Rant: Account Auctions

So I've recently got into the business of account auctions. Which are a complete farce. Why? There's one thing all online auctions need, and that's an end date. Without one, there's no pressure for people to bid, and no reason the auctioneer would ever sell at a decent price. The reality is, auctions on WH are just sales asking for offers. An auction is a risk for the auctioneer, they may get a great deal, they may get ripped off. How they work now doesn't work at all. The auctioneer can wait forever if they'd like, they don't have to have an end date. Just take a look at these examples here and here. In the first, the autioneer is asking for more points than the highest bid from the highest bidder. Auctions don't work like that. In the second the person clearly says they have the right to choose not to sell. Which is fine if you're selling at a set price. Not in an auction. Auctions are both risks, as well as rewards, and those creating them need to realize this.

This was a problem on another site I used to be on, MagiStream. Without end dates, people would wait until they were happy with the bid. And that's great for the auctioneer, but the fact of the matter is that bidders have the right to get a good deal as well. Not to mention if the auctioneer never gets a good bid, they simply choose not to sell. If you've ever been on an actual website with auctions, you realize this is not how that works.

What needs to happen is rules need to be set in place for auctions. A set end time must be required for all auctions, time zoned and all. The auctioneer is then required after this set time to sell to the highest bidder, even if they are not happy with what they received. Bidders must also post their bids directly on the thread, to avoid confusing others.

'But Lo, this will make accounts sell for less!'

Actually, no. Accounts that are actually worth something will still get ridiculous bids. This also creates a competitive atmosphere with people one upping each other right before the auction ends. This system will prevent people from creating those 'might be selling' topics (which are ridiculous, if you want to sell, just sell) while providing to both bidders and auctioneers in a fair way. The ability to simply sell your account for a set price would still be in affect, but if you're going to auction your account, you'll have to be aware of the risks you're taking. It's only fair to all.

Obviously we'd need some better policing of auctions, just to make sure people pay debts and don't try and get under the radar if they don't get a high enough bid for their liking. This would also prevent people from bidding and deciding after they've changed their mind, thus screwing the one auctioning. In addition, we really need a system to prove if people have the points (I'm sure we've all seen a newb or two boost an auction with points they clearly don't have). The sales board just needs some fine-tuning, to make it fair for all.

Speaking of auctions, if you haven't seen these ones already, check them out. Sea is holding an auction of a 15 GBP donation for accounts and points. Band is also selling a sexy account here who's bid is still quite reasonable. And Jek's selling two accounts with fairly low IDs, if that's your thing.

All I've got for today it seems. Hopefully I don't run out of topics with how much I've been posting.