This auction is being run by me, Naji, and my fiancée, Marcia, completely for fun. With the time I have invested into it (over 100 hours), and using a standard time=money conversion, I have no chance of making a "profit." Financial gain is not the point. Interacting with fellow enthusiasts while getting to mess with Lego stuff is the point. This does not mean that the auction will be run in a disorderly or unprofessional manner, however. To keep things running smoothly and prevent future discord, the following rules and instructions have been prepared. If you have any questions about the rules or the bidding process, feel free to email me with your specific questions, and I'll reply as best and quickly as I can.
Auction Time Frame
The auction begins on Wednesday, February 10th, 1999, and runs for approximately three and a half weeks. Items may advance starting on Saturday, February 20, 1999, assuming that there has been no activity on that item for a week. After that items will begin to advance with three days of inactivity, and for the last week they will advance daily with no activity.
Payment and Shipping Information
This auction and all bids and payments are strictly in US funds. All auction payments may be made by check or money order. I will hold shipments until payment is received and checks clear. My credit union will charge me if your check bounces, and I will pass that cost onto you when you resend payment (as a US Postal Money Order sent via priority mail). All items will ship via US Postal Service. For priority shipping, the charge will be the actual shipping cost ($3.20 for up to two pounds). For smaller orders (10 ounces or less) I can ship via first class mail. This will cost 75 cents above the actual shipping cost, for I will have to buy a box. If shipping costs more than I charged you, I will pay the difference. If shipping costs less, I will refund you the difference. International shipping may cost more. Once the auction ends it will take me some time (a few weeks) to get all the packages bundled and shipped. I will post shipping updates to the auction web site.
Bidding Instructions
1. All bidding will take place through email.
2. Mail all bids to n.norder@computer.org
n (dot) norder (at) computer
(dot) org
3. Your first email message must include your name,
email, and address.
4. Include as the subject something like "Auction
Bid."
5. To place a bid on a specific item:
A. Paste that item's line
from the web site into an email message.
B. Put an "X" or a "$" in
the brackets "[ ]" at the start of the line.
This assures me that you intended to bid on this specific item.
C. If you wish to bid at
above the asking price, then replace the asking price with your bid.
Otherwise, a bid at the asking price will be assumed.
D. Send the message.
6. Auction updates will take place mostly in the
evenings.
7. If two people bid on an item at the same price
on the same day, the email message that arrived in
my inbox first will get
the bid. To avoid this, you can always bid above the minimum,
thereby outbidding the other
entry. Note that there is no proxy bidding service.
8. If identical lots are held by different people
and someone bids to raise one of them, the lot with
the lower price or, if equal,
the earlier time stamp will be replaced.
9. I will utilize an email parser if I can implement
one, but otherwise all email will be handled
directly by us.
Bidding Example
Suppose that you wish to bid on the following item:
Item
Ask Current
[ ] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136
1.00 ---
Send me an email like the following:
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 10:56:27 -0500 (EST)
From: John Smith <jsmith@x.y>
To: n.norder@computer.org
Subject: Auction Bid
This is my first bid; here's all my information.
John Smith
jsmith@x.y
2341 West Highway
Pleasant Hill, IA 50225
Here's the bid.
[$] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136
1.00 ---
I will update the auction with your bid information. Now the item looks like this:
Item
Ask Current
[ ] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136
1.10 1.00 JohnS 2/7/99 10:56:27
Suppose someone else decides to bid on the item. They send an email like this.
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 14:56:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Mary Stuart <hi@d.com>
To: n.norder@computer.org
Subject: Auction Bid
[ ] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136 1.10 1.00 JohnS 2/7/99 10:56:27
And I update the item to reflect the bid.
Item
Ask Current
[ ] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136
1.20 1.10 MaryS 2/8/99 14:56:35
Now you wish to bid again, and you want to bid $1.50 to scare off other bidders.
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 02:56:42 -0500 (EST)
From: John Smith <jsmith@x.y>
To: n.norder@computer.org
Subject: Auction Bid
[ ] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136 1.50 1.10 MaryS 2/8/99 14:56:35
And I will update the entry as follows:
Item
Ask Current
[ ] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136
1.60 1.50 JohnS 2/9/99 02:56:42
After an appropriate time, the item may relist as going once ('), going twice (''), or sold.
Item
Ask Current
[ ] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136
1.60 '1.50 JohnS 2/9/99 02:56:42
[ ] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136
1.60 ''1.50 JohnS 2/9/99 02:56:42
[ ] 10 White Log 1x2 - #30136
SOLD 1.50 JohnS 2/9/99 02:56:42
Further Notes
1. All bids must meet the asking price and be a multiple of five cents. If a bid is received that is not (i.e. the cents column is 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9), the bid will be round UP to the next nickel.
2. A bid cannot be withdrawn for any reason. Ask all questions before bidding.
3. I reserve the right to withdraw any item from the auction. If that item currently has a bid, I will compensate the current bidder by giving him a credit equal to that bid. I don't anticipate that this will ever happen. (This is the My Cat Ate the Part clause.)
4. Items that do not sell will be held for a later auction or kept by us.
5. We reserve the right to disallow any bid or bidder. I don't anticipate that this will ever happen.
6. All the winnings of one person will be packaged together (in one bag and one box). Easily damaged items (like the witch's capes) will be placed in trading-card top-loaders or another suitable encasement.
7. Let me repeat: this auction is for fun. Unfriendly communication will not be appreciated, and will probably result in that bidder being banned AND a notice being posted to rec.toys.lego AND the bidder's ISP being notified of a potential breach of the TOS.
8. If you just HAVE to have one or two of the auction pages emailed to you, I can probably accommodate. This would involve me copying and pasting from the web site. If you know someone else (who is not as busy) that could help out instead, then please ask them.
9. Per recent rec.toys.lego discussion: Sets and pieces have been opened, sorted, and stored in a smoke-free environment. They have, however, been in a non cat-free environment.
10. The official auction data resides in the copy of the website located on my computer. If for some reason the Tripod site ceases to function, then the auction will proceed via posts to rec.toys.lego and/or lugnet.market.auction. I hope that this doesn't happen, as I don't wish to bombard those newsgroups with extra-long posts.
11. Any other conditions not specifically mentioned here will be judged by the rules of common sense and fairness.
12. Rules may be added here at any time, for clarification purposes. Any of those rules would be ones already covered by number 11 above, anyway.