R2R Member Auctions In the Classifieds Idea Thread

[Jrhunter0000]

This is a awesome idea. Would love to see it happen!

 

[stephj03]

If it can be as user friendly as the old FS threads, then yes.

But if is going to resemble the new FS threads, I wouldn't bother. There's alternative platforms that are easier to use for auctions.

 

[Williamson’s Reef]

Great idea. I like the buy it now option, time extension after a bid is placed idea and a 10% increase to win the bid.

 

[Sean Clark]

How about a blind/silent auction option. The seller can set a minimum starting price, basically their reserve price, which would be visible to all. Then the bidders put in their bid price which is not visible to anyone but the bidder. Everyone can see how many bids are on the item but no prices.

Item for sale: New in box raidion g20 pro ultra super deluxe.
Starting bid $200.00
Number of bidders: 15
Auction ends: Thursday March 24 @ 2:00pm EST

Bids: (disclosed after auction)

Winning bidder #5: $475.50 to reefer123 Congratulations! Please check out HERE with your r2r wallet.

1: 450
2: 200
3: 250
4: 375.01
5: 475.50
etc...

The seller gets their reserve price any time a single bid is placed.
The bidders put their best price in because they want to win/still get a deal.
No issues with "snipers" or controlling bid increments.

Maybe the bidder would be able to increase their bid to ensure a win but that would not change the number of bidders, only raise that bidders individual bid.

Win win.

There would need to be some control to prevent multiple matching high bids in there somewhere.

 

[Unitylover]

nice idea!

 

[mfinn]

Not a fan of auctions.
The way it's been here is you have a item, put a price on it and that's final.
Is R2R getting a cut? Is this why this is being considered?

 

[revhtree]

Not a fan of auctions.
The way it's been here is you have a item, put a price on it and that's final.
Is R2R getting a cut? Is this why this is being considered?

No cut for us just thinking of more options for the community!

 

[Buckster]

I like the buy it now option along with the bidding. Maybe if we know that something retails for less than $100 then increments should be minimum $1.00. Anything valued over $100.00 the minimum increase could be $2.00. Now if something retails for over $500.00 then the minimum could be $5.00.

I also like the fact that the auction should have a 2 minute extension in case someone gets in a last second bid then at least one would have the chance to increase their bid.

 

[Simon Reefing]

What happens if the top bidder doesn’t pay?

 

[Unitylover]

There would need to be some control to prevent multiple matching high bids in there somewhere.

like maybe "sorry! that bid is taken! please increase your bid by at least 5%"

 

[Unitylover]

What happens if the top bidder doesn’t pay?

then it goes on auction again

 

[BILLYO382]

how about raffle option? example. $500 item with 20 spots @ $25 per spot. this would be better than auction IMO. ebay has auctions. unless your trying to generate revenue for the form and charging fee's per auction like ebay? you could still charge fees for raffles if that's the case.

 

[kingjames_dc5]

I think this is an awesome way to help people out in a time of need or just looking to exit the hobby. Great idea guys!!

 

[Sean Clark]

like maybe "sorry! that bid is taken! please increase your bid by at least 5%"

I think that would remove the blind aspect. If I get that message then I am going to increase my bid and know that it is higher than another. If you bid early you would be at a disadvantage.

Maybe a simple time stamp on the bids where if there are matching bids then the first highest bid would win.

 

[rmorris_14]

On EBAY, I've always been the sniper.. so all these ideas sound awful to me............ but super fair.

With that said, thanks for always looking for ways to keep the forum fresh! I would enjoy participating if an item struck my fancy.

 

[britnicole1724]

I feel like there should be some sort of way to avoid last second bidders. That is my biggest problem with buying stuff on eBay. You get people who sit there watching the clock tick down to bid $1 higher than you.

 

[Unitylover]

I think that would remove the blind aspect. If I get that message then I am going to increase my bid and know that it is higher than another. If you bid early you would be at a disadvantage.

Maybe a simple time stamp on the bids where if there are matching bids then the first highest bid would win.

yes

 

[britnicole1724]

I think a really helpful mechanic would be a custom cooldown timer (e.g., 2 minutes between bids) to help fight off auction snipers, and definitely include bid minimums that the seller can change to their liking. Nothing is more frustrating than being sniped out of something by 2 cents with 5 seconds remaining.

The problem with that is you’ll still get people who sit there spam clicking up $1 or whatever it may be to be the last one.

 

[Waboss]

Ok, so my 2 cents on this.

I think R2R hosting auctions for "any" equipment/live stock isn't worth the effort. Ebay is already there, all of the stuff we use is already on it, and it works pretty well (annoying sometimes, but pretty well).

If R2R has auctions for specific things that are more catered to our hobby and are difficult to list on sites like Ebay, then I guess that's something to think about. Perhaps whole system setups, or custom made items (acrylic, 3D printed, etc, to get folks more exposure who are creating useful things in this hobby and may have limited success on sites like Ebay due to not having a "name brand")

As for some of the option ideas I've seen posted so far, I'll give you my take on the ones I had an immediate "reaction" to (hahaha).

-Salient auctions: Not a fan for this purpose. Most silent auctions I've been a part of, or participated in, were either for very rare items or for charities. And those work well because their generally either really high value items, where you know what the value is gauged to be "near" or you don't really care, because it's going to a good cause. More importantly, this method is more like gambling to me, not really participating in an "auction", regardless of what it's called.

-Anti-sniper measures like adding time after the last bid: I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I think that's part of bidding in an auction. If you bid high enough, a sniper's less likely to out bid you. And if you really want it, then you should be engaged enough to watch the auction during the last 5 minutes to make sure your bid is in. Now, some kind of mechanism where if a bid came in during the last 5-10 seconds it extended it by something like 2 minutes might be cool. But only if it's limited to "trigger" 2 or 3 times. It's more than frustrating to have it keep going for 10,20, even 30 times....THAT can screw up someone's schedule if they only have limited time to watch and they've planned around it. Oh, and making it so bots can't easily snipe would probably be a good thing in this case (I'm all for people trying to win an auction, but bots make it unfair).

-Minimum % to bid: Ok, I kinda like this, BUT, it might be complicated to do it well. It has to be large enough to prevent folks from making a 1 cent higher bid, but small enough that it doesn't devalue the whole listing. You can't set a 10-20% minimum percentage on things. It's not a big deal at $20, but it is a big deal at $600, so it would likely need to be some kind of sliding scale based on the value/price of the item. Maybe make it so the person listing the items sets it. If they set it too high (maybe get a little greedy?), then no one will bid on it. If it's lower, they'll get more bids. Then at least it's up to the seller. Or maybe let the seller set a fixed increment, like $1, $5, $10, etc. per bid (depending on the estimated selling price of the item).

I don't know, this is all rambling off the top of my head. Feel free to ignore!

 

[reefrun]

I personally don’t like the idea of the end time pushing out with buds.. I get it, I hate snipers too, but i plan things so I can be available for when something ends and it would suck to have a moving target

LOVE the idea of auctions though, I miss all the great FB auctions. I’d love to buy from vendors as well as hobbyists!