The Entropia Universe Auction - The Auction Commission

The Auctioneer at Calypso

Before we get into the actual buying and selling, it is important to know the mediums through which you buy and sell, the avenues through which you can communicate with the buyers and sellers and the channels through which you can source for new buyers and sellers.

This chapter deals with the Entropia Universe auction, one of the main mediums of buying and selling in Entropia. It is accessed through numerous avatars and terminals stationed at city centers, outposts, teleporters and other locations with a lot of traffic.

The Auction Commission

The very first thing you need to know is the commission for listing your items at the auction.  You are charged this commission whether or not your item is sold, so be sure to list at prices that are meant to sell.

Note that the commission is charged only for the seller.  If you are buying at the auction, you do not need to pay any commission.

The auction commission is as follows:

Auction Commission = 0.5 PED + (99.5 X MU) / (1990 + MU)

where MU is in PEDs

In other words, there is a minimum commission of 0.5 PED, if you sell your item without markup.  If you sell with markup, you pay an additional variable commission of at most 5% of the amount of the markup, with the 5% getting lesser as the amount of the markup gets larger.

For example, let's say you want to sell a Quad-Wing Interceptor with a TT value of 42 PED at 130 PED.  That will be a markup of (130 – 42) PED or 88 PED.  You will pay 0.5 PED fixed commission plus a variable commission of (99.5 X 88) / (1990 + 88) PED or 4.21 PED.  That works out to a variable commission percentage of 4.79% of the markup.

So, in total, you will pay a commission of 0.5 + 4.21 PED or 4.71 PED.

To give you a better idea, I have tabulated the commission charged with various values of markup from 1 PED to 5000 PED.

Markup (PED)	Fixed Commission (PED)	Variable Commission (PED)	Variable Commission Percentage (%)	Total Commission (PED)
1	0.50	0.05	5.00	0.55
5	0.50	0.25	4.99	0.75
10	0.50	0.50	4.98	1.00
50	0.50	2.44	4.88	2.94
100	0.50	4.76	4.76	5.26
500	0.50	19.98	4.00	20.48
1000	0.50	33.28	3.33	33.78
5000	0.50	71.17	1.42	71.67

As you can see, a fixed commission of 0.5 PED is paid whatever the markup value, with the variable commission percentage varying from 5% to 1.42% depending on the value of the markup.

Always make sure you know the value of the auction commission as I have seen sellers on the auction selling their stuff at TT + 0.5 PED.  If you consider the auction commission, they are actually better off if they had just sold their stuff at TT to the TT machine.

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The Entropia Universe Auction - The Auction Window

The Auction Window

You will be able to find an auctioneer at most major cities, teleporters and outposts.  Double clicking on the auctioneer will open the auction window through which you can access the auction.

Navigating the auction window should prove quite intuitive, so I'd just briefly mention the main features and highlight the bits that you, as a trader, would be interested in.


Left Menu

On the left of the auction window are the item categories.  You can select the item that you are interested in through the item's category and sub-category. Don't worry if you get lost in the beginning or can't find the item you are looking for as there are a lot of categories.

To help you out, I have listed some common items and their categories.

