Auction Rules

The Basics

● So-called 'Fun Auctions' are not allowed and will be treated as spam. Please do not create an auction if you do not intend to sell at the end.

● The Ending Date & Time for the auction must be clearly stated within the topic title; as well as the item(s) and quality been sold.
e.g [2009-05-27 | 20:00] 300,000 Q26 Herbs

● All the products must be sold together, unless in separate 'auction lots'.
An auction 'lot' may be selling 300,000 Q26 Herbs, but in two amounts of 150,000 each.

● Post the exact amount of your bid.
Simply saying "min increase" is not sufficient as your bid is open to interpretation then. If the auctioneer has specified a set minimal bid then your bid must be at least that much higher then any previous bidders.

● Always clearly include your city name when posting a bid.
Signatures can work to automatically do this, however it is advised to actually note that is your city; not just a random name.
e.g Cityname: Candrakar
Images that say "Candrakar" may not necessarily mean that is the name of your city, it could well be your forum name, or simply a nickname.

● Auctions must last a minimal of 48 hours unless a Buy-It-Now option is available (see below)
(e.g If the current time is 20:03 server time on the 15th; your auction must last until the earliest of 20:03 server time on the 17th.)

● Comments or Questions on any auction should be noted with a [No Bid] notice, unless you are making a bid at the same time. This helps to avoid confusion between people bidding, and random spam.

Optional Settings

● Minimal Bid - Set a minimum bid in which must be met to start the auction. This protects you from getting a low price you wouldn't accept.

● Minimal Increase - You may set this to denote the minimal amount a new bidder must bid above the previous bidder.
For example; the current bid may be 250,000 cT with a minimal increase of 20,000 cT.
This means the next bid must be equal to, or higher than 270,000 cT.

● Buy-It-Now - You may choose to set a 'buy it now' price in which a person can pay that amount to buy the items without actively bidding. Do be aware however if the actual bids come within 15% of this price the option automatically becomes invalid.

For example if the BIN price is 1,000,000 cT if the bids exceed 850,000 then the BIN option becomes invalid.
Similarly this applies to amounts per item. If a BIN price is 100 cT per item then bids must not exceed 85 cT before the option becomes invalid.

This must be stated in the first post however; the option may be added later but only if there have been no bids.

● Where possible you always state a delivery time within the first post as to an approximate time after the end of the auction the products will be delivered.

Regarding Private Bidding

Private Bidding is where a user messages the auctioneer via an In-Game Message to place a bid.

● Any received private bids must be posted by the auctioneer with a minimal of 6 hours before the auction is due to end.
Any private bids posted on the forum, or sent in-game are automatically invalid after the six hour mark has passed.

Cancelling Auctions

● Auctions may only be cancelled if there have been no bids after at least 48 hours.
This allows the Auction to last at least 48 hours too before been cancelled.
Please do try to be fair however and don't cancel an auction just because you haven't received any bids in so long.

Cancelling Bids

● You may cancel a bid only if you do so within six hours of your bid been placed, and only if you post within 12 hours of the expected auction end date.
There may obviously be times you need to retract that bid for any reason, in-particularly finding yourself unable to pay the full amount; you may however arrange with the auctioneer to buy at a later time, although it is up to the auctioneer's discretion on how long you have to gather the costs.
Auctioneers are not bound to offer you this discretion to gather funds, and are allowed to offer the stock to the previous bidder.


Another Variety - Open Auctions

One little bit of fun for the auctions as suggested by Rabiat has been open-ended Auctions where there is no specific ending date or time established.

They work the same way as every other auction with a few twists involved:-

● Your topic title must reflect on the auction type; for example
[Open-Ended Auction] 140,000 Q1 Horses

● Since these auctions technically have no established ending date or time a limit must be set into place.
You may set a specific time frame for when the auction will end depending on the time of the last bid.

If you set a limit of 12 hours for example then starting from when the first bid is received the Auction will close 12 hours after that bid. If another bid is entered within that time frame however then the timer is then reset.

Please be aware all timers must be set in accordance to Server Time (GMT +01.00) to help avoid any misunderstandings.

● The minimal time limit for bids is 10 hours.
These auctions are exempt from the 48 hour rule due to the difficulty involved in managing this time and if the auction has lasted that long.

● This time limit can be changed accordingly to your own personal preferences.
However they must not exceed 48 hours to help avoid stretching the auction out over a long period of time.

● Buy-It-Now prices can of course also be used for open auctions under the same conditions as listed above.

Additional Information

● Only Moderators have the ability to edit topics here in the Auction Forums.
If you do make a mistake when creating your thread please contact a member of the Moderation Team.
This has been done on purpose due to problems in the early days of the server, and particularly on the other languages with people changing their bids.

● "Bid up to XX Amount" -style bidding isn't allowed. Yes, there is such a feature on Ebay but it would be very difficult to keep track on here, any bid made is considered that persons actual bid.

● A bidder may ask for a third person to make bids on their behalf if they are absent during the auction, but they must state this on their own to say that person will be bidding on their behalf.
The bidder cannot however ask the auctioneer to automatically place bids upto a particular amount on their behalf.