I am honestly ambivalent towards the purchasing method, though with an admitted preference towards a set price -- not to keep the price low, but just so that I don't have to come back and keep checking to make sure my bid qualifies, worry about getting sniped, try to snipe, etc. Auctions just make things more stressful for the buyer, but if they make them enough easier for the seller, I honestly can't fault them overly, so long as the seller is willing to accept that they will likely get less money overall than if they had simply had a
properly set price. Their stuff to sell, their call.
The point that I find a more frustrating is the "small number/limited edition" bit. Creating artificial scarcity for a memorial seems a bit, well, cruel. It seems a harsh term, but I can really think of no better at the moment. Driving up the price artificially by unnecessarily limiting the supply means that some who knew him will suddenly have to decide whether their sentimental value is worth whatever price premium results from limiting the edition. It also requires those participants who have the least, to sacrifice the most, and when combined with an auction, still have the chance to be outbid in a moment on the whim of someone slightly better off. Worse, it invites both speculation (if one can put it up on eBay the month after the auction closes for 125% of their bid, that's an absurdly good rate of return), and the simple cruelty of wealth (someone who has never heard of SmallFry but has enough money to win all the auctions because they happen to like the design and want to give them out at their nephew's birthday party). And I will be the first to admit that this is not my rodeo and inlikeflynn is welcome to run this however he sees fit, simply expressing my own feelings/concerns.
If I might suggest an alternative:
Set up the foundation, and give a minimum donation to receive a gift of one such keycap. $5, $10, $500, whatever you think is fair. Again, I personally think that the production run should be large enough that the minimum donation to receive the memorial should be low, but that may well just be me. In addition to that, invite people to provide items for the top donors. Clacks, Industrial SSKs, or what have you. Then, after a set amount of time (a week, a month, two years less a day, whatever), announce the top donors and ship out the rewards. If there is a concern that the value of the item will outstrip the top donation, afix a minimum donation for each such item given. There is also the potential that one of GH's corporate friends might be willing to donate other items to this charity as well. Example: a CM-QFR for the first 25 donors who give more than $200. Though obviously that last bit is simple speculation.
Edit: To be clear, I never had the fortune of meeting or speaking with SmallFry, just the enjoyment of reading his words, so if those who knew him better believe the plan as stated is an appropriate memorial to him, I would certainly defer to their judgement, I'm just talking out my own thoughts here.