Item	Category
Animal Oils – Animal Eye Oil, Animal Muscle Oil, Animal Thyroid Oil, etc	Items – Materials – Animal Oils
Combat Token	Items – Currencies
Deeds - Calypso Land Deed, Arkadia Underground Deed and Compet Deed	Estates
Diluted Sweat	Items – Materials – Natural Materials
EnMatter – Alicenies Gel, Garcen Lubricant, Melchi Crystal, Oil, Typonolic Gas	Items – Refined Resources – EnMatter Elements
Fruit – Bombardo, Caroot, Haimoros and Papplon	Items – Food
Hides – Animal Hide, Soft Hide, Fine Hide, etc	Items – Materials – Natural Materials
Laser Sights and Scopes	Items – Weapons – Weapon Attachments
Mind Essence	Items – Mindforce – Mind Essence
Mining – Excavators, Finders, Refiners	Items – Tools - Mining
Ores – Belkar Ingot, Cumbriz Ingot, Gazzurdite Ingot, Iron Ingot,Narcanisum Ingot, Zinc Ingot	Items – Refined Resources – Metal Ingots
Paint Cans	Items – Materials – Paint Cans
Skins – Snablesnot Skin, Combibo Skin, etc	Items – Materials – Natural Materials
Space Thruster (L)	Items – Engineering Devices
Stones – Brukite, Kaldon, Nissit and Sopur	Items – Materials – Natural Materials
Unrefined EnMatter – Crude Oil, Force Nexus, Growth Molecules, Lytairian Dust, Sweetstuff, etc	Items – Resources – Raw Energy Matters
Unrefined Ores – Alferix Stone, Caldorite Stone, Hansidian Rock, Kanerium Ore, Zanderium Ore, etc	Items – Resources – Mineral Ore
Vehicle RK-5 (L)	Items – Tools – Misc Tools
Weapons – Knifes, Blades, etc	Items – Weapons – Melee
Weapons – Rifles, Pistols, Machine Guns, etc	Items – Weapons – Ranged
Wools – Thin Wool, Wool, Fine Wool, Daikiba Wool, etc	Items – Materials – Natural Materials

Offers and Orders Menu

The Offers and Orders Menu give you access to the offers and orders on the auction.  The offers are individual auctions listed by the players.  Each player has a limit of 30 auctions for each planet or sector.  The orders are requests to buy items by players and can be submitted by any player for a small fee.

The Offers and Orders Menu can be found right at the top of the auction window.  The Offers and Orders buttons are used to select the respective menus.  They are described below:


The Offers Menu

The Offers Menu

Selecting the Offers button will display the Browse, Won, My Orders and My Bids buttons.  They have functions as follows:

Offers - Browse Button - This is used to browse the offers on auction. You can browse using various selection criteria to be explained below, and you can also select the category to browse using the category selection on the left menu.

Offers - Won Button - Selecting this button will display all the auctions that have been won by you.

Offers - My Orders Button - This button displays all the offers that you have on auction. As a trader, you might want to note that every player has a limit of 30 auctions per planet or sector at any one time.

Offers - My Bids Button - This will list all the auctions that you have bidden for but have not won. It will also include all the unexpired auctions in which you have been outbid.


The Orders Menu

The Orders Menu

When you select the Orders button, the Browse, Available and My Offers button will display.  Their functions are as follows:

Orders - Browse Button - You can browse all the offers listed when you press this button.

Orders - Available - You get a list of all the items that you can place orders on.

Orders - My Orders - Selecting this button will list all your open orders.

The Filter Menu

The Filter Menu is immediately below the Offers and Orders Menu.  In this menu, you can specify your filter criteria for display.  There are a few ways you can filter your search, as described below:

The Filter Menu

Search Box - You can manually input the search string here.

Buyout -  You specify whether to view all auctions or only auction with a buyout price.

Gender - You can select to display all items, items for males only or items for females only.

Limited and Unlimited - You can choose to display all items, limited items only or unlimited items only.

Auction Sector - This is for you to select which planet's or sector's auction you want to view.  As of this writing, the following sectors are available:

• Global Auction
• Asteroid
• Calypso
• Crystal Palace
• Thule
• Monria
• Planet Cyrene
• The Hub
• Rocktropia
• Hell
• Next Island
• Ancient Greece
• Secret Island
• Planet Arkadia
• Planet Arkadia Underground
• Hunt The THING
• Planet Toulan

The Global Auction is generally for items auctioned off by MindArk like Quad-Wing Equus and Compet Deeds.

Most of the auctions in their respective sectors are deserted with only the auctions on Calypso, Planet Arkadia and Rocktropia being quite active.

