Aardwolf Marketplace – Proxy Bidding / Auction Buyouts

Two major enhancements were added to the Aardwolf marketplace today:

Auction buyout amounts:

The ability to set a buyout price when listing an item. To set a buyout amount on an item, use the syntax:

     'market sell [item] [type] buyout [buyout amount]'

For example:

    market sell sword gold buyout 5000000

If anyone bids that amount, the item will be instantly sold to them.

Some other changes related to the buyouts:

• Any buyout amount on an item will be shown when using ‘lbid #’ to view the stats.
• An asterisk next to the auction type on an item in ‘market list’ means that the item has a buyout amount.
• The new option ‘lbid amounts’ (or ‘lbid buyouts’) will show a slightly different output with the buyout amounts shown.
• The market info when an item is first put up for sale will include an extra line showing the buyout amount.

Proxy Bidding:

Proxy bidding is a way to state the most you are prepared to pay for something but only if the bids reach that level. For example, if you set a proxy bid of 10,000 gold on an item and someone else bids 5,000 gold, you will automatically outbid them at the next bid increment of 5,750. If nobody else bids, you will get the item for 5,750.

To place a proxy bid use the syntax:

market bid [auction#] [amount] proxy confirm

There are some fairly complex rules with how proxy bids are handled, but the most important detail are:

• When you place a proxy bid, the full amount of that proxy bid is taken from your character. If it is later outbid, or you win the item for a lower amount, the difference is refunded.
• You can increase your proxy bid or lower your proxy bid as long as the new amount is still at least the next bid increment higher than the current bid using the same syntax as above.
• You cannot set a proxy bid equal to a buy-out price as it would be a no-lose way to tie up the auction and still guarantee a win. If you want to guarantee a win, take the buyout. If you want to proxy bid 100 gold below the buyout? Take the risk that someone else is prepared to pay it.
• If someone places a proxy bid for an amount someone already has, the earlier bid will take precedence and appear to “outbid” for the same amount. However, if someone places a non-proxy bid for an amount that someone already has a proxy, that fully committed bid will win. The general rule is that the ‘interactive’ bid wins if all else is equal. When a proxy bid is very first placed (no automation yet, player just entered the command) it is considered ‘interactive’.
• A higher proxy will always beat a lower one even if it is only 1 gold higher. When nobody has any idea what someone else’s max proxy bid is, it didn’t seem right to have a system where the lowest proxy bid can actually win because the next highest proxy didn’t meet the 5% increase requirement.
• You will not receive a note every time a proxy bid is updated – only when your total proxy amount is outbid. If you placce a regular bid and are instantly outbid by a proxy, you won’t receive a note then either.