This thread is for anyone, new or old, to BitcoinTalk that is interested in buying or selling bitcoin collectibles, and the unwritten rules of how to go about doing so.

This post will be updated continuously and compiled with suggestions from members who respond to this thread. 

Please post any info that you think should be added....




This is a work in progress.

SELLING

1. In the subject line of your post please label, in brackets, what type of sale you are conducting. [AUCTION], [WTS], [SALE], [RAFFLE], [WTT]

2. Post a picture of the item you want to sell, along with your username and date and/or Block height next to the item. This helps to verify you actually have the item you want to sell. If you are new to the forum, post the picture at imgur.com and provide a link or use BBCode to post.  Don't worry if your picture does not show up in the post. Someone with a rank higher than 'newbie' will likely add it to the thread in the following posts for you.

3. Select an end time for the auction, including timezone. Adding a countdown timer is always appreciated. If the countdown timer fails to give the proper time for any reason, then the stated time will be used for the auction end time. Countdown timer can be found here...https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/create

4. List your price or starting bid in BTC, as well as the MINIMUM bidding increment.

5. List a payment address. 

6. Is shipping included? If not, how much extra is it? What country/region of the world is your item shipping from? (this helps buyers quickly determine whether or not they would like to bid/buy)

7. Allow buyers to utilize escrow service. This especially goes for new accounts. See below for common escrow procedures.



BUYING/BIDDING

1. Please keep posts limited to bids or questions regarding the item for sale.

2. If there are multiple lots for sale please specify which lot you are bidding on, followed by your bid.
ex: Lot 1 @ 0.02 BTC

3. To avoid confusion, please post an exact bid. Posting an increment to someone's previous post, especially without quoting that bid, can lead to unnecessary problems.


ESCROW

Ok, so you just won your first auction. Now what? Do you send pmt to the seller in the hopes that they ship your item? No. Just utilize a trusted escrow member. Here are some recommended bitcointalk escrow services https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2439910.0

1. Inform the seller that you would like to use an escrow service.
2. The seller and yourself will contact the escrow and let them know you would both like to utilize escrow.
3. Escrow member sends a group pm stating the terms and payment address
4. The buyer sends winning auction bid to the escrow plus any fees
5. The seller ships item to escrow
6. Upon arrival to escrow, the funds get released to the seller and item is reshipped to buyer.

SNIPING

- Sniping rules can sometimes get confusing, especially if there are multiple lots in the same auction. (as we saw with the Gold Halving Coldkeys auction)

example: Any bid made within the last 10 minutes of the auction ending will extend the auction by another 10 minutes.

What does this mean exactly? What if there are 5 bids placed within the last 10 minutes of the auction? Does that mean there are 50 minutes added to the end of the auction?

It is much easier to follow an auction as a bidder knowing you have 10 minutes from the last bidder and the clock restarts with every bid. Feel free to copy and paste. Maybe eventually we can all just post "10 minute standard sniping rule" in our auctions and understand exactly what it means...

1. 10 minute standard sniping rule - Any bid made within the last 10 minutes of the auction, will restart a 10 minute clock for each bid thereafter. Meaning if the auction ends at 7pm and a bid is made at 6:51, the new ending time is now 7:01. If a following bid is then made at 6:55, the new ending time will be 7:05. This will continue until 10 minutes have elapsed from the last bid.

2. 15 minute standard sniping rule - Any bid made within the last 15 minutes of the auction, will restart a 15 minute clock for each bid thereafter. Meaning if the auction ends at 7pm and a bid is made at 6:46, the new ending time is now 7:01. If a following bid is then made at 6:49, the new ending time will be 7:04. This will continue until 15 minutes have elapsed from the last bid.

3. 1 hour standard sniping rule -  Any bid made within the last 1 hour of the auction, will restart a 1 hour clock for each bid thereafter. Meaning if the auction ends at 7pm and a bid is made at 6:25, the new ending time is now 7:25. If a following bid is then made at 6:42, the new ending time will be 7:42. This will continue until 1 hour has elapsed from the last bid.



AUCTION TEMPLATE

Below is a standard template that can be used for quicker auction listings. I removed the front bracket of each line to make it easier to copy and paste different colors and center alignment. All you need to do is add a bracket to the front of each line, and then fill in your auction info.


Add [ to the front of each line below.









Another Auction Template:

Add [ to the front of each line below.