My fraud senses are tingling.
I only know of Collector's Den because they place a "Charity Auction" table inside the Hyatt Regency. Big letters that read "CHARITY AUCTION" with some (fairly common) posters and memorabilia, with a "sign-up" sheet to make a bid. Designed to get people thinking "Oh, I can support a charity AND buy something fun while I enjoy my business trip/vacation!"
Apparently they do this every month, although the hotel staff don't know much about it.
Just one problem: There is no information about which "charity" it supports, let alone a non-profit organization tax number.
It gets worse.
Their web site has an "Online Charity Auction" link at the top. That takes you to a page that simply says "Online Auction," with zero mention of charity. Elsewhere, they have a link to that same page where it also just says "Online Auction." So - not really a charity auction, just a regular auction.
It gets worse.
Their FAQ has no information on the "charity" portion of this. But there is a "FAQ" that reads "How do I make a donation?" that simply gives steps to "make a donation" without bidding or buying anything. But again, no mention at all of what the supposed charity might be.
Following the outlined steps take you to a page that reads "Donate to Collectors Den SYFOA" and allows you to enter an amount and then enter your credit card details. Wait, what? You give money to Collectors Den and NOT an actual charity? Huh? I mean, even if this were legitimate, that is horribly inefficient -- how much of your donation would actually reach the charity vs being used to pay Collectors Den's bills?
So what's going on?
Another reviewer from 2019 indicates that they're affiliated with Make-a-Wish (and other?) charities. But their web site simply says they can offer a service where they provide items at a lower cost for other organizations to use in fundraising auctions, so it's unclear if they're actually directly affiliated or if these so-called pop-up "Charity Auctions" benefit Make-a-wish or any other known charitable organization.
I've bid in auctions for real charitable organizations. I've never seen an organization hide their details or simply say "charity auction" instead of the specific needs that they meet in the community. That's counter-productive to an organization's goals.
This looks a lot like Collector's Den is using misleading/fraudulent marketing practices. I can't say for sure that's what's happening, and I really hope I'm wrong, but all signs point to this conclusion.
BUYER BEWARE read more