Final Armitage Week Post: Auction Proceeds

/ August 23, 2016

I wrote, he signed, she donated, you bid and you contributed – we all won! That is the latest fundraiser on the occasion of Richard’s birthday and in aid of Save the Children’s Syrian Children’s Fund in a nutshell. When I spontaneously started my Armitage Week posts 8 days ago, I was in a fangirl funk and I worried that this initiative might be my swan song. However, the universe had other plans… But before I launch in introspection again, I will give you what you are all waiting for. The final proceeds of the charity auctions and the voluntary donations that have been entrusted to me.

FullSizeRender

Not to worry, I will interpret these hieroglyphs for you…

That trust may have suffered a bit by the look at my books. Can someone send me Harry Kennedy, please? – Several reviews and recalculations later I am satisfied with the accuracy of the numbers. [Edit note: corrected a wrong subtraction and added info]

Harry accounts

First of all a massive thank you and congratulations to all of you who helped with this fundraiser (in no particular order) – through reading the posts, through re/blogging, re/tweeting and re/posting across platforms, through placing bids, through following the bidding on eBay, through paying up and through making voluntary donations! You have once again out-done yourself! Your kindness, support and generosity (of spirit and wallet) is the stuff of legends. No, really, it is. Thank you!

For those who – understandably – opted out of my update spam on Twitter, here is an overview over the individual proceeds of the various items. The final proceeds of the auctions came to a total of 1231.21 $ (1088.66 €), comprised as follows (sorry, individual prices in €, as provided by eBay due to automatic conversion):

The Crucible programme …………………89.50€

The Hobbit Movie Guide ………………….55.50€

The Hobbit poster pull-out ………………..15.50€

Empire Magazine Thorin ………………….62.50€

RAPS Love Love Love…………………….59.50€

RAPS King Oleron …..……………………107.50€

Custom RAPS …………………………….121.13€

Unmounted Armitage autograph 1………127.50€

Unmounted Armitage autograph 2………152.50€

Framed Armitage autograph 1 ..…………162.50€

Framed Armitage autograph 2 …………..177.50€

Total ………………………………………………1,131€

Total minus fees……………………………1088.66 €

The eBay and Paypal fees have cost us almost 50€; in some cases, they amounted to 6€ or 7€. (Now we know how eBay makes their money…)

However, we can make up the lost fees with the generous voluntary donations. Some of the donations came with the offer of using them for postage costs. I hope those kind contributors will not be angry with me for opting to take on the postage costs myself, in the end. Your contributions have gone into the donation fund, which amounted to a fabulous 302.88€ (342.47$).

Combined, the auction proceeds and the donation make a grand total of 1391.54€ or 1573.68$.  

Not all of the auction prices have arrived yet in my account, but once they do, I will transfer the final donation to Save the Children via their web page. (I will send proof of transaction to any volunteer who would like to act as my auditor! In the past, Helen and CraMERRY have done the deed. Once the donation has been made and the transaction has been approved by my auditors, I will let you know here on the blog/Twitter.) Should any reader still like to contribute to the fund with a voluntary donation, I will keep this option open until then. You can e-mail me for details/Paypal account info at guylty@photographer.net.

~*❤ *~

After the number-crunching, a few closing words remain to be said. It goes without saying that you have all blown me away with your enthusiastic response, your bids, your support and your donations. You are making a wonderful difference for the children of Syria, and the total contribution collected will enable us to sponsor SIX shelter kits that can keep six families warm and safe! That is a wonderful, very tangible result, don’t you think? As in our previous fundraising efforts, I am once again left with a warm feeling of my own – of knowing that compassion and consideration are alive and present in our fandom. Moreover, my aforementioned “fangirl funk” has been thoroughly dispelled. Personally, I *love* being part of a group effort, I love being part of a group, full stop. And in contrast to my recent feeling that the fandom was splintering into cliques without much cross-over, I felt that the fundraiser reached across a few divides. That may only be *my* impression, but it has made me feel more at home again. So no singing swans here, for now. Only much gratitude and love for you all, and also a teeny weeny bit for our mutual favourite man. Well, who am I kidding – I love him to bits… I still think he has a knack for attracting incredible fans. Ok, and he is now, at 45, sexier than ever. Resuming fangirling operations unscathed.

