CAFE General Auction Information

• Auction will be held at the Franklin County Fairgrounds - Ganyard Building, located at 5043 Northwest Parkway, Hilliard Ohio 43026 unless otherwise noted.
• Auction items must consist of Fish, Plants, Inverts & New and Gently Used Dry Goods. (Dry Goods are limited to 5 total items per person/family).
• No express bidding until the priority items are all auctioned. Once the priority items are all sold, we will open Express bids including (New and Rare). The buyer pays $3 to express it. The item will be auctioned as soon as possible.
• **No Native Ohio Aquatic species are allowed** These items, if not picked up, will be donated to anyone willing to take them.
• All fish must be 1" or greater except for Nano fish. Nano fish must be 1/2"-3/4" or greater.
• There is a 70/30 Seller/Club Split.
• Registration for sellers and buyers begins at 9:30 AM.
• The Auction starts at 11:00 AM.
• CAFE is NOT responsible for any accidents.
• CAFE is NOT responsible for any misrepresentation of fish.

Sellers

• The auction split is 70/30. The seller receives 70% of the selling price, CAFE gets the remaining 30%.
• There will be a 30 total bag limit per person or family.
• All fish must be 1" or greater except for Nano fish. Nano fish can be 1/2"-3/4" or greater.
• All hybrids must be labeled. Fish that are improperly labeled may be rejected.
• There is a bag limit of 5 bags of fish/plants per species or color variant (and only 5 dry goods)
• For every 5 items, the seller gets one priority sticker for items to be sold first in the auction (priority stickers can be used on fish or auctioned dry goods).
• CAFE reserves the right to refuse to sell any fish believed sick or deformed.
• All items must be checked in at registration and fish check in areas. Any issues spotted during check-in will be addressed at that time.
• Sellers will be mailed a check for the amount of their auction proceeds, generally within two to four weeks of the auction.

Proper Bagging Guidelines for Sellers:

• Bags should contain approximately 1/3 water, 2/3 air.
• All fish must be double-bagged. No exceptions!
• Improperly bagged fish will be rejected, no exceptions. Sellers are responsible for bagging their own items.
• All fish must be 1" or greater except for Nano fish. Nano fish must be 1/2"-3/4" or greater.
• No twist ties or zip lock bags.
• Large fish must be bucketed, fish 6"+.
• For emergencies, bags and rubber bands are available for $1/lot.

Labelling Guidelines for Sellers:

• Fish must be labelled as to what scientific and/or common name they are known by. Good labelling typically fetches a better price.
• The number of fish and sex (if known) must be labelled on the bag. Good labelling typically fetches a better price.
• All items must be labelled with a three-letter seller code (e.g. your initials) and successive numbers (e.g. 1 through 15). Bags without proper seller code are considered donations to CAFE. Please do NOT label your bags/items with random numbers.
• Placing seller's name and phone number, e-mail or website on each bag is required to help exchange information about the fish.
• Labelling Hybrids and unknown fish: See the section titled “Special Rules for Selling Hybrids”

Late registration for sellers:

• CAFE has always been very understanding of late registration. We understand that it is sometimes difficult to arrive on time, especially for out-of-town guests. We appreciate that the vast majority of local sellers register on time. Therefore, historically, the club has never felt the need to penalize sellers who register late. Their items will be placed on the tables and selected at random, just as everyone else. If the sale of priority items is complete or almost complete, the late registering seller may not receive priority stickers. This is at the discretion of the registration table. Again, thanks to everyone for making the effort to arrive on time so that there is no need to penalize late registrants.

Special Rules for Dry Goods:

• Sellers are allowed to submit five dry goods to the auction. Note, this means five dry goods in total. These five items must be from the permitted list. If you have a question about an item which does not appear on either the permitted list or restricted list, please email CAFE. Contact information is at https://www.columbusfishclub.org/
• All mechanical/electric items must be tested by the seller and be functional. For example, it is no longer permitted to submit a heater, filter or light as “untested”.
• Grab bags: Sellers are encouraged to combine small items into grab bags. To encourage this practice, sellers will be allowed to combine nonperishable and Non bulky non permitted items with permitted items in a grab bag an enter it into the auction. In other words, rocks, substrate, food, chemicals, and test kits can not be added to a grab bag in the live auction. Permitted Example: a seller brings in a box containing:
  • working and clean canister filter (permitted)
  • four aquarium thermometers (not normally allowed)
  • ten airstones, (not normally allowed)
  • some airline tubing (not normally allowed)
  • This box will be allowed to be entered as a grab bag into the live auction, and the box will be sold as one lot.

Items permitted into the live auction (Limit 5 total items per seller. Also, items must be in working, good condition):

• Aquariums (Must be clean, No cracks or chips)
• Aquarium Stands
• Driftwood (Must be in good condition)
• Working Heaters and Lights
• Electronic Water Test Instruments
• Hang on the Back, Canister or Unused Sponge Filters
• CO2 Tanks, Diffusors, Regulators, etc.
• Canopies
• Water pumps
• Air pumps and Blowers
• Commercially made Ceramic/pottery caves (pleco caves, apisto huts, etc)
• Powerheads
• Commercially made speciality aquarium electronics and mechanical devices (example: Korallin denitrators, Eheim surface skimmers)
• Live food cultures
• Books
• Gravel cleaners/pythons
• Oxygen tanks and accessories
• Alder cones, Almond leaves, and other tannin producers
• Poret foam
• Working pH meters, TDS meters and other electronic testing equipment.
• Commercial Egg Tumblers

Donated Dry Goods:

Occasionally the club receives brand-new merchandise from sponsors. These items will be allowed into the live auction at CAFE’s discretion. This may cause items on the restricted list to enter the auction. Cans of food and chemicals donated directly from the manufacturer will be unopened and not expired, so there is no worry about quality. Items donated by hobbyists to CAFE will generally need to meet the criteria listed above. Thank you for your donation(s)!

Buyers

• Buyers must register at the Registration Table with a valid driver’s license or State Of Ohio Valid ID.
• Cash, check, and now credit cards are accepted with proper ID. CAFE reserves the right to refuse check payments from people blacklisted by other clubs for bounced checks.
• Buyers can request immediate auctioning of an item for an “express bid” fee of $3 paid to CAFE. Please keep in mind; paying for priority bidding does not guarantee you will be the high bidder.

Rebagging station and buyer disputes:

There will be a rebagging station at the event. CAFE makes every effort to check fish during check in, but it is difficult due to the fast pace of check-in. We want all fish to arrive home safely. If you purchase a fish which needs rebagging, please bring it to the rebagging station, and it will be rebagged for free. If you purchase a fish which is mislabeled, diseased, or damaged, please bring this to the attention of a CAFE official immediately (before the auction ends) so we can remedy it then. Once the auction ends, it is very difficult for the club to help you, so please inspect all fish and dry goods purchased.

CAFE Member Benefits:

As stated above, CAFE members who are current with their dues will get an extra priority sticker and one free express bid per auction. If someone registers as a member at an auction, they receive these benefits immediately.

If you have any further questions or seek clarification of any of the above rules, please contact us and let us know.