Please note that if you are intending to deal in the auctions of a sector in which you are not located, there are some limitations:

• Viewing Auctions.  You can view the auctions of your own sector as well as that of other sectors without limitations.
• Starting Auctions.  You are, of course, allowed to start auctions in your own sector.  However, you cannot start an auction in another sector.
• Bidding on Auctions.  You are allowed to bid on the auction of your own sector as well as that of another sector.  There are no additional fees for doing this.  However, if you win another sector's auction, the item will not be automatically transferred to where you are.  You will have a few options when you win the auction:
• Have the item transferred to you immediately, which will incur a minimum charge of 6 PED, depending on the weight of the item.
• Have the item transferred to you within 12 hours, which will incur a minimum charge of 2 PED, depending on the weight of the item.
• Leave the item at the sector's auction or storage for collection by you at a later date.  Please note that there are risks if you intend to transport items through interplanetary space.  My post about The Auctions of Different Planets, Interplanetary Space and Pirates for relevant information.

The Sort Menu

The Sort Menu is used to determine the order that auctions or orders display.

Sort Menu when Offers Menu is active

When the Offers Menu is active, the following fields can be sorted:

• Quantity
• Value
• Bid
• Markup
• Buyout
• Bids
• Time Left
• Created

When the Orders Menu is active, the following fields can be sorted:

• Quantity
• Max Markup
• Time Left
• Created

The Bottom Menu

Right at the bottom of the auction window is a menu consisting of 5 buttons.  The buttons are the Sell, Order, View, Remove and Refresh buttons.  The Retrieve Button appears in place of the Sell Button when the Offers - Won Menu is selected.  They perform functions as follows:

Sell Button - Click on this button when you want to place an item on auction.  This button will bring up the Sell Item Window.

Drag in the item you want to sell, set the auction price, the buyout price (if any), and the number of days that you want the auction to run.

Click the Accept Button once you are done.  Note that the auction commission will be deducted immediately and will not be refunded even if the auction does not sell.

Retrieve Button - Retrieves the item that you have won.  You can also double click on the auction to perform the same function.

 
Order Button - The Order Button can only be clicked when the Orders - Available Menu is selected and an item on the list displayed is selected.

When the button is clicked, the Create Order Window is displayed as shown below:

Create Order Window

In this window, you can input the details of the order that you want to create like the markup at which you want to buy, the quantity and the number of days that you want the order to remain in effect.  Do note that the funds required for the order will be reserved once you confirm the order and will not be available to you.

View Button - The View Button is used to view the details of an auction.  Clicking on the button will open the View/Place Bid on Item Window with the auction's details.

View/Place Bid on Item Window

If you are the seller of the auction, you can only view the detail and are not allowed to place a bid.

If you are not the seller of the auction, there will be a section on the bottom right of the window where you can place your bid.  Bid prices are in steps of 1 PED and no decimal points are allowed.

In other words, you can bid 10 PED or 11 PED, but not 10.5 PED.


Remove Button - This button can be used to remove any of your auctions that you have listed.  Note that you are allowed to remove an auction only if nobody has bidden on it yet.  The auction commission that you have already paid will not be refunded.

Refresh Button - This button refreshes the auction window.

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Trading in Entropia Universe - Trading at the Auction

The market in Entropia, although dealing solely with virtual goods, still operates like a market, with its own particular idiosyncrasies, just like markets in real life. The key to profitable trading, to be able to buy and sell at a good price, would be a familiarity with the market's behavior, items and resources, so as to have a good idea of the market's future movement.

So, going straight to the point, the sections below will focus on specific characteristics of the market or media. Knowing these characteristics will help you to establish the fair price of an item, and aid you in buying or selling faster or more profitably.



Trading at the Auction

The auction is probably the most popular way of selling in Entropia. As such, if you are doing any kind of buying and selling, familiarity with the auction is a must. Do also remember to take note of the auction commission when you are selling.


Auction Buyout

Entropians are an impatient bunch. When they bid in the auction, they want their auction item or resource not 1 day later, or even 1 hour later, but they want it there and then. And they are willing to pay a little extra for it.

