Want to snag Bening’s ‘Cherry Orchard’ gown?

The Center Theatre Group, looking to test a new fundraising tactic, is auctioning off little bits of itself online.

Under the seller name “centertheatregroup,” the theater group put six items up for sale on eBay last Friday, including a gown worn by Annette Bening in “The Cherry Orchard” at the Mark Taper Forum early this year (minimum bid: $500) and a 1951 BMW motorcycle from “iWitness” in the same venue (minimum bid: $4,000). Bidding on most items is to close between 7 and 8 p.m. today.

The move, announced through e-mail to donors and ticket buyers, is unlikely to make a big difference in the finances of the organization -- taken together, minimum bids add up to $5,300 -- but the sale is a first for the company. Until now, said director of donor communications Elizabeth Lin, the organization’s auction experience has been limited to silent and live sales every other year at Angels Night events to raise money for education and outreach efforts.

By midday Thursday, the dress was at $500 and the bike had vanished -- a categorization glitch, Lin said, that would soon be remedied. Because much bidding usually takes place in the waning minutes of an eBay sale, Lin said, “I’m not making any determinations” on the results “until the bell rings.”

The auction’s other items included an original sketch by costume designer Gregg Barnes for “The Drowsy Chaperone,” which won a Tony last year for costume design in a musical (by midday Thursday, the high bid was $260); and an Al Hirschfeld limited-edition lithograph of the theater group’s founding director Gordon Davidson (midday Thursday high bid $104).