Why Do People Have Buyouts On Auctions ?

If you have a high end item - can someone explain to me the pro and cons of having a buyout. id rather have the auction keep going !

Some people want to sell the item quickly..so they include buyouts. If you're lucky and the b/o is priced right, people will skip the bidding and go for the b/o.

so..
pros - Possibly quick sell


cons - May sell item for less than what you might've been able to get for them.

So the only reason for a buy out is if you want to sell the item quickly , interesting.

Thanks for the info anyway

The Buyout is usually WAY more than the item is worth though.

So if someone just wants to buy it out, you are likely to get more from it than if they bid on it.

Like if its a popular item and getting lots of bids, someone is likely to just Buy it out even if they are over paying, instead of bidding and risking that their bid is outbid.

Former Ruling is correct! I set "buy it now" prices on high end popular items and it's well more than I would expect to get....BUT...since it's rare, people want to make sure they get it without being outbid. Sure there's a chance he bidding could keep going and going but not likely.

I never quite understood reserves myself. What's the point of putting an auction up if it doesn't meet your "expectations?" Isn't that whole point of the auction, to see how much people are willing to pay?

I don't really understand that myself to be honest... why set it at a price you are unwilling to accept (e.g. below a reserve)? That might get a few bids, but if they don't meet reserve then you still haven't sold the item.

NO. The point of an auction is to sell an item. The point of a reserve is to make sure you get your fair value, or what you preceive is fair. Just because people don't bid high enough in ONE auction doesn't mean you aren't going to get what you want for it. That's why auto relists are built in. A lot of auctions are about timing.

To the OP - you also have to remember the downfall of keeping an auction going for too long...

Those that bid on the auction may lose interest, and buy the same item in game (and many times for cheaper than their bids to you). It's a risk that grows each day that you keep an auction open, and personally you lose the right to complain about them not honoring their bids if you've kept the auction going too long. That's why a B/O is desireable, as it gives you the price you were hoping for, and eliminates most of that risk.

Please don't use the auction site if you agree with this. The auction time is listed right on the auction. If it's a 6 day auction and you bid on day 1, you ARE accountable for your bid. If you can't wait for 6 days, don't bid! Comments like this are EXACTLY the reason for a feedback system....so others know you've screwed a past buyer/seller and will probably do it again.

Since he mentioned the "high end item", I assumed that he meant that he was going to post an auction on the High End Sell forum, and not on the auction site. Many auctions on the High End Sell forum do not have auction timeframes.

I definitely agree that, before one bids on the auction site, they should agree to the terms of the auction's length. I do expect, however, that the common person bidding on the site may not pay attention to that timeframe (especially if it is over a week long), so the warning is - don't be surprised if they don't honor the bid when you come back to them two weeks later telling them they've won. It's part of the problem of having an auction run too long, from my experience, and by the limitations of the auction system that won't let you withdraw a bid.

I thought they were trying to end "selling" stuff on the forums since the auction site went live, but I see your point if that's what you were referring to. The actual auction site has a limit of 1 week for any auction. I think they were taking into account exactly what you are saying here.
I don't think you can complain of anyone who doesn't honor their bid on a forum....because it's just that, a forum. If you want to auction something, use the auction site. It has structure and a feedback system to try and weed out that kind of bidding.

To the second question: Reserves are there so that you can start the starting bid real low to catch the interest of alot of people - without potentially having to sale that low.