So, if you are selling at the auction, always include a buyout price. And if you are buying, a strategy would be to bid at a slightly lower price than the lowest buyout price for that item. There is a good chance that you will not be outbid as the bidders will buy at a higher buyout price to get their item or resource immediately.


Auction Bids are in Whole Numbers

In other words, you can bid at 10 PEDs or 11 PEDs but not at 10.5 PEDs or 10.2 PEDs. This actually opens up a good opportunity for you to buy small quantities of resources at a highly discounted price.

Take a look at the auction listing below:

Auction Bids are in Whole Numbers

The item is Animal Muscle Oil and lowest buyout at the auction is 104.61%. The first auction in the listing has a TT value of 4.92 PED. Someone has already bid 5 PED, which is 101.63%. Since bids can only be in whole numbers, the next highest bid is 6 PED, which is 121.95%!

It is quite obvious that the guy who bid 5 PED would probably win the auction at the discounted price. So, do be mindful of this possibility when buying or selling so that you might just buy at a great price or not have your item sell at a heavy discount.

Larger Quantities Sell at Lower Markups at the Auction

Select a commonly traded ore or enMatter on the auction and sort the listing by “buyout” with the lowest buyout at the top of the listing. An example of such a listing is shown below:

Larger Quantities Sell at Lower Markups

In the auction listing above, the lowest buyout for oil is at a markup of 101.06% for a quantity of 18652 units. If you are looking for a lower quantity of, say, 2204 units, you will have to pay a higher markup of 104.38%.

This creates an opportunity in which you can simply buy a large quantity for a low buyout, and split it up into several batches to sell at a higher buyout.

Note that this should generally be true for the more commonly traded resources in Planet Calypso's auction. Please do your homework as this might not be always true, especially for the less commonly traded resources, and for auctions not based on Planet Calypso.


Flooding the Auction...Don't

Know the item or resource that you are trading, and know also their typical volumes. There are many reasons that you might want to sell your item fast, but flooding the auction market, even if you are selling at a great price, usually does not help the item sell faster. Many buyers are users and not traders, so they will simply buy what they need but not much more.

In fact, many a time I have seen auctions expire with no buyers when crafters just fill the auction listings with their crafts, with no regard for the market demand.  Or, another avatar can simply list at a slightly better price, leaving the "auction flooder" twiddling his thumbs as he watches his competitor sell while his own auctions remain open.

If you want to sell items fast and you know that the auction does not have the demand for it, your best bet is to find a buyer through the Chat or Messaging System.

If you really want to try to sell through the auction, start by just listing just a few auctions, and wait for those to sell before starting a few more. Rinse and repeat. That way, you can be sure that you will not be stuck with tons of auctions with no buyers.


Lower TT Values of Unlimited Items sell for Higher Markup

I can tell you from experience that unlimited items with lower TT values sell for higher markup. For example, take Alekz Precision Scope. The full TT value is 34.00 PED and the weekly auction markup is +3.20 PED. A scope with a TT of 5 PED might be able to fetch up to TT + 5.00 PED while you you be lucky to sell a full TT scope at TT + 3.00 PED.

I think the reason for this is that the buyer would have more PED left after buying the lower TT value scope and so have more to spend on other items, so she doesn't mind getting less value for her PED.

Another reason could be that she can't afford the full TT scope and so is willing to pay a higher premium for the lower TT scope.

Note that this happens only for unlimited items and limited items would usually sell at their fair value.


Unrefined Ores and EnMatters

Most trades for ores and enMatters are for the refined version. As such, unrefined ores and enMatters tend to go for a lower price than their refined versions, even after taking into account the refining cost. And many listings of unrefined ores and enMatters tend to have low TT values, possibly allowing you the chance to win the auction at a heavily discounted price, as described in the section above.

