Sportlots Auctions
FormatSportlots auctions have a unique format in that unlike other popular auction formats, the end of the auction is not determined based on a pre-defined date, but instead based on the amount of time the auction goes without a bid. Unlike traditional auctions, Sportlots auctions are based on a 1, 2, 3, SOLD format. Basically, if an auction goes 3 days without being out bid, the auction is then sold. If there is a bid that causes an out bid of the original bidder, the status is reset to 1.
This format helps both buyers and sellers because, for buyers, it gives everyone a fair opportunity to get their final bid in. For sellers, it insures that they will get the top price for their auctions.
This format also prevents "snipe" bidding (the process of waiting until the last second to put a bid in), which is used in other formats to prevent competition in the bidding process.
Sportlots believes that in general, all auctions should start at $0.00 and let the market determine the price. However, we also understand for more valuable items, sellers need to be able to protect their investment. Therefore, Sportlots only allows minimum starting bids on featured items. These featured items are then displayed on Sportlots Auctions main screen and insure that only more valuable items appear on this main screen.
Bidding is done in 25 cent increments up to $5.00 and 50 cent increments between $5.00 and up to $25.00 and $1.00 increments $25.00 and over. If a maximum bid is placed which is not in these increments, the next lowest price is used.
Sellers can add auctions by clicking on the "Add Auction" link under the "Sell" tab on the Sortlots menu bard found at the top of any Sportlots screen. Adding auctions is fast and simple from this screen. Select the category that best represents the item that is being auctioned, Enter a title and description.
The seller then must enter the postage amounts. Sportlots provides postage costs for both a primary and multiple items. The postage amounts for each must be entered for both USA, Canadian and Box orders. For more information on "Box" shipping methods, be sure to click on the video player icon next to this shipping option. When auctions are complete and the winning bidder creates the Sportlots order, the system will calculate the postage by using the most expensive shipping item as the primary postage amount and all other items will use the multiple items postage amount.
Next, the seller can add up to 4 pictures. To do this, the seller can click on the browse button and select the picture from their computer. Note that due to size restrictions, all pictures combined must be under 8MB and in *.jpg format. Sportlots also requires all pictures to be in portrait position (Width less than Height) in order for the picture to format correctly on the screens. If the pictures loaded are not in portrait position, within an hour of loading Sportlots will rotate the picture accordingly.
If the seller uses a camera for pictures, there may not be an option to reduce the resolution and as a result, lower the size of the picture. When this is the case, the seller can use one of many online sites to optimize the size of the picture. The one that Sportlots has used before is: http://www.imageoptimizer.net/Pages/Home.aspx. While we don't endorse this site, it has worked very well for Sportlots in the past.
Sellers also have the opportunity to select optional features. Highlight will highlight the auction making it stand out among the other items listed. Featured item gives the auction front-page exposure and also allows the seller to specify a minimum bid price instead of the auction starting at $0.00 and letting the market determine the value. There are two types of featured options:
Once an auction is added, it is loaded into a "Pending Status". Due to the "1, 2, 3, Sold" format, all auctions added during the day will all start together first thing the following morning. During this time while the auction is in pending status, the seller can review and update the auction. Once the auction is active, changes are no longer permitted.
While auctions are in a "Pending Status" the seller can review and update the auction details. To do this, the seller can click on the "List Auctions" link provided under the "Sell" tab on the Sportlots menu bar located at the top of every Sportlots page. This will bring the seller to a screen that lists all of their auctions and breaks them down into three categories:
Sportlots allows buyers 17 days (21 days if payment is coming from Canada) from the creation of an order to get payment to Sportlots.
After 17 days, if the order has not yet been paid for, Sportlots will remove the auction order and send the seller an email informing them that their auction will be re-listed. There will be no additional fees for the auction being re-listed. Sellers have about 24 hours to remove the auction before it is automatically re-listed on their behalf.
When a buyer fails to pay for an order, this is tracked in the system. The seller's "Auto Block" criteria (See "Setting Auto Block" in this guide) may then prevent this seller from viewing or bidding on future auctions.
This seller may also be able to manually block this particular buyer to prevent them from bidding on their auctions in the future.
Once auctions are SOLD, Sportlots will automaticaly create an order for the winning bidder and notify the winning bidder that they have an auction the needs to be paid for. The buyer can combine auction orders together from multiple days, however the new combined order will have the original date of the first order and the order still must be paid for within 17 days (21 days if payment is coming from Canada).
Auction fees are quite simple and straightforward. Sportlots doesn't believe that a seller should be charged based on the final value of the auction. Instead, Sportlots will just charge the seller a straight 15 cents per auction listing. The only other Sportlots fees that could apply are the following optional fees:
All Sportlots listing and optional fees above are charged during the listing of the auction and remain in tact regardless if the auction received any bids, was paid for by the buyer or was adjusted by the seller or through an issue received from the buyer.
Sellers are also required to pay any PayPal transaction fees that are incurred when buyers pay with PayPal.
See PayPal's website for their latest fees.
All Paypal fees are not reversed if the buyer is refunded for any reason. Refunds to the buyer are not refunded back to the buyers PayPal account, instead the refund is given back to the buyer in the form of a credit that can be reused back on the site for additional purchases. Therefore, PayPal fees are not recovered.
One important point to note is that, in rare situations that the Paypal fees could be a significant portion of the sale, especially when a buyer is purchasing just a couple common cards from a single seller. There is no good solution to this situation for the seller when this occurs. Here's why:
Our solution is to allow Paypal payments on all orders, but if buyers continue to use Paypal for consistently small orders over time, the Paypal option will be removed for them until their average sales increase. Then the Paypal option will be restored for them.
We know that giving Paypal all of the sales for a small order is a tough pill to swallow. What we ask is that sellers look at the Paypal transactions fees as a monthly cost of doing business instead of looking at these fees on an order by order basis. In most cases, these fees will then look less significant and more acceptable with the knowledge that about 80% of our sales come through Paypal.