rec.games.frp.marketplace Total Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List

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What is the rec.games.frp.marketplace?

The rec.games.frp.marketplace is usenet newsgroup were people can buy, sell, trade, and otherwise deal in role-playing games and their related materials.

What is a roleplaying game?

A roleplaying game, simply put, is a game where the people take on roles of fictional characters, and have an adventure that is usually solely played out in the imagination of the players. These adventures are either made up on the spur of the moment or have a basic outline that has been already set out in some written work. Roleplaying material consists of books that set out the rules for running these games and also books (know as modules) that set out particular storylines for the games.

What exactly can and can't I buy, sell and trade on rec.games.frp.marketplace newsgroup?

You can buy, sell or trade anything that is related to roleplaying games. Items sold mainly on the newsgroup mainly consist of boxed sets, reference book and modules that are printed by various gaming companies. Other items that are sold include dice, dice bags, miniatures (single and boxed), posters, scripts, comics, books, and books (all of which are either used as reference or set in roleplaying worlds), and too a lesser extant software (roleplaying utilities and games) and wargames.
You can't (and shouldn't) sell, buy or trade for any items that doesn't deal in some way with roleplaying. These include Collectable Card Games (ie Magic etc), cd's, miscellaneous novels, comic books and basically anything else that you can think of! There is one exception to this rule, if you are selling or trading items for roleplaying material or trading roleplaying material for other items, then you may post a brief note to the newsgroup informing them and either pointing them to a more appropriate newsgroup or private email discussions. As this is usually always annoying to the readers of the newsgroup you should post only a brief note on what you are looking for and what you have and post, at best, only once every 2-4 weeks (and even then you may be asked to stop;) You must also not sell photocopies of printed roleplaying material, with the exception of authorised photocopies of Judges Guild material.

Crossposting between the various frp and marketplace groups?

Crossposting (posting to several newsgroups at once) your sale, auction or trade posts to a wrong newsgroup is probably the easiest way to offend a great many people. If your post includes board games a crosspost to rec.games.board.marketplace is generally considered acceptable. Crossposts to any of the other frp groups or any other marketplace group (with the possible exception of misc.forsale.misc) is considered the HEIGHT of net-rudeness. There are of course some possible exceptions to the rule, for example trading items (ie magic cards) for roleplaying items might be acceptable in both rec.tradingcards.marketplace.magic.trades and rec.games.frp,marketplace and also trading roleplaying items for magic cards. It is also acceptable to post sale, auctions and trade notices in regional newsgroups (ie au.games.roleplay and uk.games.roleplay which are the Australian and United Kingdom roleplaying newsgroups respectively) may also be acceptable. You should always weigh your options carefully before posting to groups other than the rec.games.frp.newsgroup when you are selling, buying or trading roleplaying items and you should also check the FAQ or charter of the newsgroups you want to post to BEFORE you post to them.

What should I do first?

Probably the best advice I could give is to Lurk before you leap. Before buying , selling or trading any item on rec.games.frp.marketplace it is recommend that you read posts and follow auctions for at least one month, just so you can get an idea of how things work (and how they don't;).

Useful Acronyms/Abbreviations

These are used often in the subject of the posts to tell the reader what type of ad they are.

WTB = Want To Buy
WTT = Want To Trade
WTTF = Want To Trade For
FS = For Sale
F/S = For Sale (Rarely used alternate)
FS/T = For Sale or Trade
AUC = Auction
AD = An Advertisement for a store or service
(Long) = The message is very long

