Ryder Quiroga - Auction Spotter

Ryder Quiroga is the youngest member of Team Stellar, but he’s been around fundraising auctions for much of his life. He attended his first fundraising auction, the Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction, when he was one month old, and has been an active part of the fundraising auction world ever since.

Ryder sold his first auction lot when he was only four years old. It was an afternoon school fair auction, and lot #42 was a child’s pedal car. The organizers asked if Ryder would be willing to ride the car across the stage when it was up for sale, and his response was, “Yes, but only if I get to say ‘sold!’”

 Ryder began spotting at his father’s auctions when he was twelve years old and had an immediate impact on events. His first auction as a spotter was for the Oakland Museum of California, a 500-person gala held in a tent at the museum. On the very first lot, someone tried to bid as the auctioneer was closing the lot. Ryder confirmed that they still wanted to bid more and immediately asked the auctioneer to re-open the lot – which then sold for $5,000 above the initial sale price.

Since then, Ryder has worked on numerous events, large and small, including some of the largest events in San Francisco and beyond. He has bid spotted for 1,000 person galas in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. He has worked fund-a-need only events, and 32-lot wine auctions.

Ryder has also worked in other event support capacities for fundraising galas, including stage managing, teleprompter operation, registration assistance and more.

When he isn’t working an auction or attending school, Ryder’s hobbies include Polaroid photography, boxing, and streetwear.