Auctions & Trade (manual)

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Auctions and Trade

The Mall is the main location to sell your extra items or buy items from other players. But if you're looking for old donation items, the International House of Auctions may be a better place to find them.

There is also a secure trading system where two players can negotiate and exchange items and/or chips.

Auctions

Auctions are one way to exchange old items from the Wok of Stars. Like the Wok, the International House of Auction runs off of silver stars.

The auctions are run with sealed bids, with the final price the winner pays being just enough to beat the second highest.

So, if you bid 10 stars and the next highest is 5 stars, you'll end up paying 6 stars for the item. If you tie, the winning bid is selected randomly, so be sure to bid how much you're willing to pay.

Sellers can set a minimum bid. If there are no other bidders, the final price will default to that minimum bid.

All auctions last three full days (rollover-to-rollover) and can't be cancelled once begun, so think things through before you list an item.

Remember that old Wok items are also able to be placed in the Mall for purchase with chips.

Trade

The trading pages are a subset of the game's messaging system. You can get there by going to the messages section. Alternately, player profiles and the player search will provide links to propose a trade to that player. Trade is a three-step process, and ought to be fairly intuitive. One player starts by proposing a trade with another player. They select what they will offer in trade, and can add a note saying what they would like in exchange. The second player then puts in their half of the trade. The first player is then given the opportunity to verify that all is as it should be, and confirm. This process can be streamlined a lot by negotiating the deal first in chat, so that both parties have already agreed to the terms and know what to expect. Note: You are responsible for reviewing each transaction thoroughly, and making sure that you are getting what you want before you agree to the trade.

Both parties can cancel any offer at any time--trades that are waiting for another player to respond are still listed under the "your proposals" page, in case you need to see what's on the table or want to cancel the current offer. There is a page for completed trades, too, so you can see the last few days worth of transactions.

Offering an item for trade does remove it from your inventory and tie it up for the duration of the transaction. If the offer is canceled at any point, the item will be returned to you.

A note about scams: It is a common scam in many online games for players to claim that the "trade system is broken" and encourage you to engage in an unsecured transaction where you first send them the items in a message and then they promise to send their half back. Don't fall for this. If the trade system is actually broken, there will be notices everywhere on each page explaining what has happened. Without such notices, you can be assured that the system is not broken, and the player most likely is trying to scam you instead.

Notes

• Prior to the closure of the Auction House on 1 November 2014, the "Auctions and Trade" section was:

The Auction House is a public location where you sell your extra items, or buy items from other players. There is also a secure trading system where two players can negotiate and exchange items and/or chips.

• The "Auctions" section was:

The basics of buying:

Pick the category of item you're interested in. Then pick the item you'd like to buy.

Items can be listed with a "buy-it-now" value. If they are, you can click the Buy Now button to purchase it immediately at the buyout price.

Alternately, you can bid on the item by putting the bid price in the box and hitting the Bid button. The auction house will take your money immediately and will hold it until either the item delists and you receive it, or someone else bids a larger amount, in which case you will get your money back. More expensive items have a minimum bid increment--this will be listed in the notes section. Example: "Min bid +10" means you must bid at least 10 chips more than the current price.

Any item for which you are the top bidder will be highlighted in blue, just like the box surrounding this text. You will also see a note in the Notes column saying "(Top bidder)". Both of these clues will let you know that you currently have the item. The auction house will allow you to outbid yourself (if you feel you need to make a more competitive offer) so be careful not to accidentally bid against yourself.

The basics of selling:

To sell an item you must pick which item you want to sell, the quantity of that item that you want to list, and then make some choices about the prices you want to set. You can set a starting price, which is a minimum bid that buyers have to meet before they can get the item. Note, however, that this starting price will be used to determine the listing fee of the auction, so an unrealistically high starting price might cost you money if the item doesn't sell. You can leave the starting price blank, in which case it will default to the autosell value of the item.

You can also enter a "Buy-it-now" price for the item. This is also optional. If you leave it off, bidding will simply continue for the duration of the auction. If you put in a buy-it-now price, other shoppers can purchase the item instantly at any time for that price.

Finally, you need to pick a duration. Currently, because of the beginner state of the economy, the choices are 1, 3, 12, and 24 hours, and 3 days.

Any item which you have listed will show up in a gold-colored box, just like the box surrounding this text. You will also see a note in the Notes column saying "(Your auction)". Both of these clues will let you know the listing is yours. You cannot bid on your own auction.

Auction durations (very short, short, long, very long):

Very short means around 15 minutes or less. Short means one hour or less. Medium means less than four hours. Long means 12 hours or less. Very long is any amount longer than that. There is some randomness to how these times display to prevent sniping, so changes and inconsistencies in the time display are probably normal.

Selling fees:

Every seller who lists an item is charged a listing fee, which is equal to 5% of the autosell value, or 5% of the starting price, whichever is higher. If the item sells, the seller gets this fee back, along with the proceeds from the item. If the item doesn't sell, the auction house keeps the fee. However, if the item does sell, the auction house retains 5% of the selling price.

Buyers never pay a fee for purchasing items.

• Before the Auction House reopened on April 9, 2015, the "Auctions and Trade" section read:

The Mall is the preferred location to sell your extra items, or buy items from other players. There is also a secure trading system where two players can negotiate and exchange items and/or chips.

• The "Auctions" section was placed after "Trade" and simply said:

The Auction House is not currently being used, but you should check out Player Shops at the Mall.