Auctions 2 2

[comicwiz]

I think this is a good innovation - for all of the reasons others have outlined. The one query I have is regarding reserves - I assume that the opening bid (in this case 20c) is the 'reserve' and highest bidder thereafter wins? I wouldn't want to see hidden reserve prices on these.

 

There currently isn't a reserve feature with this auction widget, so the minimum starting bid would be the only way to control the price you'd want to sell it for.

[comicwiz]

2) This particular implementation is not restricted to the boards. It's possible to find that auction web site outside of the post it was framed in. The "intent" of the tool is boards only for comicwiz, but the reality is that it's not boards-only in point of fact. Given that fact alone (going counter to the not entirely altruistic goal of building and maintaining traffic on this web site) it may be disallowed.

 

I thought about this point a lot too. What might work is if I block any direct visits to the external site location unless its a referrer visit from the boards. This technically isn't as much a problem with the self-contained design I've implemented. However, there is always some hair-raising exception to any well intended idea, and I'd have to test this thoroughly before implementing to make sure I don't annoy someone here who wants to participate/bid, but gets blocked for some unknown reason.

 

On the emailing issue, just to be clear, this is a back-end aspect of the auction widget that ties in with PayPal invoicing. This requirement is purely a utility based function as with any post sale request for invoicing that would need to take place via PM. I do understand concerns for any bidders who don't end up winning the book. Currently, there are two ways to terminate an auction in the administration panel. You may end the auction, or delete it. One way the email list concern can be offset is to delete all completed auctions, and in doing so, all the data of bidders will also be deleted.

[Comicopolis]

An auction style format doesn't have to follow the current ebay standard where you can see the bids increasing in increments.

 

Why not just run them the same way that the charity auctions have functioned in the past?

[c-mack]

An auction style format doesn't have to follow the current ebay standard where you can see the bids increasing in increments.

 

Why not just run them the same way that the charity auctions have functioned in the past?

 

that sounds pretty good to me ....

[comicwiz]

An auction style format doesn't have to follow the current ebay standard where you can see the bids increasing in increments.

 

Why not just run them the same way that the charity auctions have functioned in the past?

 

that sounds pretty good to me ....

 

Sure, but from a preference point of view, I like the auction widget because it keeps tabs on the bidding process and remains the central point of reference throughout the course of an auction, and this is an important consideration given the amount of thread derailment and off-topic posts that find there way in sales thread.

[Comicopolis]

An auction style format doesn't have to follow the current ebay standard where you can see the bids increasing in increments.

 

Why not just run them the same way that the charity auctions have functioned in the past?

 

that sounds pretty good to me ....

 

Sure, but from a preference point of view, I like the auction widget because it keeps tabs on the bidding process and remains the central point of reference throughout the course of an auction, and this is an important consideration given the amount of thread derailment and off-topic posts that find there way in sales thread.

 

I prefer it widget less.

[Architecht]

Well, I guess we'll let it roll for a little while and see what happens.

[Boozad]

I liked that auction widget, but I thought it was board exclusive. Is there any way anyone out there could write code that would enable a board only auction widget?

[comicwiz]

I liked that auction widget, but I thought it was board exclusive. Is there any way anyone out there could write code that would enable a board only auction widget?

 

Outside of someone taking the time and effort to create a mod for UBBthreads, for such a thing to happen, inevitably the programming logic would still need to be hosted somewhere external to the boards. I've looked into the possibility of scripting this in flash which would mean no access outside of these boards, but hit some roadblocks on cost and (minor) feature/functionality constraints.

 

I wanted to highlight a couple of final points on the implications of sites being hosted externally that I thought might be pertinent to this discussion or any similar to it. In this specific example, running the auction using a 1-day format makes it practically impossible to get indexed in search. This is reinforced even further through daily overwriting/purging of expired listings. On the outside chance (again, slim to none) that it does get indexed, a referral -script may easily be written to redirect all referrals from Google or any popular search engines to the boards (marketplace).

[Architecht]

 

It's important to note that part of the considerations here from a moderation stand point are whether the auction format is good for the boards at all, regardless of the technology choices. I will stress again that this is being allowed on a trial basis. Anyone thinking of spending excessive time and effort on tech upgrades for this needs to know that they're making a bet they may lose.

[Boozad]

Arch, if you could just tell it like it is....

[BEAUMONTS]

Yeah, this will be great. It will change from a swap meet community based comic forum to a mini Ebayesque platform (thumbs u

[A.Romeo]

anything happening with this?

[seanfingh]

[Dick Pontoon]

[A.Romeo]

[comicnut]

With an increase in auctions on the board, is it time to maybe consider an auction sub-forum with a few rules.

One rule being one auction thread at a time per member and a maximum number of books (say 20).

 

? We don't have sense cents in Canada anymore so my nickel's worth.

 

Thoughts?

Edited October 29, 2014 by comicnut

[RCheli]

With an increase in auctions on the board, is it time to maybe consider an auction sub-forum with a few rules.

One rule being one auction thread at a time per member and a maximum number of books (say 20).

 

? We don't have sense cents in Canada anymore so my nickel's worth.

 

Thoughts?

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

Also, I'm surprised at some of the recent auctions for books that, while cool, aren't really very uncommon or high grade or particularly worthwhile.

[vaillant]

With an increase in auctions on the board, is it time to maybe consider an auction sub-forum with a few rules.

One rule being one auction thread at a time per member and a maximum number of books (say 20).

 

? We don't have sense cents in Canada anymore so my nickel's worth.

 

Thoughts?

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

Also, I'm surprised at some of the recent auctions for books that, while cool, aren't really very uncommon or high grade or particularly worthwhile.

 

Mostly that’s the point for me. For common books… they might just eat space for the regular sales threads… :shrug:

[comicnut]

I think people are just testing the waters still, but the flood gates will open soon enough for this type of stuff.

 

IMO people should be allowed to auction whatever they want, I don't see why we would limit that, but we need to get some rules in place before things become a problem.

 

Comicart has the right idea of where things should end up. Have one auction thread with a bunch of books.

 

However I think there should be a separate sub-forum for auction type sales threads as there will quickly be a lot of them.