Auction System

Overview

The Auction System allows players to buy and sell items and pets through a centralized auction house. Sellers list items with a starting bid, optional reserve price, and optional "Buy Now" price, while buyers browse, search, and bid on listings. The system handles all gold transactions automatically through your bank account and delivers results via Auction Checks.

The Auction House is always stocked with goods — an automated Auction Bot regularly lists bulk commodities such as reagents, ammunition, and special hued cloth, so there is always something available to bid on even when other players haven't listed items.

Getting Started

Accessing the Auction House

There are three ways to interact with the system:

The Auctioneer NPC — Located by the steps on Main Street. Simply walk up and say the word "auction" near the Auctioneer, or right-click and select the context menu option, to open the full Auction House interface. From here you can browse all listings, create new auctions, search, sort, and bid.
Auction Control Stone — Double-click the stone to open the full Auction House interface, same as the Auctioneer NPC.
[MyAuction Command — Available to all players from anywhere. Opens a personal view showing your active auctions, your current bids, and any pending decisions. You cannot create new auctions from this view.

The Main Menu

When you open the Auction House (via the Auctioneer or the Control Stone), you will see the Welcome to the Auction House screen with the following options:

Auction An Item — Start the process of listing a new item or pet for sale.
View All Auctions — Browse all currently active auction listings.
View Your Auctions — See only the auctions you have created.
View Your Bids — See all auctions you have placed bids on.
View Your Pendencies — Check any auctions that require your decision (see Pending Auctions).

The [MyAuction command opens a simplified version of this menu with only View Your Auctions, View Your Bids, and View Your Pendencies.

Selling

Creating an Auction

Visit the Auctioneer NPC on Main Street (or the Auction Control Stone) and open the Auction House.
Select Auction An Item.
You will be prompted: "Please target the item you wish to put on auction..." — click the item or pet in your backpack or bank box.
The New Auction Configuration screen will appear where you set the auction details.
Review the Auction Agreement in the help panel on the left side of the configuration screen.
Fill in your settings and click the confirm button to commit the auction, or cancel to get your item back.

Auction Settings

The New Auction Configuration screen contains the following fields:

Setting	Description
Starting Bid	The minimum amount a buyer must bid to participate. Must be at least 1 gold. Set this lower than what you hope to receive — it encourages bidding activity.
Reserve	A hidden price threshold. Must be greater than or equal to the starting bid. If the highest bid meets or exceeds this value, the sale is finalized automatically. If the highest bid falls between the starting bid and the reserve, you will be asked whether you want to sell (see Pending Auctions). The reserve cannot exceed 3× the starting bid. Bidders will not see the reserve value — only whether it has been "Met" or "Not Met."
Duration	How many days the auction will run. The server enforces a minimum and maximum number of days.
Buy Now (Optional)	Check the box and enter a price to enable. This allows a buyer to purchase the item immediately without waiting for the auction to end. Must be higher than the reserve. Leave unchecked to disable.
Name	A short title for your listing. The system suggests a name based on the item, but you can customize it. This field is required.
Description (Optional)	Free-text description. Item properties are shown automatically to bidders, so focus on anything extra you want buyers to know.
Web Link (Optional)	A URL (without the "http://" prefix — the system adds it automatically) to a webpage with more information about the item.

Auction Fees

The fee to list an auction is 5%. This fee is withdrawn from your bank when you confirm the listing. If you cannot afford the fee, the auction will be canceled and your item returned.

What Can Be Auctioned

Most items and tamed pets can be auctioned, with the following restrictions:

Items that cannot be auctioned:

Gold and bank checks
Death robes
Auction system checks (gold checks and item checks)
Non-movable items
Unidentified items (pre-AOS only)

Container rules:

You can auction a container with items inside it, and each item will be listed individually in the auction details with its own properties page.
Containers within containers (nested) are not allowed.
All items inside the container must be allowed auction items.
The item must be in your backpack or bank box — you cannot auction items from other locations.

Pet rules:

The pet must belong to you (you must be the control master).
The pet must be alive, not summoned, and not a familiar.
The pet's backpack must be empty.
Pets are converted into a statuette for the duration of the auction.

