A helpful guide on how to bid on and auction items at the Neopian
Auction House!
Ever put an item in the auction thinking, "I'm gonna make so many Neopoints?"
Then you get the Neomail saying that it sold for this many NP, which is a lot
less than what it could've sold for in your shop? It's happened to me. There
are ways to change this: )
1) Check the Shop Wizard. Get an average price of how much your item is currently
being sold for. You won't always get your exact price, but if price it well,
you should get pretty close to what you want, maybe more!
2) Starting price and increments. Start prices should be low enough to leave
room for bids, and to catch the eye. Increment values shouldn't be high, that
can decrease the amount of bids you get. It's totally up to you.
3)Time. Deter mining the amount of time it's in the auction for can be tricky.
You want it in long enough to collect bids, and so a lot of people see it. I
usually put my items in for about 18-24 hours - depending on the value and item.
One last thing before I end this article. I've been at the auctions quite
a bit lately. When bidding on an item, someone would usually bid what the updated
price is(with the increment value, of course). Unless your time is running out.
What I don't understand is the way some people bid. Take a look at this example:
***note - fake auction and names!
neopian_gurl69 - 2000 (7 min left)
prettygirl250 - 1550 (8 min left)
neopian_gurl69 - 1450 (8 min 30 sec)
clouds_47 - 1200 (9 min)
prettygirl250 - 1100 (10 min)
The problem with these bids is that neopian_gurl69 keeps bidding a lot higher
than is needed. Just because someone bids really high when there is still plenty
of time left, DOES NOT mean that anyone else will back down. If you have a couple
of minutes left, why not wait and end up paying less for the item and saving
a couple hundred at least? When people see the higher bid, they won't back down
because they're going to be thinking, "I'm glad I'm not the one paying THAT
much for the item!!" Bid a reasonable higher price when there isn't a lot of
time left, so you don't have a lot of time to re-bid again. It always works
for me!! : ) Happy Bidding!! | 
