[Discussion] Seeking Feedback | Toad Town Live Auction

[Alexander of ATL.]

Greetings,

I am seeking constructive feedback regarding the operations of the Toad Town Live Auction. I am outlining my goals for the 2025 Toad Town Estate and wanted the input from the community that Toad Town serves the most.

Items I am putting attention towards

• Days & Times of the auction
• Frequency of the auction
• Commission taken
• Item Submission Limit
• Item Submission Value Minimum
• Entertainment: Trivia, Lottery, Something Else?

Our next auction for 2024 is scheduled for AUGUST 4 @ 3PM EASTERN
I hope to move auctions back to weekly for the remainder of the year after August 4th. More information will be provided at a later time.

 

[Halister Marner]

I like the day/time as is personally. It's early enough to not interfere with EM events, and late enough to not interfere with Sunday morning responsibilities. I would say keep that the same, personally.

I'd like to see higher tier items come up sometimes. Perhaps a silent auction for higher end items that runs from Sunday - Sunday. That also adds more work to you though, but I would love to have a year round regularly rotated silent auction.

 

[Restless]

big fan of everything you do for these. nothing i think you should change.
hopping onto halister's comment regarding silent auctions being added... if you wanted to do it, it would be cool to see some no-reserve safe (or bulletin board but that's a good amount more work) auctions that end within 30 mins to an hour after expected live auction end time. would take a little time setting it up 3/5/7 days in advance (prefer it not to be an hour long auction), but as opposed to the normal buyout auction safes we normally see, this is a good opportunity for a no-reserve live silent auction since it attracts a good sized group every couple weeks, which is something we really only tend to see during rarefests.

 

[Sadie-]

I adore all of your auctions and try to always at least make an appearance Alex Thank you very much for all that you do not only for this community but the game itself.

Days & Times of the auction - I think the present time slot and day are perfect as Hal mentioned it gives plenty of room for people to get their Sunday funday chores done and doesn't lead too far into the afternoon.
Frequency of the auction - If you move back to weekly auctions one thing you might be able to do and this might need to be discussed with more people but if you decide you want to change the submission value minimum and are thinking about increasing it one thing you might be able to consider is making maybe every 3rd week auction a lower limit lower than the rest so players who are looking to sell what is considered lower end items in for a week?
Commission taken - If anything raise it a bit for the work you do and the notoriety you bring to the auction. Plenty of times I've seen items that are just sitting on vendors for 50-100m sell for double or more at the auction.
Item Submission Limit - Tricky tricky. I know sometimes when I submit items I wish I could submit more than 5 items but the current 5 item limit allows everyone to have a chance without making the auction run too too long. Only thing I can think of is maybe the last few days before the auction if you feel there are too few items (I bet this rarely happens) then you could send an announcement for players to quick reply to reserve extra spaces?

@Restless
It would be interesting to see this come to light as I know a lot of people enjoy silent auctions and they are the main attraction at the Raresfests that are put on, but speaking from my limited RaresFest experience I also noticed that the main thing that makes silent auctions fun is the generosity that is needed from the item donators to put items up for low reserves. Or are you just meaning any items can be submitted for the silent auction to run in addition to the live auctions items? Apologies when I first read it I assumed you meant "higher end" items in a silent auction but that may not be the case.. could you elaborate a bit more?

 

[Discord]

Greetings,

I am seeking constructive feedback regarding the operations of the Toad Town Live Auction. I am outlining my goals for the 2025 Toad Town Estate and wanted the input from the community that Toad Town serves the most.

Items I am putting attention towards

• Days & Times of the auction
• Frequency of the auction
• Commission taken
• Item Submission Limit
• Item Submission Value Minimum
• Entertainment: Trivia, Lottery, Something Else?

Our next auction for 2024 is scheduled for AUGUST 4 @ 3PM EASTERN
I hope to move auctions back to weekly for the remainder of the year after August 4th. More information will be provided at a later time.

I believe the auctions are well ran and organized as I have partaken in a handful myself. Advertising is done well in advance, and it is smooth operating. As Sadie mentioned, perhaps taking a bit larger commission for all the time involved for your hard work.

Well done! Nothing but praises from this guy!

 

[Restless]

I adore all of your auctions and try to always at least make an appearance Alex Thank you very much for all that you do not only for this community but the game itself.

Days & Times of the auction - I think the present time slot and day are perfect as Hal mentioned it gives plenty of room for people to get their Sunday funday chores done and doesn't lead too far into the afternoon.
Frequency of the auction - If you move back to weekly auctions one thing you might be able to do and this might need to be discussed with more people but if you decide you want to change the submission value minimum and are thinking about increasing it one thing you might be able to consider is making maybe every 3rd week auction a lower limit lower than the rest so players who are looking to sell what is considered lower end items in for a week?
Commission taken - If anything raise it a bit for the work you do and the notoriety you bring to the auction. Plenty of times I've seen items that are just sitting on vendors for 50-100m sell for double or more at the auction.
Item Submission Limit - Tricky tricky. I know sometimes when I submit items I wish I could submit more than 5 items but the current 5 item limit allows everyone to have a chance without making the auction run too too long. Only thing I can think of is maybe the last few days before the auction if you feel there are too few items (I bet this rarely happens) then you could send an announcement for players to quick reply to reserve extra spaces?

