here.

The quilt detail page will display the Buyers information (if provided). We do make every effort to mark quilts as sold as quickly as we can but it is NOT an automatic process as we have to review each bid.

How do I know what section a quilt is in?
Quilts have been divided up into sections for bidding purposes. Section number will appear on the detail page (displayed when you click on an auction thumbnail image) as well as on the Quilt Index. You can also view all the quilts in a particular section on a single page.

How can I find a piece by a particular artist?
You can use our search box on when viewing ALL Auction Quilts. We also have a quilt index.

Do I have to be a SAQA member to bid?
Absolutely not! We encourage everyone to bid on the auction quilts.

I am ready to Bid - what do I need to know?
First, make sure the quilt you are interested in is available - it must be unsold and in the active bidding section (unless it's Diamond Day). Then, complete the information on the Bidding Form (view only) .

NO BIDS ARE ACCEPTED BETWEEN 1:45 and 2:00 PM EDT.

If you submit a bid within this time frame, it will be ignored. If we can, we will try to email you back that it is an invalid bid. However, this isn't always possible if your bid was submitted a few seconds before 2:00 PM EDT.

SAQA uses Eastern Daylight Time for bidding purposes. The current time will display on the bidding form but you must refresh your page to update the time.

Can I complete the form ahead of time and then submit at 2pm?
You should only start the bidding form once the new price is posted (this usually occurs at 1:45pm). If you start the form before the price change, the artist names will not be saved and we will receive an empty bid. PLEASE keep refreshing your screen until you see the price change. 

My onscreen receipt / confirmation email didn't include any artist names!
This happens when the price changes while you were completing the form. The system won't add a bid when the price displayed onscreen isn't the same as the price when the bid was actually submitted. You will need to place another bid (unless we contact you).

How do I know if I won the auction?
Once we process your bid, we will send you an email that confirms which pieces are now yours. Depending on when you placed your bid, this may be a few minutes or longer. If you don't hear from us, check your spam folder or contact us directly at auction@saqa.com.

What is the shipping charge?
Shipping and handling within the United States -- $18; International shipping and handling -- $30. Shipping will be via USPS Priority, insured mail.

The shipping and handling fee will be a flat rate for up to seven pieces at a time on any given date. If you want to bid on more than seven pieces or you want to bid on more than one date, you will be charged shipping and handling each time.

Can I have my auction pieces shipped to a different address?
We do try to ship auction pieces within a day or so of your winning bid. if you need your pieces shipped to a different address than your billing address, email auction@saqa.com immediately (or simply reply to one of the confirmation emails you receive).   

Can I use Paypal instead of my credit card?
Sorry, our bidding form is just not currently set up that way. We are considering it for future auctions.

How can I view the next quilt?

When viewing quilts by Section ONLY, click through to the quilt detail page (click on image or More Info). Just below the quilt image, you will see grey triangles. Clicking these will navigate to the next or previous quilt.

Note: If you access the quilt detail page from the listing of ALL Quilts, the arrows won't display - this is only available in the Section view.

Any questions? Please feel free to email us at auction@saqa.com.