FaunaAuction.com??

I did discover that I can add additional levels, if needed. So if this gets used enough where people begin complaining, I can easily (I think) just add subcategories under SNAKES, etc, to match what is in the classifieds section here.

But for now, I am going to keep the categories kind of broad. From what I have seen here, it seems to intimidate people to see TOO many categories.

But I just completed adding the categories listed in the message above. Unfortunately, it sorts in alphabetical order, which is not my preference, but maybe I can get around that.

I just need to make up a banner graphic, check to make sure the layout doesn't have any glaring holes in it, and then do some minor testing, and it will be open for business.

Oh yeah, the program has a setting that I can use to credit registrants an amount I can set. So I think what I may do is to set it so that the first 100 or so registrants will get a $10 credit. Of course, I haven't looked closely at this, so this is a 'seat of the pants' statement.

I guess I'm a bit late posting to this thread.

I would have said to not bother, as it would prbably be more trouble than it is worth. Then I would have given a link to an auction site I like the format of, but it's a little late for that too.

The only thing left for me to say is, what will you do about people who list pseudo auctions in the classifieds, saying they will sell such and such animal to the highest bidder by (fill in day of the week) night. Will there be a warning value assigned to this?

Yeah, too late now. Because I have the auction site up. I'm not going to do any more extensive testing of it. I have posted an auction myself as a test, so I'm going to just open it up and let it fly or not.

FaunaAuction.com

Check it out and see what you think.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

I think you have successfully found a way to keep "most" people from using the "attention getting icons"!!!!!!! LOL. At first, I thought that must have been a mistake, but after reading this thread, I now understand. It is actually pretty funny.

Alright, someone clue me in, since I am not about to post an auction. What's the deal with the attention getting icons?

Much like on these forums, you have the options, with your auction, to post a thumbs up icon, or a smiley face icon...but these are annoying...very annoying icons that move, and/or have neon colours.

So Webslave has put a price tag of $100 to add one of these icons to your message so it will be more noticeable.

BUT....that's not the only thing you can do. For just $1 or $2 you can have the subject of your auction highlighted, you can change the font colour and size of your description and all.

A few uf us were playing around with it earlier today. I've put up three auctions as a test run to see how things worked. So there's a dutch auction, one with a reserve, and one plain one.

It looks awesome! I'm already impressed by it. Great work so far!

Richard - the deal with the "attention getting icons", is that they are downright ugly. I suppose sooner or later I will be able to figure out how to disable the options to select them when you post an auction, or else replace them with something a bit less tacky looking. But for now, the easiest thing for me to do was to set the price tag so high on them, that no one in their right mind will spend that much money to use them. But if someone wants to spend $100 for one, heck, I suppose I can bear up under the strain of looking at it.

So that was effectively disabling them the easiest way I could figure out how to do on short notice.

All in all, I think the auction turned out pretty decent for just several hours tweaking on it. I noticed some things in the code that I need to look into further, but for now I hope this will do the job sufficiently. Already have 40 registered members and some auctions running.

Bear in mind that there is a referral option for new registrants where they can list a current member logon name as a referral whom got them to sign up. There is a $5 bonus applied to the person listed as being the referral source, so if you turn someone on to the auction site, be sure they know your logon ID. That's 5 free plain vanilla auctions for you right there.

There's still more to do, though. The payment options don't have a lot of flexibility. But there is an option to require new registrants to provide a credit card number upon registration. So I'm not sure how that ties into the scheme of things. But that little tidbit might come in handy if and when I need to crack down on bogus registrations down the road.

Anyway, each new registrant gets a $10 credit, so go ahead and use it to set up your own auction. I have a miscellaneous non-animal auction category set up in case anyone wants to try their hand at auctioning off stuff just sitting in the basement. Worst thing that could happen is that you won't sell it, but maybe you will. Who knows?

Hope it is at least fun for some people here. I think I will get a kick out of it myself.

Thanks.

p.s. If anyone has any suggestions about the layout, let me know.

I have only read the first and last page of this thread, I would have said no to an auction. I really do not trust them.
I am in the market this year to buy, buy and more buying. I do not think I would want to take the time to bid.
However, since you have already put it up, I will take a look and see what is there and at least be open minded about it.

I guess it's like all the other sites I have put up. People will either use it, or not.

Something like this is not that much of a burden on me, because I already have the server, and it's running at nowhere near close to capacity. The software wasn't all that expensive, and it didn't take too much effort to get it decent looking.

I may have my hands full keeping out troublemakers, though, but I believe the auction software has some tools to make that easier to do. For now I am giving everyone the benefit of the doubt and have the sheilds down until I need to raise them.

My goal is to have the auction board both fun and useful for everyone. If I make a few bucks off of it down the road, then that would just be icing on the cake.