Auction House

The main market in Vana'diel for commerce between adventures. Thousands of different items may be bought or sold.

See also Bazaar for an Auction House alternative.

History
Private investors are responsible for the establishment of the auction houses. These centers of commerce exist in the heart of each nation, and are truly vital for adventurers. The main purpose of the auction house system is to provide a means of circulating goods required for successful adventuring. This system works on the principle of awarding goods put up on auction to the highest bidder.

It is said that the lack of readily available supplies after the Great War is what gave rise to Jeuno's black market. However, with increasing numbers of adventurers, the auction house business prospered--and new auction houses sprung up everywhere as each country sought to gain a piece of the profits. With the addition of delivery services and a revolutionary style of management utilizing linkpearls (allowing business to be conducted in remote areas such as Kazham), the auction houses have truly become a convenient form of trading.

Some auction counters are constructed in such a way that the staff are not visible to the customers. This is a security measure for the safety of the employees, and a deterrent to thieves.

Locations
There are four separate Auction House systems in Vana'diel, with one associated to each of the the 4 major cities (Bastok, San d'Oria, Windurst and Jeuno). These Auction House systems can be accessed from the following locations:

How it Works
The Auction House works on a consignment basis. A person wishing to sell an item hands it over to the auction house and specifies a minimum price for which the item may be sold (the asking price). At this time a nominal, nonrefundable fee is charged to the seller. A person wishing to buy an item places a bid for it with the auction house. If the bid price is at least as much as the asking price then the buyer obtains the item and the bid price is sent to the seller's delivery box. Note that only the seller knows what the asking price is and the full bid price is sent to the seller even if it is more than the asking price. However, the buyer pays no fees to the Auction House.

If more than one of the same item is up for sale when a bid is made then the one with the lowest asking price is sold, or the one put up for auction first if there is a tie. (This is to encourage competitive market, though whether or not it works as intended is a hotly debated subject.) Items put up for auction will be returned to the seller's Delivery Box if unsold after 9 Vana'diel weeks, or about 3 Earth days.

Fee Schedule
There is a transaction fee for items put up on auction which is based on the seller's asking price. The formulas for calculating the transaction fee are listed below.


 * Jeuno / Nashmau / Tavnazia Auction Houses:
 * Single item fee = 1% of the seller's asking price +50 gil.
 * Stacked item fee = 0.5% of the seller's asking price +100 gil.


 * Al Zahbi Auction House:
 * Single item fee = 1% of the seller's asking price +100 gil.
 * Stacked item fee = 0.5% of the seller's asking price +400 gil.


 * Aht Urhgan Whitegate Auction House:
 * Single item fee = 2% of the seller's asking price +100 gil.
 * Stacked item fee = 1% of the seller's asking price +400 gil.


 * Other Auction Houses:
 * Single item fee = 1% of the seller's asking price +1 gil.
 * Stacked item fee = 0.5% of the seller's asking price +4 gil.

Categories
The Auction House (AH) is divided into a number of sections to make finding the item you're searching for easier. When you target the Auction House and open a "dialogue" with the auctioneer you will be able to navigate to different sections via the menus: Bid Sell Sales Status

It is in the Bid category that you can spend a good deal of time just browsing around. There are a number of different items and goods that you can purchase here.