Useful Game system or Company Acronyms/Abbreviations

1st Ed - ADD 1st Edition
2nd Ed - ADD 2nd Edition
40k - Warhammer 40,000
A1,UK4,Etc -Old ADD Modules are referred to by Module No
ADD/AD&D - Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
AH - Avalon Hill (Runequest)
B13 - Bureau 13
BH - Boot Hill
BR - Birthright
BT - Battletech
C&S - Chivalry and Sorcery
CoC - Call of Cthulhu
CP - Cyberpunk
CT - Classic Traveller (Traveller 1st Edition)
DD/D&D - Dungeons and Dragons
DL - Dragonlance (ADD World)
ED - Earthdawn
FR - Forgotten Realms (ADD World)
FASA - FASA, Inc. (Shadowrun, EarthDawn, BattleTech, Traveller, Dr.Who, Start Trek)
GH - Greyhawk (ADD World)
GURPS - GURPS
GDW - Games Designer Workshop (Traveller)
GW - Gamma World or Games Workshop.
ICE - Iron Crown Enterprise (MERP, Rolemaster)
JG - Judges Guild
MERP - Middle Earth Role Playing (ICE)
Mini(s) - "Lead" Miniatures (frp miniatures on this newsgroup)
MT - Megatraveller (Traveller 2nd Edition)
OOP - Out of Print material
PS - Planescape (ADD World)
RL - Ravenloft (ADD World)
RPGA - Generally refers to the RPGA series of modules rather than the actual RPGA association
RM - Rolemaster
RQ - Runequest
SF - Star Frontiers
SFB - Star Fleet Battles
SJ - Spelljammer (ADD World)
SJ/SJG - Steve Jackson/Steve Jackson Games
SR - Shadowrun
T4 - Marc Miller's Traveller (Traveller 4th Edition)
T2K - Twilight 2000
TS - Top Secret
TS/SI - Top Secret/SI
T:TNE - Traveller: The New Era (Traveller 3rd Edition)
V:TM - Vampire: The Masquerade
V&V - Villains and Vigilantes
WD - White Dwarf
WFRP - Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing
XD&D/xD&D - AD&D or D&D material put out by companies other than TSR

Definations of Quality

Differences in perception about the quality of an item as reported by the seller and the quality of an item as perceived by the buyer is probably the most likely source of conflict that will arise when buying. Selling or trading in the marketplace. This is rarely done on purpose as sometimes people grade items badly. When posting items for sale or auction it is always advisable that you grade your items. If you are buying and the seller hasn't listed the quality of the items you are interest in, your should ask for a description of them. Below is a simple grading system for reference:

[N] - New.

The object you are selling is new. I would only expect net shops to use this rating. New items are the only items that you should expect to delivered shrinkwrapped. New items are usually sold at a premium.

[SW] - Shrinkwrapped.

The item you are selling is still in its original shrinkwrap. Shrinkwrapped items are usually sold at a premium. When purchasing shrinkwraped items, especially old items (10+ years), you should remember that people have been know to reshrink items so as to maximise their return. It is very difficult to know unless you open the shrinkwrap, and then reduce its value (a catch 22 situation), that an item has been reshrinkwrapped (older TSR items have a crinkly shrinkwrapping, very different from the smoth shrinkwrap of today).

[M] - Mint.

The item is perfect. Anything less than perfect is not Mint. Mint items are always sold at a premium, usually a significant premium. Very few items ever qualify as mint. Even New items do not always qualify as mint. Mint items should be packaged in a way to protect their "mintness".

[NM] - Near Mint.

This item has absolutely minimal damage. Near mint items are sold at a premium and like Mint items should be packaged in a way to protect their "near mintness".

[VG] - Very Good

This item has some minor damage. It might have a crease or minor cover wear or spine damage. Most collectors prefer not to buy items worse than VG. And VG items should be packaged to protect their "very goodness".

[G] - Good.

Good, really isn't. There is some moderate damage to the item. Perhaps pencil marks, owners signature in pen or similar. The module/book etc is expected to be completely intact (no tears etc) and not have "serious damage". Good items are sold at minor discount. Good items should be playable.

[F] - Fair.

Fair is bad. The item is damaged in some way or is missing maps or other vital elements. It may have a small tears or tape. Fair items are sold at a discount. Fair items may or may not be playable--if not playable should be noted why. Most gamers will not buy items worse than Fair.

[P] - Poor.

Everything else falls into this category. Poor items are generally not playable as is. Poor items are sold at a large discount.

