Ok, what follows is a standard guideline for creating auctions. Most already get it and generally by trial and error. Remember it is "Your auction, Your rules" Just be clear up front otherwise it can lead to much drama, confusion and poor bid results. Standard Rules - Definitions... SB = Starting Bid BI = Bid Increment - minimum amount you have to exceed the current high bid amount BO = Buyout amount - you win automatically, no more bidding allowed 24hr rule = High bid has to stand unchallenged for 24 hours. if someone out bids it within that 24hrs, the clock restarts. 48hr rule = High bid has to stand unchallenged for 48 hours. if someone out bids it within that 48hrs, the clock restarts. Tips/Tricks Most auctions will say 48hr if one bidder, 24hr if more than one. That gives 48hrs for as many to see the auction as possible as we are NOT all sitting around our screens waiting on an auction to magically appear. After 2 bidders, auctioneers do not want to wait forever for the auction to end so they switch to 24hr rule. Worst auction types are those with a set deadline. This is not EBAY, folks aren't bidding and sniping. We have lives and are not inclined try to drop bids at the last second. Besides, it discourages bidding anytime before the very end. Take good pictures of the exact item, house, etc... If you have it to sell, buyers expect the exact item, not a similar one. Leave the Drama at Home - Someone goes off topic or is a non bidder, simply report it. Staff give much more weight and attention to reports by owner of the auction. "I reserve the right" statements. Not necessary. Your auction, your item, your rules... you are NOT going to get in trouble with the staff for not listing every possible thing you may or may not do with your auction. It puts off bidders and can lead to drama. READ the Forum Rules, FOLLOW the forum rules. - http://uorforum.com/threads/trade-forum-code-of-conduct-updated-6-10-16.17309/ Hope this was helpful
Bid Retractions There gonna happen. Best Practice is to wipe out all bids by the person who retracted to see what the next highest legitimate bid was. This could mean that the auction goes all the way back to the SB if its only the Retractor and one other person. Could be higher if there were more than 3 bidders total. HOWEVER Once you get to the next legitimate bid, that DOES NOT commit that bidder to honor their bid. Prior to the retraction, they were legitimately outbid and may have moved on. May no longer be interested. May have spent all their gold on something else. Check with them and ask them to verify that they are still interested in the item and their bid on it. Retractions suck... it may blow up your entire auction and you may have to start over. Report the retractor if you feel that shenanigans were being played. Remember, Your Auction, Your Rules. If someone has done this more than once to you, You may have a case for barring them from bidding or even getting their entire Forum rights revoked. Whatever you do... DO NOT DO IT PUBLICLY... just invites drama. Contact the staff, get a ruling. Follow that ruling.
What's the etiquette regarding posting in an auction thread, that you have no interest in bidding on?
Please do not edit or delete the potential (searchable) history of your auctions (completed, unsuccesful, or otherwise) especially the title.
Private bidding sounds like shenanigans on public auctions, and if you regularly entertain private bidding on your auctions you stand to lose many potential bidders.
With 48/24 style actions, if I come in at 23:59 and place the 2nd bid of the action, can I in theory snipe the item? Or does the full 24hrs start after the 2nd bid?
This is so important. I wish everyone would follow this etiquette. When an auction is compoleted just edit the title to say (Completed) or (Closed) instead of deleting the whole thing. I also don't like private bidding. Private bidders should be referred to the original auction to bid openly. Just my 2 gps.
I agree to an extent for private bidders. One exception i can see is if someone wants to buy a home but wants the privacy from certain people and/or groups. Some people like to troll certain individuals. But thats also a rare instance. Most of the time private bidding occurances are annoying.
I agree that to every rule there is an exception and yes, there are circumstances where a private bid would be necessary but these are few and far between. I just caution the exception becoming the rule.
I agree. However, in that instance I'd only accept private B/O offers. You want your privacy? Pay for it.