After Listing

Once you confirm the auction:

Items are removed from your inventory and held securely by the system until the auction ends.
Pets are shrunk into a statuette and internalized. They are released from your control for the duration.
You cannot retrieve the item or pet until the auction concludes.

You will be taken to the Auction View screen showing your new listing so you can verify the details.

Account Limits

Each account has a maximum number of active auctions. If you have reached your limit, you will be told how many auctions are allowed and must wait for an existing auction to end before creating a new one. Staff members are exempt from this limit.

Buying

Browsing Auctions

Select View All Auctions from the main menu to see all active listings. The listing screen shows 10 auctions per page with the item name for each. Use the Next Page and Previous Page buttons to navigate. Click any listing to open the full Auction View screen.

The Auction View Screen

When you click on an auction listing, the Auction View screen shows you all the details:

Item Image — A visual preview of the item with its hue, displayed on the left side.
Item Properties — Full item stats and properties in a scrollable area. If the auction contains multiple items (from a container), use the arrow buttons to page between items.
Starting Bid — The minimum bid set by the seller.
Highest Bid — The current top bid (shown in green if the reserve is met, red if not). If no bids have been placed, it shows "No bids yet."
Reserve — Shows "Met" (green) or "Not Met" (red). The actual reserve value is hidden.
Time Left — Displayed as days/hours, hours, minutes, or seconds depending on how much time remains. Shows "Pending" if the auction is in a pending state.
Owner's Description — The seller's free-text description in a scrollable area.
Web Link — If the seller provided one, a button to open the link in your browser.
Bid Field — Enter your bid amount and click the arrow button to submit (only visible if you are eligible to bid).
Buy Now — If enabled, a button showing the Buy Now price (only visible if you are eligible to bid).
Item Hue — A color swatch showing the item's hue.

If you are the owner of the auction, the bid field is replaced with a View Bids button that opens the bidding history, showing each bidder's name and bid amount.

Searching

Click the Search button on the auction listing screen to open the search interface. The search system lets you find specific items quickly:

Text Search — Enter keywords in the text field at the top. Multiple words are searched independently and results are merged.
Type Filters — Check boxes to narrow results to specific categories:

Category
Maps
Artifacts (AOS only)
Power and Stat Cap Scrolls (AOS only)
Resources
Jewels
Weapons
Armor
Shields
Reagents
Potions
BOD (Large) (AOS only)
BOD (Small) (AOS only)

Search Within Results — Check this box to search only within your current filtered results rather than all auctions.

Click Search to apply your filters, or Cancel to return to the listing.

Sorting

Click the Sort button on the auction listing screen to open the sort interface. You can sort by any of the following criteria, each with ascending and descending options:

Sort By	Ascending	Descending
Name	A–Z	Z–A
Date	Oldest first	Newest first
Time Left	Shortest first	Longest first
Number of Bids	Fewest first	Most first
Minimum Bid	Lowest first	Highest first
Highest Bid	Lowest first	Highest first

Click Cancel Sorting to return without sorting.

Placing a Bid

When viewing an auction's details, enter your bid in the text field and click the arrow button to submit. Keep the following rules in mind:

Your bid must be higher than the current highest bid (or higher than the starting bid if there are no bids yet).
Your bid must meet the minimum bid increment, which scales with the starting bid value:

Starting Bid Range	Minimum Increment
1–100 gold	10 gold
101–500 gold	20 gold
501–1,000 gold	50 gold
1,001–5,000 gold	100 gold
5,001–10,000 gold	200 gold
10,001–20,000 gold	250 gold
20,001–50,000 gold	500 gold
50,001+ gold	1,000 gold

The bid amount is withdrawn from your bank immediately when you place the bid.
You cannot bid on your own auctions (checked at the account level).
Staff members cannot bid on auctions.
When bidding on a pet, you must have enough control slots to handle the creature.
If you enter a bid equal to or exceeding the Buy Now price, the system will automatically process it as a Buy Now purchase instead.

Being Outbid

If someone places a higher bid than yours:

Your gold is returned to you via an Auction Gold Check placed in your backpack (or bank box if your pack is full).
You will receive a notification icon — a small clickable button that appears on your screen. Click it to read the outbid message and optionally view the auction to place a new bid.