Buying from the newsgroup and Bidding on items

Buying from this newsgroup and Bidding on items is simple. When you see a post with an item listed you're interested in send that person an email saying you're interested in bidding on or like to buying such and such item. If the person has several items for sale then you should say which items you are interested in or delete all references to the other items if you sending a copy of the post. You should not send a complete copy of a persons post, only of the items that you are interested in. You should also never post bids to the newsgroup, send them instead to the seller.
As a buyer there are a few basic rules you should follow:

1. Abide by the rules of the auction.
2. Bid only if they can pay- a good way is to set a price for a particular item that you can and are willing to pay, and then stop bidding once that price level is reached.
3. Pay for the items as soon as possible once the auction/sale is over! Buyers should send payment for the goods within 7 days of finalising the total costs for the goods. Speedy payment for goods is common courtesy, if you find that you have some difficulty in sending payment remember to send the seller a note about it.
4. Do not deliberately bid on an item it you do not need it!! If you find that you do not require the item you have bid on then retract your bid! Legally your bid is valid until the seller accepts or rejects the bid, or you retract your bid. Retract your bid AS SOON AS POSSIABLE and before the auction ends. DO NOT leave it until after the auction has ended, as legally if the item is marked as sold you have agreed to buy the item, you can no longer retract your bid as at that stage the bid no longer exists, once the bid has been accepted it no longer exists!! If you reserve the right to pull items from an auction, then bidders can argue they reserve the right to pull a bid. Even if you do not reserve the right, there is not much an auctioneer can do about a bidder who pulls bids. At least the person informed you about it, unlike the people who 'win' items and you never hear from them again.
5. If something unforeseen arises then talk with the person selling, trading or auctioning the items, as they are usually understanding.

My email bounced!

If your email bounces (the email can not be delivered because the address does not exist or is wrong) check to see if the poster is using a 'spam blocker'. A "spam blocker" is were a person has inserted a segment of text in their email address or has made up an email address to foil automated address collectors (SPAMMERS!), read the original post again and see how to get the persons real email address .

My Email wasn't answered?

You have send a message that you would like to buy or bid on an item and you get no reply, what should you do? There are several reasons that this sometimes happens. The first is that the person didn't get the email, sometime it just happens, not often, but it happens and your email gets lost in the system. The second is that the item you are after has already been sold and the person is just to lazy to email you about it. Email the person again anyway and see if you get a reply, if you get no answer the second time around it's time to move on.

Private Reellers, Dealers and Net Shops

People that don't want to go through the time and trouble of auctions on the Internet can buy their goods from various Net Shops. "Net Shops" are either real or "virtual" shops that sell their items through the net, most times they have a web page that you can order items through, sometime they don't. "Virtual shops" are businesses that don't have an actual physical shop location, instead they are usually run out of peoples homes. Net shops prices are usually a bit higher than in auctions or sales, but if you deal with them their stock grading can usually be counted on and there is usually a zero percentage chance that they will rip you off. While there is very little risk in dealing with a net you should deal with a shop in the same manner as a person, ie get references, an established shops should have no worries in supplying these. Some Net shops can also accept payment by credit card which can be an added safety measure.
If you are new Dealer or want to set up a Net Shop and you want to advertise your products, well here is a few tips. Build up a good rep, be nice to your customers, follow up on inquiries quickly, grade items fairly, and for heavens sake don't post like crazy to the newsgroup. Posting a list of items you have available or a pointer to your web page once a week should be more than enough. More than that tends to grate on people's nerves and possible could get you killfiled, remember these are your customers. It is also that it is generally in your best interest to identify yourself as a net dealer or shop and placing [AD] in your post courteous as well.

Following is a list of Private Resellers, Dealers (I make no guarantees about these sources, let the buyer beware!):

I want to buy something from someone in another country?

The rec.games.frp.marketplace can be read and posted to throughout the world, therefor you will inevitably get people selling roleplaying items from all over the world. Sometimes it is easy to tell if a person is from a country other than the USA as the email address has a prefix at the end (ie .au for Australia, .fr for France etc) usually though they make it quite clear in their posts that they are from outside the USA.
Bidding and Buying items from overseas works just the same was as buying domestically but will be a bit more trouble. Almost always the seller will want to be paid in his own countries currency, this involves either getting an international draft (basically an international cheque).These can be obtained at Banks and (some) post offices, they are calculated using the current exchange rate plus a smallish (approx. $10) fee. You should also be aware that international postage rates can be quite expensive, so make sure you check them out before you make a bid or say that you will buy an item. Sometimes (usually when a companies gives away promotional material) someone will ask for a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (S.A.S.E) if the person is in another country you will either need to somehow get that particular countries stamps (this is also next to impossible to do) or buy some International Reply Coupons (IRC's). IRC's are available at post offices and may be exchanged for stamps and may be used in almost any country.

