# Auction Rules - For Discussion



## devdev (16/6/14)

Herewith proposed Auction rules.

Any questions, discussions or suggestions are welcome. These will be implemented at some point in the near future.

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Draft Auction Rules:

*Seller Rules:*

1. All posts for an auction *must* have the following information:

a) Name of item
b) Picture of actual item being auctioned
c) Condition of item
d) Starting Price of Auction
e) Minimum bid increment
f) The 'Buy Now' price (if seller wishes to have one applicable)
g) The reserve price (if applicable)
h) Seller's location
i) Shipping options and costs
j) Auction closing time and date.

If any of this information is missing the admins have the right to lock the thread and or close the auction.
2. Unless a 'Buy Now' price is set, the seller may not close the auction early, under any circumstances.
3. An offer to sell an item is a legally binding obligation to provide that item to the highest bidder in the thread. For that reason the seller must be aware that once the item has been posted to auction, and a bid has been received, the rules do not permit that person to withdraw the item from the sale.
4. Despite Rule 3 above, if the Buyer and the Seller can reach a mutual agreement to not conclude the deal, then the next highest bidder is allowed to purchase that item.
5. Any breach of these rules may result in the Ecigssa staff implementing disciplinary action against a member.
6. In the event of a dispute, the Ecigssa staff will be final arbiters and will make a determination to resolve that dispute. 
7. If there is a reserve amount set, and for whatever reason the reserve is not met, the seller is under no obligation to sell that item.


*Buyer Rules:
*
1. A bid is a legally binding obligation to purchase the item you have placed a bid for. If you have posted to that thread your are stating that you have the money and the intention of obtaining the item from the seller.
2. There are no limits on the amounts of bids you can make, however double posting is not permitted.
3. You cannot edit a bid once it is placed, edited replies will be disqualified. The admins have the ability to check previous revisions of posts, and as per rule 1, your original version of the post will be considered as final.
4. All new bids must be in a new reply, again no editing of posts is permitted.
5. Highest Bid wins the Auction
6. Auctions can at time be confusing to follow. In the event that there is a tie for the highest bid, the bid placed first according to time stamp on the post will determine the winner.
7. All bids must be in the following format, otherwise they will be considered invalid:
"Username had the previous bid at AMOUNT. I bid AMOUNT"
This format ensures that the winning bid is always the last post in the thread.
8. Joke bids, unrelated posts and bids that do not observe the minimum bid increment are not permitted in the thread. Any member making posts like this may be warned, and repeated offenders may have their accounts suspended.

*General:*
All members are asked to respect the rules of the auction and avoid making posts that do not contribute towards the conclusion of the auction. For this reason posts with joking bids will be viewed in a serious light.

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 3 | Winner 1


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## Silver (16/6/14)

The rules are great @devdev 
Well done!! 

I am sure if they are followed by those running auctions and by bidding members, we will have smooth auctions in future

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## crack2483 (16/6/14)

Looks good. What happens in the event of a legitimate typo as in bid is at R100 and instead 150, 450 is typed (silly example for num keypad)?

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Reactions: Like 1


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## devdev (16/6/14)

crack2483 said:


> Looks good. What happens in the event of a legitimate typo as in bid is at R100 and instead 150, 450 is typed (silly example for num keypad)?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk



Good point Crack! I did encounter this during my research into forum auction rules.

Typically one would place the onus on the bidder.

One set of rules i reviewed said it was up to the user to triple check that their bid was correct, maybe I will include that in the rules

Reactions: Like 1


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## crack2483 (16/6/14)

I mean if it's blatantly obvious surely it can't count? 

[Insert $1000000000 Austin Powers joke for Robs approval]

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Reactions: Funny 1


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## devdev (16/6/14)

crack2483 said:


> I mean if it's blatantly obvious surely it can't count?
> 
> [Insert $1000000000 Austin Powers joke for Robs approval]
> 
> Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk



Yes agree, but the idea is to dissuade joke bids. Although I am all for fun, the joke bids do make things harder to follow, for both the seller and the potential buyers. 

Ideally we wouldn't have people making blatant jokes, and we will need to interpret the actions of the parties in the event of a genuine mistake. E.g I say my bid is R850 but I mash the 7 button with my sausage fingers, and then my post says R7850. If market value for a brand new widget is R1000 it is plausible that the R7000 extra was a mistake.

Again, discretion will need to be used by staff and users, and I am sure we will have to revise the rules after they have gone through some trial runs

Reactions: Like 2


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## crack2483 (16/6/14)

devdev said:


> Yes agree, but the idea is to dissuade joke bids. Although I am all for fun, the joke bids do make things harder to follow, for both the seller and the potential buyers.
> 
> Ideally we wouldn't have people making blatant jokes, and we will need to interpret the actions of the parties in the event of a genuine mistake. E.g I say my bid is R850 but I mash the 7 button with my sausage fingers, and then my post says R7850. If market value for a brand new widget is R1000 it is plausible that the R7000 extra was a mistake.
> 
> Again, discretion will need to be used by staff and users, and I am sure we will have to revise the rules after they have gone through some trial runs



Agreed. Blatant jokes are not needed. But obvious mistakes should be amended. 

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Reactions: Agree 1


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## Silver (16/6/14)

I think members bidding should check carefully before posting bids

Reactions: Agree 4


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## ET (16/6/14)

you dont have to worry about joke bids because if you bid, you are bound to that bid so if you want to joke bid one miiiilyon dollars, good for you as long as you can pay. if you can't then it goes to the next highest bidder. first offence official warning, second offence account suspension. don't mess around with bids or else ....

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## BhavZ (16/6/14)

As human error does occur, I think one edit should be permissible however the edit must be accompanied by a note stating the reason for the edit. 

If the admin find that the note is not satisfactory then the rules for editing posts stated above may be enforced.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## devdev (16/6/14)

The idea is all discussions must be out in the open. If there was an error, then make another post correcting it.

I think the change to current rules should then be:

1. Remove the rule about double posting (doesn't really make any difference)
2. ANY edits to a post with a bid will disqualify that person from that auction.
3. Errors must be corrected, with a new post, within 5 mins of the error post
4. Bidder's are responsible for triple checking their bids


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## BhavZ (16/6/14)

man that disagree rating is ugly

Reactions: Agree 1


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## devdev (16/6/14)

BhavZ said:


> man that disagree rating is ugly


I feel like a real chop whenever I have used it.

I changed it to 'informative' instead. Meaning that is interesting, but it didnt change my view. HEHEHEHE

Reactions: Like 1


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## andro (16/6/14)

Can anybody open an auction ?


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## crack2483 (16/6/14)

andro said:


> Can anybody open an auction ?



I don't see why not as a posed to outright selling.

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## devdev (16/6/14)

andro said:


> Can anybody open an auction ?



Yes, that is the purpose of the auction - so that someone can sell second hand gear.

If a person is selling new equipment for profit then they must be a vendor. If a vendor wishes to conduct an auction then that is fine, however it should be done in accordance with the rules above


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## Mario (3/11/14)

Nice rules @devdev 

Is there mybe no script that can be added once your amount is added that a pop-up window asking if you agree?
Just a thought


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## Marzuq (3/11/14)

well layed out an thought through @devdev 
these rules are essential and will ensure all parties behave fairly


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## devdev (3/11/14)

Hi guys - it is worth asking @Gizmo if he can sort out a script, or better yet, if there is a free auction module we can use on the forum to control all of this

Reactions: Like 2


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