How Auctions Work
Participating In Auctions:
All auctions are proxy auctions, which means bidders will be able to put the maximum amount they are willing to pay for an item, and if their bid surpasses the reserve price, their bids will be placed for them automatically in increments until either they have the highest bid, or they are outbid. Bidders may increase their maximum bid at any time by simply placing another bid.
Rules For Participants:
– If a bidder wins an auction as the highest bidder, but refuses to purchase the item, they will be suspended from bidding in future auctions.
Hosting An Auction:
Hosting an auction is simple, if you are a seller simply go to your dashboard > Auctions area, then click “Create Auction Listing”.
Once on the auction creation page, you will see all the usual fields when creating a listing, as well as the auction fields. The auction fields are as follows:
– Start Price: The price the auction starts at
– Bid Increment: The increments bids are made in. For example, if set to 2, bids are placed in multiples of 2 (2, 4, 6, etc). Custom bids of any amount can still be made however
– Reserve Price: The minimum amount you will accept for the item. If the highest bid at the end of the auction is less than the reserve price the auction finishes without a winner
– Buy It Now Price: The price you set to allow bidders to purchase the item outright before the auction starts. Once the auction starts the “Buy It Now” button disappears
– Auctions Start Date: The date the auction starts
– Auctions End Date: The date the auction ends
Shipping: You may have users from different countries bidding on your auction, so ensure to add shipping for each country to your listing. If you don’t want users from other countries bidding, do not add shipping for those countries and make it clear in the auction description that the auction is only for users from your stated country. (Just keep in mind you will likely end up getting a lower price for your item(s) with less bidders).
Rules For Hosting:
– Auction hosts must follow through on awarding the item to the highest bidder if their bid is higher than the reserve price. If a host fails to award an item to the highest bidder (that has surpassed their reserve price), the auction host will be suspended from hosting future auctions.