WTB posts

If you're looking to buy a specific product, first check to see if those items are for sale or auction, or are available at a Net Store. If you can't find what you are looking for (or maybe you just want to buy it cheaper) you can post a message to the newsgroup with the subject "WTB Product", and put any pertinent info in the body of the message. People should then start (hopefully) sending you offers to sell the item to you.
There are several things that you should keep in mind when posting WTB posts. The first is that you should keep in short and sweet. Give a list and condition of the items that you are looking for and, ideally, what sort of price range you are looking to pay.
Second, keep your posts down to a minimum. By minimum I mean two things. First, if you want several items post one list of the items that you want, not a different post for every item. Second don't over post, ie don't post everyday. WTB post should be posted once or twice a week at most.
Lastly, WTB posts for rare items (by rare I mean items like the RPGA and R modules, Dragon #1, Lost Tamochan, etc) will almost 100% never work. The reality is that once and a while rare items are AUCTIONED on the newsgroup. On no account is anyone who reads this newsgroup and owns the item(s) you're looking for going to sell it to you unless you offer an obscene (and for some of these items I mean OBSCENE) amount of money along with the post. Rare items are almost always auctioned on the newsgroup.
Replying to WTB adds is very easy. If you have an item they are looking for, reply to them via email., Easy eh;)

Why are some items so expensive and others so cheap?

This is easy to answer, Supply and Demand! Yes it's basic economics. An over supply or little demand for an item will cause the price to fall while an under supply or high demand will cause the price of an item to increase. Sometimes legal troubles over an item will also limit the amount of an item that is produced, this will almost always drive prices up. Other factors can also influence an items price, limited knowledge of the buyer being one. This can happen were the seller talks up an items rareness, and an uninformed buyer believes it. Other times items go for more when a buyer wants a particular item at the time and so bids up the price on it.

What if the deal looks too good to be true?

How can you spot a Bad Trader?

The short answer is you can't! Fortunately bad traders in the RPG marketplace are rare and tend to only strike once and then leave, unlike some other newsgroups (like the trading card newsgroups), unfortunately honest, trusting people lose money or material all the same. One reason for the low number of bad traders is the fact that scam artists want to make a quick buck, RPG material is generally not worth the effort, most of the material does not attract prices that make it worthwhile, there are easier pickings in other places- like the magic card newsgroups!

How to avoid getting ripped off!

First, Check CHECK OUT REFERENCES!!!

References: Get references from the other person. What are "References"? "References" are the e-mail addresses that the other person has traded with/bought from/sold to. When the other person supplies you with references, CHECK THEM OUT. You don't know if the references are legitimate if you do not CHECK THEM OUT! You "check the references" by sending email to the references. Below is a sample reference check letter:

I am about to trade with/buy from:

John Doe (jdoe@somewhere.com)

Is this person an honest trader/seller? How did your trade/sale with him go? Were the goods sent in a timely fashion and in the promised condition? Thanks!

If most of the references "bounce" (the email address is invalid) or you get no response, then the references are probable fake and you should not trade OR you should insist that the other person send first.

"Freemail" services

People new to the net may not be aware that you can obtain free email address, also know "Freemail" services. "Freemail" services are offered by various organisations on the net, and most people are aware of at least the "Big" freemail names (ie @hotmail.com). These services offer "free" email accounts (AOL permits each of its users to create up to five "screen names" which basically amounts to the same) . A trader could get multiple accounts on these services at no charge and with no identification with the intention of ripping people off. The lesson learned is: A list of references that comes entirely from one system or from the free services below, should be viewed sceptically. If the references are from a system which does not allow multiple names, you might still be given the trader's friends as references. When checking a reference list try to take no more than 2 from any given service, and try to get several from different services.

