1. Registration for both buyers and sellers will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. The auction will begin promptly at 11:00 a.m.

2. All GPASI member BAP and AHAP items will be auctioned at the beginning of the auction. Donations will be sold during the auction at the auction chair’s discretion.

3. Following the sale of the last AHAP item, the auctioneer will move on to items offered for sale by registered sellers. The proceeds from the sale will be split between the seller and GPASI at a ratio of 70% to 30% in favor of the seller.

4. The auction will be conducted using a ten-table system. All items ending in #1 go on Table #1, all ending in #2 go on Table #2, etc. All items ending in #0 go on Table #10. All items with #1, #11, #21 etc will be auctioned first. Following tables to be sold will be picked at random.

5. There is no maximum or minimum number of bags that can be placed in the auction. However, a maximum of 5 bags of one species or color variety for one seller will be in effect. The auction chair can modify this rule at his discretion if a request is made prior to the day of the auction. Each item will be assigned a seller’s code (usually the seller's initials) and a number by the seller, such as PDB - 1. Letter identifications can be pre-registered by phoning Jim Davidson at (412) 781-3938 between 5-9 p.m., ONLY. Only 1 letter identification will be assigned to a household.

6. Only fish and plants will be sold at the auction – no dry goods.

7. Anyone in attendance may purchase or sell items in the auction, but must first register with GPASI as a buyer and/or seller.

8. ALL BIDDERS must have a bidding card whether paying cash or running a tab. Buyers may pay cash at the time of purchase. All registered buyers will be given an account number and be designated as a cash or account buyer. This account number will be used to designate their purchases. The account buyer must sign a bidder's slip that shows the price, item number, and your buyer number agreeing to pay the listed price. Buyers setting up a buyer account will be required to leave identification with the registration table. This is usually a valid driver's license. All other forms of identification must be approved by the show chair. Upon paying your tab you will be returned your identification. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE! A Buyer Account must be established before making your bid. Auctioneers will only recognize those bidders with the appropriate bidder's cards.

9. Bidding will be made in increments of one dollar. While the auctioneer may suggest a price to start the bidding, a lower opening bid may be offered by anyone. The minimum bid on any item is one dollar.

10. Acceptable means of payment: GPASI will accept cash in the form of US currency, a US money order, a cashier’s check in US funds, or a traveler’s check in US funds with proper identification. Personal checks in US funds may be accepted with proper identification. Verification must be recognized in advance. GPASI reserves the right to refuse to accept any personal check.

11. There will be NO EARLY CHECK-OUTS PERMITTED DURING THE AUCTIONING OF THE LAST TWO TABLES. Check-outs (paying for your auction purchases) will resume at the closing of the auction.

12. To place a bid, merely raise your bidding card to gain the recognition of the auctioneer. The auctioneer can accept only one bid at each price and the decision of the auctioneer as to who made that bid is final. It is the bidder's responsibility to communicate the bid to the auctioneer. The auctioneer will not be held responsible for lost bids or inaccurate bids due to lack of communication or the inability of the buyer to get the auctioneer's attention.

13. Bags used to hold items for sale must be clear plastic and of the type used in pet stores. “Baggies,” “Zip-Locs”’ or opaque trash bags are unacceptable and will be returned to the seller. Each bag must be sealed by a rubber band or tied shut. Twist-ties are not acceptable. The bag should generally contain 1/3 water and 2/3 air. Any item needing to be rebagged by the show committee will be charged a $1 rebagging fee that will be deducted from the seller’s proceeds. Large or spiked fish must be double-bagged.

14. The seller must have certain required information on the bag in order to properly sell the item. The minimum requirements are the Seller Code and bag number, Species scientific/common name, quantity in the bag, seller’s name and phone number. The information provided must be legible, large enough to read, and unaffected by water. Items to be auctioned will be checked by a member of the auction committee prior to being placed on the auction tables. Any problems with items to be auctioned will be corrected by the seller at this time.

15. The auction chair reserves the right to refuse any fish for sale due to deformity, illness, etc.

16. If a buyer experiences problems with a seller’s fish, please take up the problem with the seller. It is advisable to let GPASI know of the problem; in that way we can better control next year’s auction.

17. Proceeds from the auction will be paid by check to the seller within two weeks of the show. Proceeds will not be deducted from your purchases at the show. You will be expected to pay for your purchases at the time of sale. All sellers' splits will be paid by the stated check.

18. For those who wish to auction valuable items and who do not want to face the possibility of having to buy them back, we are offering a minimum bid option. To establish a minimum bid on one of your items, buy a sticker for $1 for each item on which you want to impose a minimum selling price. Simply place the sticker on the bag and print the minimum price on the sticker. To prevent tampering, you may also write MB next to the item description on the bag and on your seller sheet. When the item comes up for auction, the auctioneer will announce the item to be a minimum bid item starting at your sticker price. There is no limit on the number of items for which you may do this. It is prudent to establish realistic prices for these items, since any not obtaining the minimum bid will be returned to a rear table for you to retrieve at the end of the auction and will not be offered for bid again. In effect, they will have cost you a dollar to not sell them.

19. For a $2 fee per item, a buyer can put an item on express, so that an item that would ordinarily be sold later in the auction will be auctioned at the next opportunity. See auction staff if you want to express auction an item.