Land Auctions... How does the Bidding Software Work?

[Doran Carter]

Hi all,

I hope I’ve posted this in the right section.

I plan to bid on some land in the Linden Labs Auction Site, I have read the Auction FAQ a good few times, but I’m still a bit confused about the way the software works when you put in a bid.

In the FAQ it says, and I quote, “We recommend that you make your bid using our Automatic (Proxy) Bidding functionality.”

Please consider a plot of land has 1 bid for, say,  L$1000.

Should I put in a bid for L$1050, then wait for the other bidder to bid again?

Or... Do I put the upper limit of what I can afford, say L$9000, then will the software  automatically put in an initial bid that is a little higher than the current bid, but only just. If a higher bid is submitted after that, will the bid software then automatically bid again a bit higher on my behalf?

In short, do I bid just a little higher each time, or do I put in just one bid at my highest limit?

Thanks for any advice anyone can give.

Doran

[ab Vanmoer]

It really is a matter of strategy and how badly you want the land.

If you put in your maximum, the auction software will automatically increase your bid as other bids come in until your maximum has been reached. You can see the amount of the bid increment on each auction listing, this is the value that will be used for automatically increasing your bid.

[Doran Carter]

Thanks for replying ab.

So, let me get this straight. If the last bid stands at L$ 1500, and I put in a bid for L$ 9000, the software will only put in a bid for L$ 1600, but automaticaly re-bid for me if some one else bids higher than L$ 1600 ?

Hope you dont think I'm being to much of an idiot

Doran

[Irene Muni]

Doran Carter wrote:

 

So, let me get this straight. If the last bid stands at L$ 1500, and I put in a bid for L$ 9000, the software will only put in a bid for L$ 1600, but automaticaly re-bid for me if some one else bids higher than L$ 1600 ?

Yes

And you will receive by email notices of each one of your new bids.

[Darien Caldwell]

It's running on EBay techonology, so it's exactly like EBay. If you've ever used EBay, you'll be quite familiar.

[Doran Carter]

Thanks for confirming that Irene,

 

I now have a bid in for some land. Thanks to the answers here, I knew I could put in the highest I could afford, yet if no one else bids nearly as high, I will still (hopefully) get the property cheaper.

 

3 and a 1/2 hours to go

 

Doran

[Doran Carter]

I havent used Ebay before Darien, but I know understand how it works.

 

Thanks for helping

 

D

[Darien Caldwell]

Doran Carter wrote:

 

I havent used Ebay before Darien, but I know understand how it works.

 

Thanks for helping

 

D

No problem. If you're into shopping, probably good to stay away from EBay anyway, it's like putting a kid in a candy store.

[Irene Muni]

You're welcome, good luck!

[Doran Carter]

A big Thanks again to everyone that helped me on this thread.

 

I don't think the SL Auction FAQ ( http://ld.auctions.secondlife.com/lin/faq/ ) explains the process very clearly, especially regarding the automatic bidding method used by the software.

 

If it wasn't for the advice I received here, I probably would have lost the land I have just bid for.

 

But, thanks to you all, I am now the proud owner of a beautiful plot of land on a gentle hill side with sea views.

 

*grins* 

[Irene Muni]

Congratulations, enjoy SL!

[Da5id Zsigmond]

Here's something that just occurred to me.

 

Two people use the automatic bidding system.  One bids a max of 5,000 the other a max of 6,000.  The bidding starts at 100L and then the system will automatically bid the two people against each other until it almost immediately reaches the lower maximum bid.   Then it would sell for 5100 I guess to the 6000L bidder.  Unless the lower bidder is notified and has a chance to rebid of course.  So really this seems to ensure the maximization of price to Linden Labs compared to what they might get with a purely manual bid and rebid system.  Is there a flaw to this logic ??

[Peewee Musytari]

Da5id Zsigmond wrote:

 

Here's something that just occurred to me.

 

Two people use the automatic bidding system.  One bids a max of 5,000 the other a max of 6,000.  The bidding starts at 100L and then the system will automatically bid the two people against each other until it almost immediately reaches the lower maximum bid.   Then it would sell for 5100 I guess to the 6000L bidder.  Unless the lower bidder is notified and has a chance to rebid of course.  So really this seems to ensure the maximization of price to Linden Labs compared to what they might get with a purely manual bid and rebid system.  Is there a flaw to this logic ??

If the 5K bidder bids first it will start him at the lowest bid possible and tell him that he is in the lead. When the 6K bidder bids he will be told he is in the lead with with a bid of 5010 and the 5K bidder will be told he has been outbid and asked if he wants to bid again. The 5K bidder is unaware that the other guys maximum is 6K, he only knows the current bid 5010 so he may try to up his bid but he won`t take back the lead unless he bids higher than 6K.

Hope that makes it clearer lol