What can I do if you believe someone has ripped you off?

There are several things you can do if you believe that someone has ripped you off:

Selling and Auctioning items the newsgroup

Selling and Auctioning items on this newsgroup is also fairly simple, but takes a bit more work than just buying items;) There is no "set" way of actually selling or auctioning stuff on the newsgroup but the following is a good guide.

What are my options for selling items?

There are quite a few ways to sell or auction your stuff on the marketplace. They are:

Dutch auction

This is probably the rarest kind of auction that is used on the newsgroup. This is where the opening bid is set extremely high for a product and then falls gradually down over time until someone grabs it. Each item will have a different opening bid and decrease in price with each posting until the first person claims it at that price.

Sealed bid auction

Another pretty rarely type of auction. Basically you list your items and solicit sealed bids. That is, people who are interested in one or more of your items enter 'secret' bids for each item they are interested in. Usually this type of auction runs for a short period of time as the auctioneer tries to solicit as many sealed bids as possible. At the end, he reveals who the high bidder was on each item. You may want to set minimum bids if you wish to run this kind of auction. Also, the bids are supposed to be sealed, so you are not supposed to reveal to other bidders what someone else is bidding on an item until the auction is over.

Lot bid auction

For those who don't have the time to run a full-fledged auction and want to move all of their stuff fast and in one fell swoop, this may be a good option for the seller. You list all of your items you want to sell in one big lot and then solicit bids (you probably should post a minimum that you want in order to weed out the weenie bidders). Mostly the resellers will bid in these kinds of auctions, but personal buyers can find bargains too, since the price for a large lot is usually less than having to buy all of the items separately.

Itemized Going, Going, Gone Auction

This is the most popular type of auction run here and with good reason. The going1x, going2x and gone method is by far the fairest method of auctioning for the participants, since everyone has a shot to 'win' and claims jumpers have no chance. This is also the kind of auction that is most likely to cause brain haemorrhages for the auctioneer, especially if it is a large auction. Many potential bidders will not start bidding until items are going1x or going2x. Two day intervals between 'going' gradations are probably the best. This auction ensures the auctioneer the highest amounts possible for items, while giving participants an equal opportunity to win items. This type of auction requires time and meticulous accounting on the part of the auctioneer though, so be prepared for that.

Sale Sale Sale!!!

Basically a seller lists all the items he has for sale and their price and posts the list to the newsgroup. Sometimes sale notices don't contain prices or even a lists of items that are for sale, instead prices and item lists are given on inquiry. Notices sometimes point the reader to a web page were the seller has a list of items for sale. Items sold in this way are usually sold on a fist-come-first-served basis.

How should I post my Auction or Sale?

I suggest using the following template for your Subject line:

[Name of Auction] [Auction/Sale] [Game System(s)/Editions/Main Auction Items] [Highlight Items][Update# if auction]

ie. Joe's Auction: ADD 1st+2nd Ed/CoC inc. T1-4,Arkham Horror, Update #3

In the body of your Sale or Auction you should list what you have, what you want to sell it for and its condition, your email address, your name and if you live outside the USA. If you have a long list of items, you can break it up into multiple messages (2 or 3), but most people find it somewhat annoying. When posting multiple messages you should try and break the list up into related groups (ie all boxed sets, different game systems, different editions, etc). Also, don't post the same message day after day after day. It's gets somewhat annoying to people that read the newsgroup. Also remember that writing in CAPS can also be annoying and is really bad net etiquette .
Remember this newsgroup is for any and all roleplaying material, don't assume that they know the name of every piece of roleplaying material ever made so always indicate what system items are used for. Detailed descriptions, especially of magazines, rare or unusual items, are also useful at times in stimulating interest in items for sale or auction.

How much is my roleplaying material worth?

Minimum bids

Minimum raises

When you are selling expensive items or lot items you should consider what you will accept as a minimum raises on the items. As a guide, minimum raises can be set at $2 for items over $20, $5 for items over $50-$100 or $10 for items $100 and up. Use your best judgment when introducing minimums raises, in most auctions for expensive item bidders seem to come to a mutual acceptable minimum raise. If there is no minimum raise stated in an auction post, it is usually considered to be $1.