Late Bidding & Anti-Sniping

If a bid is placed within the last 5 minutes of an auction's end time, the auction duration is automatically extended by 5 minutes. This prevents last-second "sniping" and gives other bidders a fair chance to respond. You will see a message confirming the extension when this occurs.

Buy Now

If the seller has set a Buy Now price, you will see a Buy Now button on the Auction View screen showing the exact price. Clicking it will:

Withdraw the full Buy Now amount from your bank.
Refund any existing highest bidder via an Auction Gold Check.
Give you the item immediately via an Auction Item Check.
Give the seller the gold via an Auction Gold Check.

The auction ends immediately upon a successful Buy Now purchase.

How Auctions End

When an auction's timer expires, one of several outcomes occurs:

No Bids

If nobody bid on the auction, the item is returned to the seller via an Auction Item Check.

Reserve Met

If the highest bid meets or exceeds the reserve price, the sale is finalized automatically:

The buyer receives an Auction Item Check containing the item.
The seller receives an Auction Gold Check with the winning bid amount.

Reserve Not Met (Pending)

If the highest bid is above the starting bid but below the reserve, the auction enters a Pending state. See Pending Auctions below.

Pending Auctions

A pending auction occurs when the system needs a decision from the seller, the buyer, or both before it can finalize. There are two scenarios that trigger this:

Reserve Not Met

When the highest bid doesn't reach the seller's reserve price:

The seller receives a message showing the highest bid amount and their reserve, with two options: accept the sale anyway, or decline and have the item returned.
The buyer is informed that the reserve was not met and that the seller is deciding.
If the seller accepts, the sale goes through normally.
If the seller declines, the item is returned to the seller and the buyer's gold is refunded.

Invalid Items

If one or more items in the auction have been deleted (due to server events, wipes, or other external reasons) by the time the auction ends:

The buyer receives a message explaining the situation and is asked whether they still want to purchase. They can review the auction details to see which items remain before deciding.
The seller is informed of the situation.
If the buyer accepts, the sale proceeds with whatever items remain.
If the buyer declines, the remaining items go back to the seller and the gold is refunded.

Decision Deadline

Both parties have 5 days to make their decision. You will receive notification messages when you log in if a pending auction requires your attention — look for the small clickable notification icon on your screen. The message will show you how many days and hours remain for the decision.

Check View Your Pendencies from the Auction House or [MyAuction command to see all pending auctions that need your attention.

If no decision is made within the deadline, the system assumes neither party wants to proceed: the item is returned to the seller and the gold is returned to the buyer.

Auction Checks

The auction system delivers items and gold through special check items that appear in your backpack or bank box:

Auction Gold Check

Contains gold owed to you from the auction system. Double-click the check to open the Auction Delivery screen, which shows:

Whether gold or an item is being delivered (gold is highlighted)
The auction name and details
A Place in Bank button to deposit the gold
A View Auction button to see the original auction details (if the auction still exists)

Gold checks can come from being outbid, winning as a seller, or an auction being canceled.

Auction Item Check

Contains the actual item(s) from the auction. Double-click the check to open the Auction Delivery screen, then click Place in Bank to receive the item in your bank box. Make sure you have enough space.

If the item is a pet, you will see the Creatures Division screen instead, which allows you to Stable the pet directly. The screen reminds you that stabled pets must be claimed within a week, and there is no charge for this stabling service.

Item checks can come from winning as a buyer, having your item returned, or an auction being canceled.

Important: Auction checks can only be redeemed by the player they were issued to. If the item referenced by a check has been deleted, the check will inform you that the item no longer exists.

Pet Auctions

Selling and buying pets through the auction system has some special considerations:

For Sellers

Your pet is converted into a statuette when the auction is created. It is released from your control.
If you cancel before confirming, the pet is returned to you normally.
If the auction ends without a sale, you receive the pet back via an Auction Item Check.

For Buyers

You can only bid on a pet if you have enough control slots to handle it.
When you receive the pet via the Auction Item Check, you will be given the option to Stable the pet directly.
Pet details are displayed in the auction listing, including: control slots, bondable status, stats (STR/DEX/INT), and all trained skills with their values.

