ETC Auction House - Feed Back Please

[Firecrest]

First thank you to all that Showed tonight!
this was my first attempt so honest feedback

First the Entrance fee - That turned out to be a mistake. The idea behind it was deter trolls. then refund or reduce the winning bid by that amount. Didn't work as planned, but please feel free to reach out for a refund unless you purchased something then your win was reduced. --This is gone it .didn't work as planned,

The payment vendor / book - Again the idea was to stream line the payment, this didn't work out as planned, you could have purchased from inside the AH. ---- this is being removed.

Starting bids - I kept them low, a couple of items were higher because they had a min start bid asked by the seller. remember some items are given to me to sell. but some good deals where handed out

ending bids - Auctions are meant to be faced paced let me know if I slow up or speed up. There was some immediate issues that needed attention.

Items available! - I am going to try to have at least one high end item worth over a Mil. More and better items in the future! I also want to include some lower end items. Should I list the complete list going forward or not?



Reds? We had a good response team thank you to the Knights and GM



What is coming down the pipeline?

Lotto vendors - chop the box win the prize.
Raffle - Call out a number during the event win cash and prizes
Game Wheel - everyone buys a spot and then pin the dice for the winning number - first number above 1 will be the times rolled , the last rolled number wins.


But thank you again I will do this again with improvements.

Please give me constructed feedback on what you did like, what you didn't like and what you would like to see in the future to make you change your mind about not coming!

 

[Decoy]

I understand a PW statue was sold???

 

[Steele'Dish]

I understand a PW statue was sold???

Pure white boggling statue was up for auction

 

[Sir.]

Did a great job for a first run there @Firecrest - had a great time and I think with the improvements you plan to make, these auctions are gonna become a real cool thing, especially when word gets out there even more.

My recommendation would be to really pump this up and open it to the public with lots of advertising. Squeeze as many people into that place as you can safely. Have your inside guards ready with their ban buttons for any trouble makers to send a point home and out to us guards outside *grins* ... And keep up the great work.

Looks like yer already ontop of these things and more, but just to encourage yer thought process, yer right on track my friend.

 

[AreYouKidden]

Sorry didn't get to post sooner - i had a good time at the auction, though I was fairly disappointed in a number of ways. I'm not going to pull any punches here, but keep in mind that I do think the event was a great idea and I think the layout and setup worked, and with the right tweaks, could turn into something big, which I look forward to being a part of in the future. Also know that I understand there were some kinks to iron out, as it was the first one, but first impressions can mean a lot. Again, I enjoyed the event so don't take this wrong, but here goes:


Punctuality: The auction was set to start at 9:30 EST - we were all out front waiting, and when someone from ETC did arrive to start collecting checks, quickly realized that teleporters were not set up right, people couldn't get in, after they'd paid. Some testing ahead of time, and a couple of people to help run the show would have helped speed this up, we ended up starting 15-20 min late.

Presentation: This is minor, but just adds to the showmanship of the event. Have two door guards posted, wearing the same attire, it makes it seem more official, that the auction is a place of serious repute, which is something you want to help promote further events, word of mouth goes a long way. There also needs to be some etiquette at an auction, someone yelling out the price of what an item goes for, while the item is being bid on, is just poor taste, those types should be asked to shut it, or be removed. Maybe a list of the rules of the auction, how to bid, and to keep quiet while bidding is going on unless you are bidding. Also the PW bogling statue was interesting, but at a 2 million price range, it automatically ruled everyone out. Some work should go in to making sure the right people are at an event with that sort of high end item. I know a couple of people, Decoy, Nikkion who'd likely have bid on that, put them in the same room and enjoy the show, that'd been fantastic to see!

Item Selection: This was probably my biggest disappointment, I was not impressed with the item selection at all - in fact I heard it from a number of people. A couple of SS's, some statues, and a couple of PS's. There just wasn't a lot of useful items. Most people find statues rather pointless, unless you get someone who is collecting a theme like PW or Fallon Blue, those statues were meaningless to most. There are sooo many deco items in the game, low end to high end. Being fairly new to the game, I'd have love to see some small / large fishing nets, some of the rare book deco items, or some flasks, and other glass blowing stuff, some of the higher end treasure chests, soul forge, singing crystal balls, rune book collections, a galleon! There's soo much to choose from. Maybe run some themes over time, where you have an event geared to fishing, or blacksmithing, or newer players, or rare hunters.. I'm sure as the event grows, the selection will grow, but don't be afraid to have 20-30 items, just try to get through the smaller auctions a little faster, so the event overall sticks to about the hour timeline.

Perception: I understand Elvin the leader of GM is tied very tightly with ETC, may even be a founding member. The fact that GM was there, bidding on items, felt like to me, or was perceived as bidding up some of the items. I have no problems with legitimate bids, and I suspect they were legitimate, but perception can do a lot to damaging a reputation, and having those affiliated with you bidding on items, will always be perceived as a problem. That really needs to be handled better. With 12 people there, and 2 of them from GM upping the bids, it just felt like they were plants, especially when they could have been sold to these players off the market, if they truly wanted them.

