public function contact($selectedauction) { $null = array('0' => 'Select Auction'); $turn_object_into_array = Auction::lists('title', 'id'); $auctions = (array) $turn_object_into_array; //Turns your object into an array // array_unshift($auctions, $null); //Takes the null field and puts it at the beginning of the stack $auctions = array_merge($null, $auctions); $selected = $selectedauction; if (Auth::check()) { $auth_user = User::where('login_id', '=', Auth::user()->id)->first(); return view('reusable/contact', compact('auth_user', 'auctions', 'selected')); } else { return view('reusable/contact', compact('auctions', 'selected')); } }