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 us with your specific questions, and we'll reply as best and quickly as we can.
Auction Time Frame
The auction begins on Monday, August 9th, 1999, and runs for approximately three and a half weeks. Items may advance starting on Thursday, August 19th, 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. We will hold shipments until payment is received and checks clear. Our credit union will charge us if your check bounces, and we 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 $2.00 (6 ounces or less) or $2.75 (7 to 10 ounces). The charge above the postage is for the time to construct the box, and the fact that the packed box with padding, etc., will certainly be an ounce or two more than the parts. International shipping may cost more. Once the auction ends it will take us some time to get all the packages bundled and shipped, as we both have real jobs, too. We 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, address, and a 4-5 letter alias, if desired.
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. If you wish to place
a proxy bid above the asking price, then replace the asking price with
your proxy.
Your bid will be entered at the asking price. (I.E. Higher bids are
assumed to be proxy bids.)
C. If you wish to place
a higher FIRM bid, write "FIRM" before the bid price. If you wish,
you can place
an even higher proxy by writing "PROXY" and listing a higher price.
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. There is a proxy bidding service, if desired.
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 later time stamp will be replaced.
9. This is a semi-automated auction. The software
generates all the emails you receive, but we will read any
emails you send. Thus,
friendly and constructive comments, questions, or suggestions are appreciated.
Bidding Example
Suppose that you wish to bid on the following item:
[LOT #] Lot Description $Ask $Current High Bid
[L1587] 1 Multicoloured Mummy MF 0.80 -
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
Pleasantville, IA 50225
Alias JohnS
Here's the bid.
[L1587] 1 Multicoloured Mummy MF
1.00 -
I will update the auction with your bid information. Now the item looks like this:
[LOT #] Lot Description
$Ask $Current High Bid
[L1587] 1 Multicoloured Mummy MF
0.85 0.80 JohnS 8/9/99 10:56:27
Note that the $1.00 bid was assumed to be a proxy.
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
Alias MaryS
[L1587] 1 Multicoloured Mummy MF
FIRM0.90 0.80 JohnS 8/9/99 10:56:27
And I update the item to reflect the bid.
[LOT #] Lot Description
$Ask $Current High Bid
[L1587] 1 Multicoloured Mummy MF
1.00 0.95 JohnS 8/12/99 10:04:27
Mary asked for a firm bid at $0.90, but John's proxy outbid her.
After an appropriate time, the item may relist as going once ('), going twice (''), or sold.
[LOT #] Lot Description
$Ask $Current High Bid
[L1587] 1 Multicoloured Mummy MF
1.00 '0.95 JohnS 8/12/99 10:04:27
[L1587] 1 Multicoloured Mummy MF
1.00 "0.95 JohnS 8/12/99 10:04:27
[L1587] 1 Multicoloured Mummy MF
SOLD 0.95 JohnS 8/12/99 10:04:27
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. We 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 us 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, we can probably accommodate. This would involve us 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. Sets and pieces have been opened, sorted, and stored in a smoke-free environment. They have, however, been in a non cat-free environment. (You might get the occasional cat hair in your package.)
10. The official auction data resides in the auction software located on our 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. We hope that this doesn't happen, as we don't wish to bombard those newsgroups with extra-long posts.
11. The bid increment is $0.05 up to $1.00. It is $0.10 from $1.00 to $4.00. It is $0.25 from $4.00 to $11.00. Above $11.00 the bid increment is $1.00.
12. Any other conditions not specifically mentioned here will be judged by the rules of common sense and fairness.
13. Rules may be added here at any time, for clarification purposes. Any of those rules would be ones already covered by number 12 above, anyway.