Auction Deadlines

[CrystalTears]

I'm curious why suddenly people are putting a deadline on auctions these days. I don't mean for those who are quitting and need to be finished by the time their account closes. I'm referring to those who are selling what seems to be creature found items. I've only noticed this trend since the treasure system update has gone out.

It's rather annoying that people are setting it up for a day or two. Why don't you just don't let people bid it out? Wouldn't that garner you more silver if you just wait for it to end on its own?

Of course the sudden bought on buy out has bugged me but I'm learning to deal with that one, and would/could be a rant for another day.

[Kitsun]

A deadline for bidding is probably closer to the ebay model. Encourage people to get a bid out rather than having people slog it out for weeks with minimal bumps every few days.

[diethx]

Yeah except, like on eBay, that doesn't usually happen. People wait til the very last second and in the case of the PC version, the buyer always seems to lose money (from what i've seen).

[Stretch]

I do it because I don't like waiting.

Instant gratification generation. Old people don't understand I guess.

[War Angel]

Since I'm guilty of this, my reasons for auctioning the way I did had to do with the amount of PMs I got about the one single item. I received 3 BO offers on the item, and people seemed to want it pretty fast. Hence the 36 or so hour auction.
I also thoroughly HATE day by day updated auctions where someone waits until it gets to the third day of calling the bid and then ups the bid by 5k, prolonging an almost ended auction another 3 days minimum.
Since I have an 11-13 hour workday schedule, and I knew I'd be available at that specific time to end the auction and deliver, I was comfortable with the way I set it up.
The no PM'd bids, well, that eliminates any suspicion of upping the CB myself, as it's all out in the open for everyone to see.
The final bid by 9:30 pm ended the BS of last minute bids, and arguing over who had the final bid.
I wanted a hassle-free auction, and for me, that's what it was. :)

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

I try to be patient but I get annoyed after a fashion of an auction being drawn out because people are outbidding each other by 5k every other day. Same with something that isn't generating interest-- if no one is bidding at all on something, it makes sense to say "If no one bids by x date, the auction is over." This way someone won't find the auction a month later, bid, and then get upset that you didn't update.

I generally don't sell stuff because I'm trying to make the most money. I sell stuff because I'm trying to get rid of it/free up space and would like to make some money while I do it as well as give people the chance to get some enjoyment out of items I'm no longer using.

[Mr. Dallas]

My "favorite" this week was an auction advertised to last until 5PM - and then the seller decided to end it at 4PM instead. (Umm without telling anyone, so my bid between 4 and 5PM was ignored.)

I just won't bid on that person's stuff anymore - no big deal.

D.

[Izzy]

Since you're bitching about my auction, I'll toss in my two cents. Maybe next time you should show at least some interest more than 2 minutes before the item is supposed to be sold. I'm not saying my auction was perfect, and it cost me 200k in profit by ending when I did. But to be fair, there had been zero interest from anyone (outside the original bid) for the full duration of the sale until your offer. I had no reason to expect a last minute bid, so I didn't care to honor it. And like you said, you don't have to bid on my items or like my style. Everyone has their own.

[Mr. Dallas]

Since you're bitching about my auction, I'll toss in my two cents. Maybe next time you should show at least some interest more than 2 minutes before the item is supposed to be sold. I'm not saying my auction was perfect, and it cost me 200k in profit by ending when I did. But to be fair, there had been zero interest from anyone (outside the original bid) for the full duration of the sale until your offer. I had no reason to expect a last minute bid, so I didn't care to honor it. And like you said, you don't have to bid on my items or like my style. Everyone has their own.

Are you fucking kidding me? When you have an AUCTION you can't fucking dictate WHEN the bids come in. You want to END an AUCTION EARLY - SAY SO.

Now go STFU.

D.

[Methais]

Are you fucking kidding me? When you have an AUCTION you can't fucking dictate WHEN the bids come in.

But he can dictate when they stop coming in.

To be honest I probably woulda done the same thing. If I only got 1 bid on an item for the entire auction, I'd probably end it early too not expecting any new bids to come in. And if he already told the other guy he ended the auction, I'd say he's more obligated to honor his bid than yours.

And if you really did bid 2 minutes before the auction ended, then hopefully you learned your lesson. But yeah he should have posted to say he ended it early anyway. But he didn't and now it's serious business.

Now go to your room and think about what you did.

[Durgrimst]

I make mins short because I have gotten multiple drops worth over 2mill now. To me that is a damn fine drop, and I'm not gonna sit on a cool item that others could appreciate just to squeeze an extra 500k. It is all up to the person that found it, but I would much rather sell if for a decent price, then hold out for a GS retirement plan.

[AestheticDeath]

I know some people end early for reasons like that to prevent snipe bidding like often happens on ebay.

Sniping is fairly juvenile in this instance, if you want an item bid early, bid like you want it, and don't pussy foot about.

Anyways, anyone selling an item has the right to sell it in any manner they choose. If they want to end it early for whatever reason, I don't see any problem with it, even if it is sometimes upsetting.

[Gan]

I almost always put a timeline on my auctions. It gives the people bidding a sense that the sale will be eminent rather than being drawn out forever - which can have people jumping on the availability of a like item elsewhere if the price is similar.

And with a timeline auction - people who really want said item are much more likely to offer the buyout price if the participation is heavy on said item.

[Izzy]

I know some people end early for reasons like that to prevent snipe bidding like often happens on ebay.

Sniping is fairly juvenile in this instance, if you want an item bid early, bid like you want it, and don't pussy foot about.

Anyways, anyone selling an item has the right to sell it in any manner they choose. If they want to end it early for whatever reason, I don't see any problem with it, even if it is sometimes upsetting.

This is pretty much how I feel. I agree that I probably should have made a note in the auction that I was deciding to end it early, but basically I had just logged into the PC at 4:12, noticed that my item was on the second or third page with no recent posts, and I had no PM's. So I called it quits, contacted the winner that I was just going to let him have it, and here we are. Again, not claiming to be an excellent, or even good, auctioneer. That's just how it goes sometimes.

[Fallen]

Just put a disclaimer in your auction from the start that you reserve the right to pull the item for any reason, refuse to sell to anyone, and close the auction at any time. If you have a decent reputation people will still buy under those conditions.

[B2]

Just like ebay though, people wait until the end draws near to bid to keep the price low.

Why haggle back and forth, upping the bid a few times, when I can just snipe in at the end for a lower price?

[CrystalTears]

The only problem I had with it, really, is that it's not exactly like eBay because here you can have anonymous PM bids and then suddenly you see a buy out offer was made and it's over. If they had listed buy out amounts I'd be okay with it, but it's usually someone bidding some largely huge stupid amount anyway.

Consider it just me being a little jealous that I don't have millions of silver to outbid people around here. :D

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

The only problem I had with it, really, is that it's not exactly like eBay because here you can have anonymous PM bids and then suddenly you see a buy out offer was made and it's over. If they had listed buy out amounts I'd be okay with it, but it's usually someone bidding some largely huge stupid amount anyway.

Consider it just me being a little jealous that I don't have millions of silver to outbid people around here. :D

With my auctions, one of my first auctions I posted what I sold something for, with the buyout.

I had a lot of people complain to me, "Oh I'd have paid more". So finally with one item, the person who had the buyout said he'd let the other person have it for the larger price, and then that other person backed down.

To me it's not worth the headache of people bitching and moaning to post the buyouts.