How long should the auction last?

Dutch Auctions and Sealed Bid Auctions should, IMHO, run no more that 2 weeks, any longer than this and people start to get annoyed. Lot Auctions and Itemised Auctions should in general run from 2-4 weeks depending on how many items you have and the rate at which people bid. Any longer than this and you stand more of a chance that they may become disinterested the longer an auction drags out. One month should be long enough for interested parties to see your posts, contact you and bid. Longer than that also puts you into jeopardy of competing with other new auctions that are offering the same items as yours for lower bids, plus current bidders may also find the items in your auction some place else and pull their bids (or just ignore it when you send the bill). Auctions of these types generally have a built in time limit, sometimes, however you may want it to end by a specific time or it may become be drawn out, in these cases you may either move the bidding to email in the case of a few bidders after a single item, or set an ending date for the auction. When setting an ending date, many bidders will just wait it out until the very end and then bid on the last update. It is a common curtesy that you should always give the last highest bidder the right to outbid any last minute bid, especially if this bid has come from someone that has never bid before in the auction.

How often should I post and email updates?

Remember that usenet is a worldwide network. It takes time for your initial post to propagate to all the corners of the earth, and it takes time for your updates to propagate as well. A good rule of thumb is an update every 2-3 days depending on the "action" of your auction. This ensures that your auction remains freshly in peoples minds, allows a steady rate of bidding, and reassures that you are still continuing your auction. The more updates you do, the faster your auction can finish, however you should avoid posting no more than once a day to the newsgroup. When you're down to having one or two people bidding over one or two items its time to take your auction off rec.games.frp.newsgroup and onto email. After the auction is over, posting the final prices and who got what provides data for future auctions/sales. Furthermore there is some vicarious interest for the final prices of the high-ticket items

Pulling items

A "God" clause is usually added to the rules in order to cover the auctioneer's arse in case he/she wants to pull an item, sell it outright, or cancel the whole thing altogether. A warning should be issued here, some people will not bid in auctions that have god rules since the bidder has no guarantee from his time investment that you, the auctioneer, will sell the item to him/her when all is done. Legally though, sellers do not have to accept a bid if they do not what to, they also do not have to sell their goods to the highest bidder, generally though they do not do this. Sellers may also remove an item for sale at any time before it is marked as sold. If a seller marks a good as sold or accepts an offer on an item for sale then that item is sold! The seller can no longer accept any other offers on the item or remove an item that has been marked as sold. An item may also me removed if it fail to reach a reserved price. The reserved price is the hidden price that a seller sets as the minimum price that he will accept (at auction) for an item. Reserve pricing is actually quite common in the rarefied Fine Art world but somewhat rare on the newsgroup. You should carefully think first before pulling an item in an auction, as this can annoy bidders to no end.

People posted messages making fun of my prices!

Buyout Bids

Buyout bids occur in two separate occasions. The first is were you have indicated the buyout of a particular product. This price is usually at the upper range of what you can expect to get for an item. It allows people that are willing to pay the price get the item without going through the entire auction process and it allows you to sell items faster. Secondly, buyout bids occur when someone offers you a high bid for you to imediately sell the item. In this case you may either accept or reject that persons offer, you may for instance believe that you can get more. IMHO I consider buyout bids to be immediate, if you go and post saying that you have a bid of such and such and the item will be sold in 24 hours unless you get a higher bid, I do not consider this is how a buyout bid should be handled (again IMHO). Bother the seller and the bidder should make very clear how these types of bids are handled.

Continginciey Bids

Contingency bids occur when someone bids like this. "I bid $xx on item a, if someone bids higher than this I will automatically bid $xx more up to my limit of $xxxxx which is the maximum I'm willing to pay for the item." Contingency bids can move an auction along quickly but involve an increased work load on the part of the seller. You should make it clear if you are willing to take contingency bids (it is usually considered that you will not if you haven't stated the fact). You should also not disclose contingency bids to other participants of the auction, as I saw in one auction (and only one) as this will stop people bidding up prices. For example in the auction I saw, the seller stated, Fred bids $1 and will bid up to $20 dollars, if someone else was willing to bid up to fifteen dollars then he will most likely not even make a bid and the you will sell the item for $1 instead of the $16 you may have got for it.

