Auction Poll

Pyramid is setting up an auction feature; soon you'll be able to offer your game stuff at auction to other Pyramid readers (or anybody else who is interested). We are still hammering out the details, but the main features are expected to be:

(a) Anybody can list an item for auction, but Pyramid subscribers get a cheaper rate. (And we think we will go with a flat per-item rate, charged at the time of listing, and no "final value" fees.)
(b) Anybody at all can bid.

With Pyramid at 3,000 subscribers and still growing, this ought to be a good community in which to sell game material. But tell us what you think . . .

1. What's important to you as a seller? Rate from 1 (least important) to 5 (most important):

1 2 3 4 5 Cheap listing fees
1 2 3 4 5 Ability to stop auction at specified time
1 2 3 4 5 Ability to leave auction running as long as people are bidding
1 2 3 4 5 Seeing "ratings" or feedback on buyers
1 2 3 4 5 A good search engine

2. If we charged a flat rate to list your item, with no final value fee, what do you think would be reasonable? Pick one:

50 cents
$1.00
$2.00

3. What's important to you as a buyer? Rate from 1 (least important) to 5 (most important):

1 2 3 4 5 Knowing the auction will stop at a specified time
1 2 3 4 5 Knowing the auction will keep going as long as I keep raising my bid
1 2 3 4 5 Seeing "ratings" or feedback on sellers
1 2 3 4 5 A good search engine

4. How often do you auction game-related items?

weekly
several times a month
every few months
very infrequently
Never. But I might start.

5. How many game-related items have you sold at auction in the last

month?
6 months?
year?

6. How many game-related items have you purchased at auction in the last

month?
6 months?
year?

7. Which auction sites do you use most often to SELL on? Why?

8. Which auction sites do you use most often to BUY on? Why?

9. Overall, as both a buyer and a seller, which system do you like best?

There's a flat stop time. When the clock hits that time, the high bid wins.
Auctions go on indefinitely as long as people keep bidding; the seller sets the length of time that the system waits after a bid before advancing or closing.
There's a scheduled stop time, but the stop time is extended by X hours (or minutes) if someone bids in the last Y minutes.

10. Which statement would you agree with?

I really want to be able to post and read comments about buyers and sellers.
I don't use this feature much on other auctions, but I think it keeps people honest to know it's there.
I don't think this feature is very important.
I think that comments features are really abused, and I'd rather not see them.

11. Free comment - want to tell us what you really LIKE or really HATE about existing online auctions, or what you really WANT from ours?