Despite not really active in the buying/selling marketplace, I read these forums daily. My observations below are mostly geared toward the real estate trends... These types of buyers/sellers/posters are my fun casual observations of what I see here. 1) The Rookie Realtor. This guy is still fairly new to the server, runs around with a bag of various deeds placing anything they can no matter where it is. They want an auction because it feels cool, and provides a chance to feel empowered by saying things like "I reserve the right to end this auction at any time". And despite the fact that the useless Moonglow small marble might net them a 5k profit and has been owned by 25 other people, they'll still dedicate weeks attempting to sell it. Sometimes The Rookie Realtor forgets to include screenshots, but it rarely matters. Their post receives a few sympathy 'hype bumps' from others, zero bids, and TRR quietly vanishes from the forums. 2) Wow, That Guy Is Still Alive? This is the player you hardly see around yet has the ultra rare stuff everyone wants, and while this player might not auction often, when they do you'll quickly find the who's who of wealthy UOR veterans piling up bids. 3) Marky-Markup. This unrealistic seller thinks 'his post, his rules' makes him a moderator. Overprices stuff, likes to play pseudo-moderator with the chime-ins on his own thread of 'please keep on track', but his thread will reach page five without a single bid before he goes crying to staff about his useless auction. 4) The Editor. The guy who edits the original terms of his auction. Yet keeps coming back to sell more stuff and for some reason, people keep bidding. You thought those terms said 48/24? Guess again! Suddenly this auction ends right now and went to a "private bidder". 5) The Serial Likist. Obsessively 'likes' posts, nonstop, all day, every day. 6) The Car Salesman. Hypes properties with nonsense such as 'fish from the roof!!', 'build your own village!', 'great for a new guild!', 'great place for a new player!', etc. There's the hot (prime location/guard zone/high traffic/Yew/bank), there's the not (the other 95% of Britannia). The Car Salesman deals exclusively with the 95%. 7) The Conductor. This guy drives the hype train. You'll see them often cheer-leading auctions, "nice place!", "hype train all aboard!!!!", "Wow! I once owned this!", etc. 8) Mr. Dissociative Identity Disorder. Mr. DID might've been forum banned, rage quit, or perhaps both - but he's back and makes no attempt to hide his identity. For some reason, Mr. DID is (mostly) welcomed back with open arms, though everyone still nervously awaits the next flame out, and you can literally hear the ticking sound every time he shows up somewhere. 9) The Privacy Guy. Also overprices stuff or is just generally unreasonable. A bit stubborn and won't admit defeat, so you'll see many of their listings conclude as sold to a "private bidder" as a way of avoiding public humiliation. 10) "^". ^ posts something nobody wants, but that doesn't stop the subsequent storm of ^ bumps several times a day, to the point where the entire thread looks like an ASCII Christmas tree created by a child. 11) Sir Tags-A-Lot. (Thanks @PaddyOBrien !!) This guy is all about being a bro and helping someone find something, but instead of using IRC Discord, just tags someone because apparently the other person, who uses the trade forums, won't see the post without a little help. 12) Mr. Important. Despite forum names being clearly displayed in the post, Mr. Important wants to make sure everyone knows that this auction is for Mr. Important in the subject line. Mr. Important might have a buy list, or selling something, but rest assured, you will know when Mr. Important is in the house, or selling one. 13) Math is Hard. This is the guy who disagrees with the starting bid and posts a bid under the starting bid along with a little blurb such as if you get no other bids I'll buy it for X, thus immediately lowering the perceived value of the item, insulting the seller and not following the auction guidelines all in a single sentence. 14) Spare a Quarter? This is the poster who can't afford even the starting bid of an auction, but feels compelled every time to make sure everyone knows they like the item, want the item, but just can't afford it. They believe others find this interesting. 15) The Reporter. This new breed of snowflake has become a trend among a portion of overly sensitive veterans who want their auctions to be sold with minimal background information on the item or property. Instead of embracing discussion and the free bumps to their thread, this person cheerfully wastes the staff's time reporting posts simply because they feel entitled, since they posted "bids only please" in their auctions. The reporter usually is closely tied to characteristics in #10 and #9.
24/48 rules are stupid with no buyout option. If you want to wait DAYS for an item worth 100k, fuck that. Don't be greedy and drag it out for an extra 10k