@Restless
It would be interesting to see this come to light as I know a lot of people enjoy silent auctions and they are the main attraction at the Raresfests that are put on, but speaking from my limited RaresFest experience I also noticed that the main thing that makes silent auctions fun is the generosity that is needed from the item donators to put items up for low reserves. Or are you just meaning any items can be submitted for the silent auction to run in addition to the live auctions items? Apologies when I first read it I assumed you meant "higher end" items in a silent auction but that may not be the case.. could you elaborate a bit more?

I would say that when people submit their items for live auction they could say whether or not they are fine with the item being part of silent auction as well which i would prefer to be no reserve/no buyout, and then it can be up to Alexander which items he chooses to place that way depending on the choices and the time in which they are submitted. Any rares would be fine for this in my book, preferably items which are too valuable for vendors and none or few on other safes at the time, but I wouldn't expect too high end because most sellers don't put those up without reserves.

 

[Smoot]

i like having at least some low value items. i realize it doesnt make as much commission, but 25m can be alot for some people. dont want straight up junk of course but especially rares many first get into collecting lowish value items. and the people who may start off only spending a little usually end up spending more / higher amounts eventually.

 

[DSC Napa]

I have submitted many many items to auction and I am usually very happy. I think timing is good however more advanced notice may drum up more bidders.

It's a tough time of year to be selling EM items

 

[Prawn]

I go often like good buy often keep doing thanks

 

[Merlin]

Here’s my two cents:

• Days & Times of the auction

In terms of exact time of day… Most Sunday afternoons, I am spending time with family, but I try to attend auctions when I can. It’s always going to be tough to make a large group of people happy. Maybe entertain the idea of a one-time auction on a week night or something? If it gets traction, perhaps you could expand your timing a bit, can’t hurt to experiment… but it’s equally fine to keep doing what you’ve been doing.

• Frequency of the auction

I think you have this down to a pretty good pace right now. Summer time is always a little slower for UO - it will pick up again in the Fall and Winter. By the time September/October roll around, I think that’s the prime time to host the auctions a bit more regularly.

• Commission taken

If I’m not mistaken, you take 5% of the proceeds? I think at a minimum, you should give yourself a raise to 8%, if not more like 10% to 12%. You do a lot of work for the community by keeping this going for as long as you have and I think you should make sure you compensate yourself for that service.

• Item Submission Limit

My only suggestion would be that if you are having a themed auction (like Valentine’s Day), use discretion if you know someone has a lot of valuable items that would fit the theme of the auction, even if it goes above the limit. I think the community trusts your judgment. Otherwise, your current limit is sufficient.

• Item Submission Value Minimum

In my opinion, the strength of your auction is the focus on EM items, rares, and other tough to find types of items that exist in this UO world of ours. I think you should really limit anything that falls outside of those bounds. In example, when someone submits some random armor or package of rings, unless there is something truly uber rare (like some sort of a insane 10+ mod no-name legendary jewel or item), those usually don’t seem to do all that well and just take up time. That said, I would be supportive of increasing the minimum a bit higher.

• Entertainment: Trivia, Lottery, Something Else?

I am very supportive of the idea others have suggested of possibly running a silent auction. It’s one of my favorite aspects of previous Rares Fests and I think it would be interesting to see something done semi-regularly on Atlantic. Especially for people who can’t necessarily attend the live auction, this opens it up for additional customers to get involved on their own time... and I predict you would end up getting more valuable items to sell. Especially given the level of personal prestige you have in running an auction, I think you’re one of the few people that could pull it off successfully, even despite that in the age of auction safes its easier to find rare items than it was years ago.



Cheers to you and your continued hard work. Thanks for everything that you do.

 

[Alexander of ATL.]

I would like to offer my sincere thanks for everyone's contribution. I will take the welcomed feedback and begin working on our goals for the 2025 year!

The 2024 Fall Live Auction Schedule

✤ August 4 - Open - 20/50 Items Submitted​

✤ August 11 - Open​

✤ August 18 - Open​

✤ August 25 - Open​

✤ September 1 - Closed - Labor Day​

✤ September 8 - Open​

✤ September 15 - Open​

✤ September 22 - Open​

✤ September 29 - Open​

✤ October 6 - Open​

✤ October 13 - Open​

✤ October 20 - Open​

October 21 - January 5: The Auction House Is Closed For Winter EXCEPT

✤ November 10: Commission Free Thanksgiving Live Auction​

✤ December 15: Commission Free Holiday Live Auction​

​

Please note that any unforeseen circumstances can cause the live auction to be postponed. I will work diligently to prevent this as much as I can. All auctions are as scheduled unless stated at another time. Thank you for your understanding.

 

[BluNtMaN[ATL]]

I think you’re doing a great job buddy, I have no need to break anything down, you know how things are done.

I wonder where he learned these things

keep up the good work, if you need a reputable fill in sometime, let me know.