DELETING AUCTIONS: Auctioneers should not delete Auctions, especially since a correct winner needs to be confirmed.
SHARING AUCTIONS: Auctioneers are not allowed to “share” the auction posting from their personal Facebook wall due to Facebook security. This only allows friends to view the post. If not fixed, the auction will be deleted.
DUPLICATE POSTINGS: Do not post the same auction multiple times. Instead, comment “bump” or remind about the auction in the comments. Duplicate posts will be deleted.
DESIGNATING PROCEEDS: If proceeds are to be designated, clearly spell out what they are for (e.g., Missions projects, District Projects, Outpost Fundraisers). Admin may ask for clarification or corrections.
DELETING BIDS: Bids should not be deleted during a live auction. The bidder will be asked to honor the bid, as deleting may discourage others. (Note: see updated rule in Revision 12122021)
EDITING BIDS: If a bid is edited, it is automatically ruled out. Edited bids violate timestamp-based fairness. Post a new comment instead.
ADDITIONAL BID COMMENTS: Limit comments to bids or questions about the item. Irrelevant or disruptive comments will be removed. For example, offering the same item while the auction is still live is not allowed.
MAX “PRICE” BIDDING: This is not eBay. Do not set a “Max” bid like “My bid = [Highest bid under $100] + $5.” This creates confusion and can hinder competitive bidding. Such bids will be ruled out.
UPDATE 12102021:
RETRACTING or DELETING BIDS: There is no retracting or deleting of bids during a live auction and it will need to be addressed with the bidder immediately. By deleting a bid, you might have hindered others from bidding. Bidder will be asked to honor the retracted or deleted bid unless there are mitigating circumstances.
Instances for Retracting or Deleting a bid: (This has not been a major issue but has come up a few times in the past for various reasons)
If the bid is unable to be paid, the auctioneer (seller) should reopen the auction for an additional 24 hours, noting the current correct bidder and amount. This will give those who may have stopped bidding due to the retracted bid a chance to bid again.
Remember, whenever you place a bid, you’re agreeing to buy the item if you win the auction at that posted amount. Let’s keep the auction process running smoothly by not retracting or deleting bids during the auction. Feel free to message or tag the Admins for any issues that arise in the auction process.
UPDATE 07272023:
NOTE: Many of these are just clarifications and were already in place.
GAMBLER SALE (or Gambler Auction): Gambler Sales are allowed. Introduced by member Michael Price, a Gambler Sale is where you have multiple items (patches, pins, coins, etc.) for sale at the same time and set a starting price per item (Example: All patches are $25 each). As the items are sold and the sale goes on, the price of the remaining available items could drop, which must be announced (Example: All remaining patches are now $20). You could wait for a better deal, but the item might already be gone—that’s where the gambling comes in. The seller can lower the price at any increment as long as it is in dollar amounts. The seller must keep track of the items and the prices they were sold at and must also announce when the sale is completed.
MULTIPLE COMMENTS FOR SALE AT ONCE: When someone puts up an item for sale, it is usually required to post “SOLD” in the photo comments. Sometimes it looks like it is a tie with multiple people posting at the same time. Unlike Auctions where the Administrators would need to check the timestamps, in this situation it goes to the FIRST member who commented SOLD.
FOR SALE – PRIVATE OFFERS: Although private bids are not allowed in auctions, private offers are allowed on For Sale items. Some members want to keep their purchases private, which is understandable, especially on large ticket items. If the seller receives a private offer and accepts it, they must mark it in the comments of the item they are selling right away. It is not right for someone else to try and buy the item (marking SOLD in the comments) only to be told the seller already sold it.
PUBLIC AUCTIONS – PRIVATE OFFERS: We DO NOT allow private offers on public auctions. You can host your own private auction if you want. Public Auctions require bids to be confirmed via timestamps, which cannot be done with a private offer.
FACEBOOK JAIL: If you land yourself in Facebook Jail, you can have someone bid for you on auctions if you are not able to bid yourself. Private offers are not allowed (see above).
BUY IT NOW OPTION ON AUCTIONS: This is a function used by eBay but is NOT ALLOWED on Patch Page Auctions since it cannot be enforced. On eBay, once someone bids on an auction, the “Buy It Now” option is no longer available which makes it just an auction. We allow for Auctions or For Sale Postings, but not a combination of both. We recommend just putting the item up for sale at your “Buy It Now” price, and if it does not sell, then lower the price.
AUCTION OR BEST OFFER: Again, we allow for Auctions or For Sale Postings, but not a combination of both. If you want to put something up as for sale or best offer, that is acceptable. It just cannot be an Auction.
PAYMENT OPTIONS: If the seller lists a preferred payment option, please honor the request when bidding or buying. If you cannot pay using the listed payment option, please contact the seller to see if they would allow something else from you (money order, check, cash, etc.).
CROSS POSTING (MULTIPLE SITES): This has not been allowed on the Patch Page based on the confusion it has caused in the past. There is one exception that is allowed. You can cross post if you are “considering private offers” on something you are selling. Since this is managed by the seller and has no impact on the members of the Patch Page, this is allowed.
UPDATE 08012024:
THE OT RULE NO LONGER VALID AS OF AUGUST 2024
UPDATE 01/15/2022:
LAST MINUTE BID AUCTION RULE (aka The OT Rule)
Implemented January 15th, 2022
If there is a bid within the last minute of an auction, FIVE additional minutes will be added to the end of the posted auction time. This allows other bidders a chance to counter. The additional five minutes should be ample time for everyone involved to continue bidding until done. This change brings our online auction process closer to a live auction, where bidding continues until no one else bids.
Please be aware that once the additional five minutes pass, the auction is OVER. The same auction rules apply—whoever places the last bid closest to the ending time wins.
The goal is to keep the change as simple as possible, but also improve the process for both the auctioneer and the buyer. Since there will no longer be the chance of a last minute (or second) bid, this should promote more bidding during the normal auction time-frame listed.
It might add a little more work to the admin to determine a winner (must check all timestamps on all bids using a computer), but the change will improve the current process.
Example: A 7:00 PM EST auction has a bid at 6:59 PM EST. The new ending auction time is 7:05 PM EST. The winning bid is the time closest to the new time (7:05 PM EST) without going over (7:04:59 PM EST).
NOTE: Although there has been a lot of discussion on the potential of changing this rule, the rule is still in place as of 7/27/23.
NOTE: THE OT RULE IS NO LONGER VALID AS OF AUGUST 2024.