The Auction System

[cvxdes]

First of, I want to say that I still give RJ a lot of credit for all he's already done with the live auction, but I do dislike the system.

Right now, the system places you on relativity of the highest bid.. which is 99999.99, I believe. The thing is, people end up bidding the highest possible amount to get to the top, and if everyone bids high, we all pay quite a bit. Last week, I think the listing fee was about $6. That's 6x what it used to be, before this featured queue, but these names are selling for the same prices that they would usually go for.

If I'm going to pay $6 to list, what I list should go for at least $20 or more, to cover reg-fee, and the auction listing. Now, only 13 domains last Friday sold for over $20. Out of 30 listed, that's about 43% of the domains. Less than half of the domains got a partly worth-wile sale.

The total of last weeks auction is 46970np, which is $939.40 USD. Now, the fee to list was 300np, with 30 people listing that's 9000 total NP it was to list, which in USD is $180.00, and is 19% of the total of the sales. Now, if we got rid of the one good sale, which was a buyout... The total NP would be 25970, which is $519.40 USD. The list fee total would be $180 USD still, and that would make the listing fee a whopping 34% of the total sales.

If you get what I'm trying to say, this is not really a good system. If the old system was in place, the total list fee would be 1500np, or $30... and it would only be a small 4% with the cream.info sale, and a still small 5% without.

Now, I'm not saying -RJ- doesn't deserve the $180 per auction, concidering I've seen them go on from 5-9 before, and that's $45/hour, which he deserves. He's done a hell of a lot to deserve it, he's one of the only forum admins I know who aren't all bitter and, well, mean.

What I'm proposing is that we go back to the old system, the first come first serve system. It doesn't have to be 50np, maybe 100np, but it would still be more worth-it for the listers. As it is, as of last week, I didn't plan on listing anymore at these auctions... but if the featured queue goes, I would be more than happy to give it another shot. (And no, that doesn't exclude me from bidding so dont get your hopes up )

 

[Epic]

The old system wasn't that great either, as it forced you to actually be there at the minute the queue opened. Lots of people couldn't get in, and there was lots of complaining about it.

I think going back to the old way would be a mistake.

Maybe the first 10 spots being featured queue would be alright, or just force the people to actually pay whatever they bid on the queue. Another idea is to pay a fee to be entered into a lottery that takes place some time before the auction (like during the week) and then only 30 names make it into the auction. The people that didn't make it in get refunded. This would stabilize the price of admission, and also give everyone a fair shot at getting in, whether they could be there at the time of the auction or not (or type fast enough).

 

[jeter4982]

I like that second idea CriminalOrgins...That way everyone has an equal shot to get into the auction, and you don't have to be super quick to get your domain name in for those 45 seconds that the quere used to be open.

Tom

 

[cvxdes]

The old system wasn't that great either, as it forced you to actually be there at the minute the queue opened. Lots of people couldn't get in, and there was lots of complaining about it.

I think going back to the old way would be a mistake.

Maybe the first 10 spots being featured queue would be alright, or just force the people to actually pay whatever they bid on the queue. Another idea is to pay a fee to be entered into a lottery that takes place some time before the auction (like during the week) and then only 30 names make it into the auction. The people that didn't make it in get refunded. This would stabilize the price of admission, and also give everyone a fair shot at getting in, whether they could be there at the time of the auction or not (or type fast enough).

That's a really good idea, actually. I hope RJ does something like that.

 

[deet]

The cheapest I can find right now to register a domain is $6.99 at domainsite

If I bought a domin there for example and listed it at auction last week it would have been $6 listing fee + $6.99 domain = $12.99 just to break even.

$12.99 + Buy out fees = not worth my time

 

[JYM]

I agree, the only reason I'm not listing any domains is because, although I want to sell them for reg-fee or a little more and just break even, these listing prices will make my profit around $1.

We should have a limit of low-mid xx domains (around 30 preferably) for sale on auction day, and the listing fee is capped at, say, 100-200 NP$. First come first serve...

This way, there will be a lot more domain sales and it might balance out if we have half the listing fee but twice as many domains listed.

 

[peaches017]

I honestly don't mind a listing fee of around ~$10

It gets rid of the stupid reg fee names that clutter up the auction space. No one sits at their computer waiting for the aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.com auction, we all want the high quality names that are bound to be a by-product of higher listing fees.

HOWEVER --- the featured auction system needs a little reforming. I always just say 999999999999999999999999 as my max NP$ bid hoping that everyone else in the world doesn't do the same thing.... lol -- one of these days we're all going to get screwed big time and it's going to be out of the realm of ever being able to pay... I know we really shouldn't bid more than we are willing to pay... but if we don't, we don't get a shot at the auction

Definitely needs some re-thinking, perhaps a contest to whoever comes up with the best idea... Not that I dont like the general idea of a higher listing fee.