 

[Skye Wolfbane]

Kidden said it well and echoed my own feelings.
You'd be surprised how well bods, bulk arrows or regs, a galleon and maybe more slayer and high end weapons would do.They may not 2M items, but they keep the bidders interested.
We look forward to attending future auctions.
Will you ever being taking items for others to auction for a percentage?

 

[Firecrest]

Thank you so much for honest feedback! Nothing is worst then potentially great event ruined by silence!


Punctuality: The auction was set to start at 9:30 EST - we were all out front waiting, and when someone from ETC did arrive to start collecting checks, quickly realized that teleporters were not set up right, people couldn't get in, after they'd paid. Some testing ahead of time, and a couple of people to help run the show would have helped speed this up, we ended up starting 15-20 min late.

Yes! My fault completely - My house lost internet and something I made the wrong assumption at. But I take total responsibility and have corrected the situation going forward. Plus hopefully there will not be an event It is public and anyone. I didn't switch to public. now people may enter with out being friended and I can change this once if reds show up and ban people if needed.


Presentation: This is minor, but just adds to the showmanship of the event. Have two door guards posted, wearing the same attire, it makes it seem more official, that the auction is a place of serious repute, which is something you want to help promote further events, word of mouth goes a long way.

Agreed and done I will get my best tailors on this.


There also needs to be some etiquette at an auction, someone yelling out the price of what an item goes for, while the item is being bid on, is just poor taste, those types should be asked to shut it, or be removed. Maybe a list of the rules of the auction, how to bid, and to keep quiet while bidding is going on unless you are bidding.

This was a learning processes but these will be added to the rules thank you for pointing this out.

Also the PW bogling statue was interesting, but at a 2 million price range, it automatically ruled everyone out. Some work should go in to making sure the right people are at an event with that sort of high end item. I know a couple of people, Decoy, Nikkion who'd likely have bid on that, put them in the same room and enjoy the show, that'd been fantastic to see!

This is something I did do on my Posts I mentioned my first items Was a Poison SS at 5K and a PW Bogling at 2MilI should have done it on my board post. I will correct in the future.

Item Selection: This was probably my biggest disappointment, I was not impressed with the item selection at all - in fact I heard it from a number of people. A couple of SS's, some statues, and a couple of PS's. There just wasn't a lot of useful items. Most people find statues rather pointless, unless you get someone who is collecting a theme like PW or Fallon Blue, those statues were meaningless to most. There are sooo many deco items in the game, low end to high end. Being fairly new to the game, I'd have love to see some small / large fishing nets, some of the rare book deco items, or some flasks, and other glass blowing stuff, some of the higher end treasure chests, soul forge, singing crystal balls, rune book collections, a galleon! There's soo much to choose from. Maybe run some themes over time, where you have an event geared to fishing, or blacksmithing, or newer players, or rare hunters.. I'm sure as the event grows, the selection will grow, but don't be afraid to have 20-30 items, just try to get through the smaller auctions a little faster, so the event overall sticks to about the hour timeline.

To be honest I wasn't sure. I wanted to target rare items, like the PW bogling and statues. The blue statues do normally fetch around 100K or more. I wasn't sure about other items such as nets, and such but I misjudged big time. This is correctable going forward. So I am building an better inventory. Also I am going to list the items. I originally want to have more of a surprise but I think that hurt the attendance. Plus the event and ticket price.

Perception: I understand Elvin the leader of GM is tied very tightly with ETC, may even be a founding member. The fact that GM was there, bidding on items, felt like to me, or was perceived as bidding up some of the items. I have no problems with legitimate bids, and I suspect they were legitimate, but perception can do a lot to damaging a reputation, and having those affiliated with you bidding on items, will always be perceived as a problem. That really needs to be handled better. With 12 people there, and 2 of them from GM upping the bids, it just felt like they were plants, especially when they could have been sold to these players off the market, if they truly wanted them.etail later.


Yes! this was brought to my attention during the event. I didn't come to my attention until then. It was poor judgement but they were not plants. It was an honest oversight they were to support the cause and win items. They paid for the items. One thing I have done in the last three years of play was built honesty in my name Also GM won and paid for a lot of items.



Will you ever being taking items for others to auction for a percentage?

a bunch of items were on consignment, and caused the starting bids to be higher. I do a lot of consignments and I am always looking for more. The rule will always be you can not participate in the auction of donated items.


I am glad people had fun over all though! I look forward to the next one. I am going to tighten up the rules, increase the items look for some more unique items. I hope no one has completely given up! I am open for any reasonable suggestions!

I am looking at July for the next one. I am going camping during June so I'll be collecting goods!


Firecrest
- GM of The Emporium Trading Company

 

[AreYouKidden]

Thanks for the response Firecrest, I have no doubts you'll be able to grow this into a great event, it was a great first start. I'm looking forward to a time when the auction is a widely known event, and people from all over the server join, and I think when that happens having auctions geared towards the different walks of life (blacksmithy, tailoring, fishing, thunting, rares) could really be successful as you'll have the right people there bidding on the right stuff. There's definitely nothing wrong with some surprise items, but I guess if there is very little known about what's up for sale, you just won't get the right buyers out, which may have been what happened on Saturday.

If I can help with anything let me know, always willing to help strategize or do some legwork if needed!