Tip: If you are regularly refining ores and enMatters, it is advisable to get a top of the line refiner. They cost a little more than the TT or lower end refiners, but they do pay for themselves over the long run.

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Sweat Tool - Sell Your Sweat at the Best Price

This utility calculates the effective price that you are selling your sweat when you refine it into ME and sell it at the auction or face-to-face trades.

This tool is still under development.  If you have any comments or find any program bugs, please let me know.

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Instructions

Simply enter the values in the Input Parameters section and click the "Click to Calculate" button.  The result of the calculation will be displayed in the Calculation Result section.

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Input Parameters

MU of Force Nexus (%):


Which refiner are you using?
Genesis Star Basic Refiner Transformer T-101 Transformer T-102 Transformer T-103 Transformer T-104 Transformer T-105

Amount of ME to sell (PED):


Do you want to specify the selling price of your ME by markup or PED?

	Markup			PED

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Calculation Result

  

  

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How to Use this Utility

Example 1

If you are selling sweat and are wondering at the most profitable way to sell it, this utility can help.  Let's say you have 3 options:

• Sell your sweat at 1.3 PED/k.
• Buy Force Nexus at 104.5% and refine your sweat using a T-101, and sell the Mind Essence at 120% to another avatar through face-to-face trade.
• Buy Force Nexus at 104.5% and refine your sweat using a T-101, and sell the Mind Essence at 124% at the auction in stacks of 50 PED each..

	Sell Sweat Directly	Make ME and Sell to Another Avatar	Make ME and Sell at the Auction
Price of Sweat	1.3	1.26	1.44

In this example, you are most profitable selling your sweat by refining it into Mind Essence and selling it at the auction.


Example 2

If you are refining sweat and selling at the auction, this tool can help you to explore how much more profitable you can be by using a better refiner and selling larger stacks at the auction.  Let's consider 4 scenarios:

• Scenario 1. You buy Force Nexus at 104.5% and refine your sweat using a T-101, and sell the Mind Essence at 120% to another avatar and through the auction at 124% in blocks of 50 PED.
• Scenario 2. You buy Force Nexus at 104.5% and refine your sweat using a T-101, and sell the Mind Essence at 120% to another avatar and through the auction at 124% in blocks of 100 PED.
• Scenario 3. You buy Force Nexus at 104.5% and refine your sweat using a T-105, and sell the Mind Essence at 120% to another avatar and through the auction at 124% in blocks of 50 PED.
• Scenario 4. You buy Force Nexus at 104.5% and refine your sweat using a T-105, and sell the Mind Essence at 120% to another avatar and through the auction at 124% in blocks of 100 PED.

	Make ME and Sell to Another Avatar	Make ME and Sell at the Auction
Price of Sweat (Scenario 1)	1.26	1.44
Price of Sweat (Scenario 2)	1.26	1.49
Price of Sweat (Scenario 3)	1.35	1.53
Price of Sweat (Scenario 4)	1.35	1.58

As you can see, selling larger stacks at the auction and using a better refiner definitely increases your profitability.  Do note that larger stacks normally sell for lower markup at the auction, so that will mitigate the reduction of the auction commission somewhat.  But if you are refining a lot, make sure you buy a better refiner as it will definitely pay for itself over the long run.


Example 3

If you are buying sweat to refine into Mind Essence, this tool will give you an idea of the price at which to buy your sweat for you to be profitable.


Reference

100 X Mind Essence = 0.01 PED
1 X Force Nexus = 0.01 PED
1000 X Vibrant Sweat = 0.01 PED

Want to start a simple Internet business based on the ClixSense PTC website? This ebook can help!

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Related posts: How to Sell Your Sweat at 2 PED/k - With a little strategy and patience, you might be able to get a good price for your sweat. The Fair Price of Sweat in Entropia Universe - A way to estimate the fair price of sweat through the market price of Mind Essence. Is the Fair Price of Sweat Really 2 PED/k? - If you want to be fairly compensated for your time and effort in gathering sweat, what should the price of sweat be?

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