Peter

 

[deet]

I honestly don't mind a listing fee of around ~$10
Peter

$10 ?

Good Luck with that.

but then angin the n000bs willl prolly pay it.

 

[lgjhost]

dont count on it??

 

[NeeJam]

The old system wasn't that great either, as it forced you to actually be there at the minute the queue opened. Lots of people couldn't get in, and there was lots of complaining about it.

I think going back to the old way would be a mistake.

Maybe the first 10 spots being featured queue would be alright, or just force the people to actually pay whatever they bid on the queue. Another idea is to pay a fee to be entered into a lottery that takes place some time before the auction (like during the week) and then only 30 names make it into the auction. The people that didn't make it in get refunded. This would stabilize the price of admission, and also give everyone a fair shot at getting in, whether they could be there at the time of the auction or not (or type fast enough).

Good idea

 

[Kenny]

Dont we want quality names listed in the live auction?
If we want to sell our $10.00 names we can list
them in the forum, free. If they dont fetch the
asking price there, how could we expect they might
do better at auction?

It shouldn't be a dumping ground for our losers, but
a showcase for our best names for sale.
This would bring in more bidders, more bidders mean
more interest, more interest means higher bids.

Just a thought.

Peace,
Cyberian

 

[Epic]

Dont we want quality names listed in the live auction?
If we want to sell our $10.00 names we can list
them in the forum, free. If they dont fetch the
asking price there, how could we expect they might
do better at auction?

It shouldn't be a dumping ground for our losers, but
a showcase for our best names for sale.
This would bring in more bidders, more bidders mean
more interest, more interest means higher bids.

Just a thought.

Peace,
Cyberian

I've listed things on the forum for $10, then put them in the auction and they've sold for $30. The problem with selling on the forum is your domains don't get any attention, they just get pushed down the page and nobody really ever sees them.

In the live auction your domains are in the spotlight for four minutes. They're exposed to many buyers that never saw them on the board.

I agree that crappy names shouldn't be in the auction, but selling them on the board is easier said then done.

 

[dhscott]

What do you think RJ will do? $30 vs $180? I know what I would rather have!

WHy not just operate like a normal auction house?:

Everyone who bids to get a place in the queue has to pay the same fixed fee if their name is entered into the auction, say np$100-125. The names then sell and the auctioneers would take a cut of the final price, say 5%. The house could also offer Reserve Auctions for a small fee, say np$50, this would do away with the buyouts in place now. They could also offer a starting price fee if they really wanted to.

So far, if the bid to get into the featured auction queue is np$125 and we go by thursday's total of $939.40, we have $75 from the auction queue and ~$47 from the 5% cut of the final price, that makes $122 in total. A couple of people would have Reserves as well I suppose so add another couple of bucks onto that etc.

The thing is, like CriminalOrigins said, I believe going back to the old way would be a mistake, but only because of the first come first served basis in that it operated. Currently, I don't see a way around this problem in that sense. Maybe more auctions on different days would free up the backlog? Maybe more auctioneers?

Fact of the matter is, the current system works, and it makes the most money as far as I can see so why would they change it for something that would involve more hassle and less money

Perhaps another group of people should setup their own Live Auctions :hehe:

 

[Kenny]

What do you think RJ will do? $30 vs $180? I know what I would rather have!

WHy not just operate like a normal auction house?:

Everyone who bids to get a place in the queue has to pay the same fixed fee if their name is entered into the auction, say np$100-125. The names then sell and the auctioneers would take a cut of the final price, say 5%. The house could also offer Reserve Auctions for a small fee, say np$50, this would do away with the buyouts in place now. They could also offer a starting price fee if they really wanted to.

So far, if the bid to get into the featured auction queue is np$125 and we go by thursday's total of $939.40, we have $75 from the auction queue and ~$47 from the 5% cut of the final price, that makes $122 in total. A couple of people would have Reserves as well I suppose so add another couple of bucks onto that etc.

The thing is, like CriminalOrigins said, I believe going back to the old way would be a mistake, but only because of the first come first served basis in that it operated. Currently, I don't see a way around this problem in that sense. Maybe more auctions on different days would free up the backlog? Maybe more auctioneers?

Fact of the matter is, the current system works, and it makes the most money as far as I can see so why would they change it for something that would involve more hassle and less money

Perhaps another group of people should setup their own Live Auctions :hehe:

DooD, if you think -RJ- does this for the money you are sadly mistaken...