No one wants to buy or bid on my stuff!

First of all, be patient. The market for some roleplaying items is limited, especially for some older less popular roleplaying systems. You must either be patient and wait for someone to pay the prices you are asking, or drop the prices to try and sell them quicker.

Group bids in auctions

Probably the best way to get totally confused and turn your auction into chaos is to have both group and individual bids on items. Group bids occur when an auctioneer accepts bids on a group of items. For example, one case I remember was a person who was auctioning White Dwarf magazines from 20-96 or so. One bidder placed a lot bid on issues 22, 24, 25, 28, 41, 42, 43, 49, 65, 71, 73, 78, 81, 86, 88 and 91. That is not a natural lot, and unfortunately, the auctioneer accepted it and mayhem ensued in the auction, as others registered similar style lots that overlapped with this one. I would suggest that you don't accept group bids, but, if you do plan to accept group bids, make sure they make sense and you make it very clear on how you will deal with them.

Should I put the auction on my web page?

Yes, this is quite acceptable and gives bidders an opportunity to see updates there as well, but updates solely on the web page, with no email or newgroup updates, do more to contribute to bidder burnout than anything else that I can think of. Email updates do not take much more time than updating a web page and greatly convenience bidders, who should be treated with the respect of potential customers.

Should I list the email addresses with bids in an auction?

Generally, this is considered de rigeur for an auction since it shows the bidders that no shilling (this is were you make up bids so that price is artificially raised). Some bidders do not like their email addresses listed because they fear spam. In that case, try to receive permission to list the person's name, nickname or partial email address. Anonymous bidders raise eyebrows and possible accusations of shilling. Ditto for the mysterious local bidders. Bidders have a right to know who they are bidding against and the listings add legitimacy to one's auction. You do not want to give even the slightest appearance that there may be something underhanded going on in your auction.

Why Trade?

Well, sometimes if you have old RPG stuff you don't want to use, and want other RPG, often it's simpler to just try to trade your old stuff for stuff that you and can use. Sure, you could sell it, then use the money to buy something, but that can drag out to a long and time consuming process. First you have to sell it, wait for the money to come, then shop for what you want, send the money, wait for the package to arrive. With trading, you get things right away, if you can find someone interested in your stuff, that is;) Trading is somewhat riskier than buying or selling, but in general most people are honest and fair.

How does trading work?

Trading works the same as buying and selling. Simply put, you post a list of what you have and what you want to trade for. When someone answers your post you work out a deal that you are both happy with, exchange address and ship the items to each other. Trading is about the only time simultaneous sending of packages occurs with frequency, that is both parties send their items at the same time and before they receive anything. Sometimes one party may insist that one person send their goods first, in this case you'll have to weigh up all the facts and make a decision, remember also to get references as well.

Trading and Auctions

Probably the worst situation I have seen is were an auction took place that accepted trades as well as accepting monetary bids at the same time. The seller acceptable trades for individual items and lots of items. In the end he had several trades listed for lots of items with a lot of overlapping bits but no clear idea who had the highest bid. If you ever accept trades in an auction, IMHO I suggest that y0ou have a look at each trade and assign a dollar or point value to the trade, this way people can get an idea of what they have to do to outbid trade offers.

How much does shipping something Cost?

The main way of shipping an item is through the mail. Despite the jokes, the mail is the cheapest, fastest way to send an item. You can also send an item through a private company, which offers some benefits, like package tracking, but costs more, and they don't deliver to PO boxes. The cost of shipping will also depend on were you want it shipped to, how fast you want it to get there, if you want it insured, registered or certified and the sort of packaging that is required.
There are some basics that you should keep in mind: The cheaper the cost the longer it will take to be delivered, the larger or heavier the item the dearer it will be. Shipping Internationally can also be expensive (sometimes significantly), and in most cases takes considerably longer that what they state at the postoffice (trust me on this one, I speak from experience). You also usually have to fill out some customs forms.
When you are selling you should: