Auction re-timing before sale occurs

abcyang
abcyang Posts: 0 Arc User
edited April 2010 in General Discussion
Does this annoy the absolute _ _ _ _ (insert 4 letter word to your preference) out of you....

I see in auction lately A LOT, that when an item has only a couple mins left, even though I've bid on it, suddenly the time jumps back up to 8/16 or 24hrs. I assume because the item owner doesnt like the price and starts again somehow.

I dont get my money back and I dont get the item, and now I have to wait until the next time frame runs out.

This should be immediately rectified and stopped. Give item owners, 10 mins to withdraw or cancel an auction item, otherwise the sale goes through as commenced.

Please stop this asap....

Example - I bid on a weapon. Just before I win the auction, the timer restarts. I cant bid on another weapon until I find out the result of the first auction and I cant withdraw my bid, so I lost the ability to use my money, or take advantage of other sales, and I am delayed in getting the weapon I want.

Still waiting for auction result by the way.......
Post edited by abcyang on

Comments

  • Asheera - Raging Tide
    Asheera - Raging Tide Posts: 830 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    It doesn't work like that. If the owner canceled the bid you DO get your money back, same as when you get outbid.

    Another thing to note is that the owner can NOT cancel auction item if an hour or two (someone clarify please... I don't remember for sure) are left on the item.

    But there's another thing to keep in mind which most people don't know. If someone bids on an item that has less than 20 minutes left, the timing on it is increased by 20 minutes. Owner can't even take it out in this case, blame the ones that bid on it lol


    There's only one possible explanation of how you didn't receive the item for so long after less than an hour left on the item: you got outbid. Either people keep bidding on <20 minutes and it's same item there for a long time, or the item sold but to someone else and not you, and what you see now is a different item.
    First 103 on Raging Tide 30 Oct 2010
    Quit.
  • Thelas_Carr - Sanctuary
    Thelas_Carr - Sanctuary Posts: 448 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    As a buyer this can be pretty annoying, but if you're waiting until the last 30 sec to bid on an item in order to outbid someone else, then that's "sniping," which the auction system here is intended to prevent. Thus the 20 min of added time so that the auction continues indefinitely until someone has become the highest bidder (because nobody else is willing to place a higher bid than what's on the table).

    This mechanism is FANTASTIC if you're a seller because it ensure you get the very best price possible for the item you put up for bid. So the PWI auciton system prevents sniping and favors the seller over the buyer... it also favors fair competition among buyers rather than those relying on a snipe-tactic.
  • Lylfo - Dreamweaver
    Lylfo - Dreamweaver Posts: 1,166 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Thelas_Carr - Sanctuary wrote: »
    As a buyer this can be pretty annoying, but if you're waiting until the last 30 sec to bid on an item in order to outbid someone else, then that's "sniping," which the auction system here is intended to prevent. Thus the 20 min of added time so that the auction continues indefinitely until someone has become the highest bidder (because nobody else is willing to place a higher bid than what's on the table).

    This mechanism is FANTASTIC if you're a seller because it ensure you get the very best price possible for the item you put up for bid. So the PWI auciton system prevents sniping and favors the seller over the buyer... it also favors fair competition among buyers rather than those relying on a snipe-tactic.

    Not indefinitely. You can increase the timer for like 8 times(no sure) before it finally ends. So if you are patient enough, you can still snipe.
    Thanks Chillum for the nice Sig.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • StarmanSuper - Harshlands
    StarmanSuper - Harshlands Posts: 51 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    But wait, doesn't the 20 minutes get added in response to someone's bid? So how can you still snipe then if someone's bid on it 8 times already? That seems pretty inefficient to me. Please clarify if you meant something else.

    also for the record, if the system prevents sniping automatically by adding 20 minutes, then that's awesome. Then again I say that as a seller; for other auctions (such as eBay) where I'm much more frequently a buyer, I like being able to take advantage of auctions that are ending soon. I think it's better for perfect world because the search function for the auction isn't very intuitive and so usually the person "sniping" an item is one of maybe two or three people who ever see the item.
  • Formykka - Heavens Tear
    Formykka - Heavens Tear Posts: 41 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    StarmanSuper - Harshlands wrote: »
    But wait, doesn't the 20 minutes get added in response to someone's bid? So how can you still snipe then if someone's bid on it 8 times already? That seems pretty inefficient to me. Please clarify if you meant something else.

    eventually the time extensions end (I thought it was after 4 extensions myself, may be wrong there though), which can lead to sniping if you're REALLY watching the auction, but its pretty rare. Its a pretty clever auction system from what I've seen, it cancels a certain amount of sniping, but by the time the time extensions stop the price has been driven up to a reasonable level that the seller gets a decent price for their item.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • tweakz
    tweakz Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Few consider the auctioneer's perspective. I waited hours after the due time for a payout on an auction. When I chose 24 hours: I expected to have results in 24 hours!
    Be kind: Help the GMs to depopulate the servers.
  • WarrenWolfy - Sanctuary
    WarrenWolfy - Sanctuary Posts: 1,686 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    The OP isn't talking about the 20min extensions that are automatically added if a last minute bid comes in.

    He/she is talking about auctions completely resetting back to 8/16/24 hours.

    If that's really happening (personally, I haven't seen it happen to me), then it's an obvious bug, and a serious one at that.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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  • Airyll - Dreamweaver
    Airyll - Dreamweaver Posts: 2,882 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    WarrenWolfy - Sanctuary wrote: »
    The OP isn't talking about the 20min extensions that are automatically added if a last minute bid comes in.

