I had a very unusual purchase from my store last year.  Someone was purchasing art through ebay auctions to use as her contribution to her organisation's fundraising art auction.  What a great idea!  With a little planning one could snap up all these wonderful little daily paintings ( mine are 6x6 ) on ebay auction or contact some of the daily painters on ebay to get a better buy it now purchase price if you are buying a group of paintings.  In Tulsa we have a traditon of 5x5 show where all of the artists contribute a 5x5 painting for sale for $55.55 on Cinco de Mayo ( 5/5 ) People line up around the block to be the first in the door to snap up these little jems.  ( many of us normally would sell these between $100-900 depending on the artist )  Patrons pay a fee to get in the door and the organisation cashes in royally. 

I am part of a grassroots effort to make sure artists get paid for their work as many charities ask for donations from us w/o realising that the tax laws are set up in a way that we can not take the value of our donation off of our taxes.  We have been encourageing organisations to always give a portion ( 50% is great ) to the artist.  Everyone wins.  The organisation gets a quality piece ( we can't afford to give up what we could sell in a gallery w/o a portion of the profits ) We get only our best work out in public ( without the split we are forced to give less than quality and that only hurts us, the organisation, and the patron )  With the split you are getting a piece that will bring in a better price, your patron walks away with a bargin and a great painting and the artist can feed their family. 

Buying directly from the artist on ebay is another way for everyone to win.  I hope that some of you will consider this great fundraising idea and bid, bid, bid.  There are some wonderful little paintings out there.  Look under daily paintings and art under $100 to get started or better yet check out my ebay store. http://midwest-fine-art.com

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