The Auction Bot

The Auction House features an automated Auction Bot that regularly stocks the house with bulk commodities for sale. These listings appear alongside player-created auctions and can be bid on just like any other listing.

The Auction Bot sells the following items as commodity deeds:

Category	Items Available
Ammunition	Arrows, Bolts
Standard Reagents	Black Pearl, Bloodmoss, Garlic, Ginseng, Mandrake Root, Nightshade, Spider's Silk, Sulfurous Ash
Necromancy Reagents	Bat Wing, Daemon Blood, Grave Dust, Nox Crystal, Pig Iron
Cloth	Special hued Uncut Cloth in rare colors

Reagent and ammunition listings vary in quantity (up to 10,000 units per deed) and are priced based on the amount. Special hued cloth is listed at a fixed starting bid and comes in small quantities with unique, randomly selected colors.

These bot auctions are a great way to stock up on crafting supplies, reagents, and hard-to-find cloth colors without needing to farm them yourself.

Player Commands

Command	Access	Description
`[MyAuction`	All Players	View your auctions, bids, and pendencies from anywhere. Cannot create new auctions.

Tips for Sellers

Set a reasonable starting bid. A low starting bid attracts more bidders and can drive the final price higher through competition.
Use the reserve wisely. The reserve is your safety net — set it to the minimum you'd accept. Remember it can be at most 3× your starting bid.
Buy Now can speed up sales. If you want a quick sale, set a Buy Now price. It must be higher than your reserve.
Write a good description. Item properties are shown automatically, but a compelling description helps buyers understand the value.
Watch your account limits. You can only have a limited number of active auctions per account. Plan your listings accordingly.

Tips for Buyers

Visit the Auctioneer on Main Street. The NPC is located by the steps — just walk up and say "auction" or use the right-click context menu.
Check the bot listings. The Auction Bot keeps the house stocked with reagents, ammo, and rare cloth. These are refreshed regularly, so check back often.
Use search and filters. Don't scroll through everything — use text search and type filters to find what you want quickly.
Check time remaining. Sorting by time left helps you find auctions about to end, which may have lower competition.
Watch for Buy Now deals. Sometimes a seller sets a Buy Now price lower than what competitive bidding would reach.
Keep gold in your bank. Bids are withdrawn from your bank account. Make sure you have enough gold deposited before bidding.
Check your pendencies. If you win an auction where the reserve wasn't met or items were deleted, you'll need to make a decision. Check your pendencies regularly so you don't miss the 5-day deadline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Where is the Auctioneer?

A: The Auctioneer NPC is located by the steps on Main Street. Walk up and say "auction" or right-click for the context menu.

Q: Can I cancel an auction after it's been listed?

A: No. Once an auction is confirmed and live, it cannot be canceled by the player. Only server staff can remove an active auction.

Q: What happens if I'm offline when I'm outbid?

A: Your gold is returned via an Auction Gold Check placed in your backpack or bank box. You'll also see a notification icon the next time you log in — click it to read the details.

Q: Can I bid on my own auction from another character?

A: No. The system checks at the account level, so no character on your account can bid on your auctions.

Q: What happens if the server goes down during an auction?

A: Auctions are saved to the world file and will resume when the server restarts. Timers continue based on real time, so an auction may have ended while the server was down.

Q: What happens if a staff member stops the entire auction system?

A: All auctions end immediately. Items are returned to sellers and gold is returned to bidders via Auction Checks.

Q: I won an auction but my bank is full. What happens?

A: The system first tries your backpack, then your bank box. If both are full, the check may be lost. Always ensure you have space available.

Q: What are the commodity deed listings from the Auction Bot?

A: The Auction Bot automatically lists reagents, arrows, bolts, and special hued cloth as commodity deeds. These are available for bidding just like player auctions and are restocked regularly.

Q: I won a pet auction — how do I get my pet?

A: Double-click the Auction Item Check and you will be given the option to stable the pet directly. You can then visit a stable master to claim it. Stabled pets from auctions must be claimed within one week, and there is no charge for the stabling.