    He/she is talking about auctions completely resetting back to 8/16/24 hours.

    If that's really happening (personally, I haven't seen it happen to me), then it's an obvious bug, and a serious one at that.

    ↑ This.

    I haven't experienced it either but maybe I'll give it a go to see if we have a problem with this anti-snipe system the game has implemented. I'm assuming that the two remain linked - perhaps a bug in the time extension system meaning you end up having to wait another eight hours rather than a simple twenty minutes.

    If it's not that I generally don't know what it can be. It's not a cancelled auction, otherwise you would have gotten your money back and the auction would then have had to be put back in, meaning for a period of time it isn't there.

    Best thing to do is to send a ticket.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Baruna - Lost City
    Baruna - Lost City Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    @abcyang: This is a totally stupid question but just in case... when you are outbid, you know that you get your money back from the mail box in-game by pressing "Item" and not directly from the Auction House? And you have checked the tab "My bids" to see that you are still the highest bidder? It's helpful to favorite the auction too so you can be sure it's not just a similar looking one. Or write down the ID.
  • Vasilisk - Harshlands
    Vasilisk - Harshlands Posts: 208 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Each slot hav own ID number. List of slots sorted by this ID. So, if _same_ slot reseted to 24h - this item must be one of first in list with 24h time. If u can see it - make screenshot and start ticket because it's bug.
    If u found same item with other ID number - probably or it's other similar item or auction was canceled.
  • Kupuntu - Sanctuary
    Kupuntu - Sanctuary Posts: 3,008 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Vasilisk - Harshlands wrote: »
    Each slot hav own ID number. List of slots sorted by this ID. So, if _same_ slot reseted to 24h - this item must be one of first in list with 24h time. If u can see it - make screenshot and start ticket because it's bug.
    If u found same item with other ID number - probably or it's other similar item or auction was canceled.

    Either way, he should have had his money back or the item given to him since he was the highest bidder.
    100% F2P player. Started PW: March 2007, Quit PW: March 2011.
    pwcalc.com/e7016929e7b204ae "Pure axe" 8k HP multipath BM, last one of my kind.
  • abcyang
    abcyang Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    ...no it wasnt a stupid question thanks

    and this is what happened

    - with 5 hrs left I bid on a weapon
    - I checked later and I hadnt been outbid, and there was an hour left, then I went to bed
    - the next morning I had no weapon and no money and I checked and there were some hours back on the auction
    - later that afternoon I won the auction anyway

    - and to everyone here who mentions the rights of the auctioneer. How bout you set the reserve price you want in the first place.

    - And then lets talk about the items owners doing this.

    - They set an item at a stupid price - like below NPC price, then continually reactivate it so it doesnt sell. And it seems obvious when its being done because like 20 items will have been posted like this at the same time suggesting it was the same person.

    - my gripe is the time waste. Irrespective of who has what rights, the process potentially stops someone getting a bargain or specific item elsewhere because they can be kept in limbo until the auction finishes.
  • Thelas_Carr - Sanctuary
    Thelas_Carr - Sanctuary Posts: 448 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    abcyang wrote: »
    - and to everyone here who mentions the rights of the auctioneer. How bout you set the reserve price you want in the first place.
    Whole-heartedly agree, but you should have a 15-min window, starting from when the item is first listed, to be able to cancel the bid; this covers the case of a typo (usually missing a trailing zero and listing your 10-pack of Source of Force for 7k instead of 70k or something of the like). This is a change worthwhile suggesting in a ticket so perhaps you should do that? I'm not sure how you'd relate the effects of such a change to more Zen purchases (company line may well be "If it doesn't increase profits, don't spend money changing/fixing it"), so don't hold your breath waiting for it get implemented, but no harm in asking! :)
    abcyang wrote: »
    - They set an item at a stupid price - like below NPC price, then continually reactivate it so it doesnt sell. And it seems obvious when its being done because like 20 items will have been posted like this at the same time suggesting it was the same person.
    This one's not so clear to me... posting 20 items at once is something I do all the time; if they don't sell they all come back to me in the mail at the same time and I simply re-list them again (all at the same time although I might adjust the price if I think the market value has dropped).

    Are you saying that you see a listing of 20 items that has hours, not minutes, left all suddenly get canceled and then re-listed again? That seems really unlikely--if it was a pricing typo, it usually gets canceled very shortly after it's been listed when the owner notices their error.
  • abcyang
    abcyang Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Its like you might do a comprehensive search for different herbs and suddently you find different herbs all advertised at the auction something like this

    serpentine herb (20) 1000 with 8hrs to go

    and similar for a lot of other herbs

    Then by the time the 8 hrs is nearly up, the bid might be 2200 and just before the timer runs out, all herbs reset to another 8 hrs. Is this the automatic reset people are talking about, or something else................
  • Thelas_Carr - Sanctuary
    Thelas_Carr - Sanctuary Posts: 448 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    abcyang wrote: »
    Then by the time the 8 hrs is nearly up, the bid might be 2200 and just before the timer runs out, all herbs reset to another 8 hrs. Is this the automatic reset people are talking about, or something else................
    That sounds like a bug if it's the same auction ID#... the automatic timer-extension does not "reset to antoher 8 hrs," it only adds 20 minutes when someone makes a bid and there's less than 30 min left to go. If you write the ID# down and it's the same item and it has not gotten down to 0 minutes and it suddenly jumps back up to 8 hours, then get a screenie and submit a ticket as that's a bug.

    That ID# is key because lots of sellers may make an new listing with the same herbs, in the same lot size, for the same opening bid--there's no foul play there, that's just sellers conforming to a "market condition."

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