OK, here is a get you started in knowing how to use the Auction.
First things first. The auction costs you 1 PED to place anything in the listing.
Therefore, you should never place anything on the auction that will not action for more than TT (Trader Terminal) value plus 1 PED.
A Jester D1 is usually one of those items. They usually go for around TT + 0.50 PED. Therefore most people will lose 0.50 PED putting it on the auction. Those that didn’t get any bids lose the entire PED for putting it there. You would have been better off selling it to a TT machine.
Other stackable items are good things to auction, but usually require a larger amount of it in order to overcome the 1 PED in the percentage markup. So, if Oil is going for 120% on average, you will need at least 5 PED worth of it to auction just to beat selling it to the TT machine. If you had 10 PED worth of Oil, and you auctioned it at 120%, then you will have only made 1 PED, a mere 110% on that oil. You would have done better selling it to a trader on the street for 115%.
Of course there are the un-usual cases where the buyer may be looking for only a small quantity as to try and craft a one-off or perhaps being a new player and not knowing it was a bad deal.
Which comes to buying. As a buyer you should not buy from the auction at anything over the going market rate either. Unless you’re in a pinch and are buying only a small quantity. Usually it would be better to find it from a dealer in the street for such a small one-off quantity. You might wind up giving another 10 or 20% to the dealer in the street, but for small quantities it probably won’t matter anyway.
Since, you are paying a 1 PED advertising fee to the auction listing, you may as well get the maximum benefit from it. If you don’t know the going rate for an item, then you really should get off that lazy ass of yours and find out before you put it on the auction. If you’re just too lazy to do that, then the next best thing you can do is put it on the auction with no buyout for 7 days. And do it on a day and time that has many auctions closing at around the same time. Ie., when there are lots of items closing withn the same minute. This means there are many people online at that time of the day and week. More to see and bid on your item. If you can’t wait 7 days to get your money, then put at least 2 days, so more people will see it listed.
If you do know the market value for something, (let’s use oil for our example) then you need to place the item on auction for 7 days WITH a buyout. Let’s say oil is closing at end of auction for 125% (generally). That is the price at which oil will sell for to those willing to stand around and wait for the oil auction to close. This means there are others that will pay more to get it now. Most likely about 135 to 140% for smaller (around 30 PED worth). So if you have lots of oil and you want to get maximum for it, put it up 1 lot at a time for 25 to 50 PED worth. Place a buyout for 135% or whatever you think you can get. If you place the buyout too high, the auction will simply run to the end, 7 days from now.
Larger quantities are usully bought by the expert crafters. And they usually have no problem waiting for the auction to end at the 7th day so thay can get it at bottom PED. They know what they’re willing to pay and not a PEC more. They still shop the auctions regularly and place their bids early as to place a marker on that potiential buy. Knowing that not many will have the PEDs to let the auction hold until it’s over. They check in occasionally to see what they have been over-bidded on, and do their business accordingly. Most expert crafters get their supplies from a special arrangement from a mining/hunting guild anyway as a way to save 5 or 10%.
Also, you should know that refined materals usually get another 5% over the same that isn’t refined. Mostly because people are lazy. They shop the refined sections more than the raw materials because they are just too lazy to refine them themselves. There are exceptions to this rule however. For instance, Typonic Steam is better left un-refined because it takes up less space in the storage than it’s refined Typonic Gas counterpart. Although, now that most items stack to much larger quantities, this may no longer be such an issue.
As far as weapons, armors, and other tools are concerned, you must know that the value of the item is only the TT value. It’s market value is what people will pay you for it. The market value for any items you see on the auction usually fluctuate up and down through-out the VUs and the year.
Item’s that are not limited (no (L) beside them), are items that should be veiwed as their worth based on what someone will pay over TT. A Jester-D1 market value is TT + 0.50 is only worth 0.50. It just has TT worth of use remaining in it. Someone asked “How much is that Ugo (a type of car) worth?” Dealer replies, “Depends on how much gas is in it.” The same is true of these type items. TT is the amount of gas remaining in them.
Also know that, there are some people out there that try to auction items that you can buy from a TT machine. One such popular item regularly seen is the “A-3 Punisher Mk.I”. It is not always a bad thing for someone to auction a TT item. For instance, a lot of new players want to have a Punisher Mk.I but can’t afford a new one. So after someone wearing out a Punisher Mk.I rifle to say about 5 PED worth, they may place that item on the auction for 6 or 7 PED to help some new player that doesn’t have the whole 30 PED it costs to get a brand new one. They are wanting a PED to cover the cost of the auction and perhaps another one to cover the chance of it not being auctioned or to make their time worth it.
Items that have an (L) beside them, I don’t consider a newbie would mess with. They cannot be repaired and have all types of new calculations involved with them in order to be ecconomical. Others have made excellent discussion threads about those and I urge you so seek those threads out here on EntropiaForums.com. Therefore, I’m not going to go over it with the new player in mind.
Have a nice day and good luck with your auctions.