~*❤ *~

PS: The promised raffles have not been forgotten! I will raffle the gifts donated by Glady among all donors, and once I have gone through comment, reblog and Twitter notifications and compiled a list, I will raffle a RAPS among all supporters. Coming soon!

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49 thoughts on “Final Armitage Week Post: Auction Proceeds”

  7. You did a fabulous job and congratulations to everyone who participated and to the successful bidders. I am sure it did not escape anyone that the SIX highest bids were for your own art and photos.

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  8. Well done, everyone. There is nothing as fatal to a funk than watching kind people pull together for a worthy cause. And all those new pictures of Mr. A didn’t hurt. 😘

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    • I should keep that in mind for future fangirl woes. Must always have a few shrines in storage that can be auctioned at a moment’s notice. Mind you, that sounds like a rather selfish reason to call a fundraiser for…
      Yummy yummy RA… I can’t wait to see more of the rehearsals in NYC!!!

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    • thank you – and thank you, too, for signal-boosting. It is really not to be underestimated: On Aug 19, for instance, my blog counted 777 views. 289 of which were referred from me+r. That’s a massive proportion!

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  12. Absolutely wonderful! Evil ebay.. they could waver their fees when it is for a good cause but i guess hard to prove and that. Oh well 😉 it was such a wonderful and fun thing and i am positively bursting at the seams with warm feelings and fan batteries recharged. The photo coincidence was only the bit of glitter on top of the glowing fan heart. And my belief in fandom in general has also received a healthy boost 😊 thanks so much for organising and thanks to all the generous donors! And a pat on the back to the OOA as well for amazing us with his increased sexiness at 45 😍

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    • Yeah, it feels wrong to waste money on fees when we are collecting for a good cause, but as you say, it’s tricky to prove private fundraisers.
      Like you say, the success of the auction has really boosted my mood, too. It is nice to feel good about the fandom and one’s participation in it.
      OOA @ 45 = criminally sexy. Unfair. But oh-so-good to look at…

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  14. Wow! What a great result! Hope you weren’t too exhausted during the frantic final bidding! So happy for the auction winners and of course for the families who will get the kits. And I’m glad you’re feeling the RA Magic again!

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    • Oh yes, I feel the full force of the magic, Sue. And I am not even complaining. It’s nice to have butterflies in the tummy again.
      And thanks to the eBay bidding, it was not quite as exhausting as the previous auctions because I didn’t have to stay with the computer 24/7 to update bids. Mind you, I was more or less glued to the screen nonetheless *grins*

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  19. Awesome job, Guylty! Thanks for providing the vehicle for us to express our –ahem– admiration (yeah, that’s what we’re calling it now 😉😉 *nudge nudge*) for the ever-sexier Mr. A on the occasion of his 45th. Congrats to all the successful bidders! It’s heartening to see the fandom rally around two causes: 1) to provide some much needed shelter and aid to the children. Which, in true fandom fashion and thanks to the gorgeous items offered, they did admirably. AND 2) to help a sister fan through a fan-funk. I, for one, am happy no swans were singing. 🙂 👏👏👏

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    • Thank you Zan – double happy outcome for me, really. And yet, I am also slightly sad, because while preparing for the next blog post, I have just discovered that another stalwart fan has (almost) shut down. I don’t want to waiver in my re-found fan happiness, but I have to say that it really shakes me up when fan sisters leave… Sigh. Morose thoughts, when, of course, I am hugely happy with the donation raised and the support shown.

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  21. Fantastic result, Guylty. Not surprising given all your hard work and the involvement of the man himself 😃 Wonderful that you will be able to make such a significant donation. My ‘admiration’ is for both of you 😍

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