Gold Sales on RMAH and how they work

[Jaerin]

This may seem pretty self explanatory to some, but I thought I would show how exactly the gold sales of the RMAH work.

AUCTIONS WILL ALWAYS SELL ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOW RULES:

1) LOWEST PRICE
2) OLDEST AUCTION UNDER 36 HOURS

DO NOT CANCEL GOLD AUCTIONS UNLESS YOU DON'T WANT TO SELL

First some evidence

Auctions posted:
(5) - 1000 units auctions at $.25/100k = 500m auctions.

You can only post a maximum of 100m in any one auction at .25 because the total of the auction must be under $250 total.

Sales from those auctions 36 hours later:
8:33 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  4,200,000 Gold
8:33 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  11,800,000 Gold
8:35 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  24,200,000 Gold
8:36 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  30,700,000 Gold

Auction expired and returned 60,300,000 Gold

8:38 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  5,500,000 Gold
8:39 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  15,200,000 Gold
8:39 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  22,200,000 Gold
8:40 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  26,200,000 Gold
8:40 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  40,400,000 Gold
8:40 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  49,900,000 Gold
8:40 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  54,900,000 Gold
8:42 PM (16 hours ago)

Auction expired and returned 45,100,000 Gold

Items in review  6,100,000 Gold
8:43 PM (16 hours ago)

Auction expired and returned 93,900,000 Gold

Items in review  400,000 Gold
8:43 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  10,400,000 Gold
9:11 PM (16 hours ago)

Auction expired and returned 89,600,000 Gold

Items in review  6,200,000 Gold
9:12 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  11,200,000 Gold
9:12 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  19,200,000 Gold
9:12 PM (16 hours ago)
Items in review  24,800,000 Gold

Auction expired and returned 75,200,000 Gold

These are the results of 5 of my 100m auctions. These amounts are from the emails that I've received from Blizzard. So if some of my gold sold why didn't all of it sell? The auctions did not become available for sale until just before they were ready to expire at the 36 hour mark. The way that the system works is a very simple First In First Out sale queue. The amounts of purchases or sales do not matter as to which sale happens first only which auction is the cheapest and oldest under 36 hours.

Because there is WAY more gold available at $.25/100k (minimum price) the gold is always sitting at the bottom of the queue waiting to be sold. If auctions lasted forever everyone in front of you would have to sell all their gold before you had a chance to sell yours. To make it fair for everyone Blizzard put a reasonable 36 hour limit on the auction. So what happens is the oldest auction at the lowest price will always sell first. If there is not enough to cover it from one person it will go to the next oldest auction for the lowest price. If none is available at the current price only then will it go to the next lowest price, but again starting with the oldest auction.

What this means in practice when you post your gold, whether it be 100k or 100m it is not likely to be available for sale until all the auctions before you have either sold or expired. So in roughly 35+ hours or so the person who posted their auction right before yours either just sold or expired at 36 hours. So now yours is the oldest auction and it will be the oldest auction until it is either all bought or is 36 hours old. If no one happens to buy gold during this potentially very brief window you will not sell any gold.

What is important about posting auctions is WHEN you post them and how MANY auctions you post, not how much you post. Remember that your auctions will not likely come up for auction until near the END of the 36 time limit unless someone goes on a buying spree. So think about that when you are posting. If you post at 7pm on Monday your gold will probably be coming up for auction sometime around 5-6am Wednesday morning. In the US how many are usually playing at that time? So the best times for posting your auctions would probably be between 4-11am especially on Thurs/Friday because that means your gold will be coming up between 4-11pm on Friday or Saturday...likely to be prime time for US auctions.

Ultimately you cannot predict when others are posting their auctions so all you can do is give yourself the best chance to sell your gold. Post more than 1 auctions spread out by a period of time as this means that you have the opportunity to have an auction up more often, but you have to put time between your auctions. Here's why:

Person 1 posts 100m at 8:00am Monday
You post 100m at 8:10am Monday
Person 2 posts 10m at 8:12am Monday

So someone buys gold at 7:59pm Tuesday who's gold do they get it from? Person 1 is the oldest at 8:00am monday and its not 36 hours yet so they sell their gold. IF the person bought more than 100m then it would start coming from Your auction.
At 8:00am the remainder of Person 1's auction expires at 36hours.
Between 8:00am-8:10am you are the oldest auction on the AH. In that 10 minute window you will fulfill any gold sales that come in. If none come in you will not sell any gold. If more than 100m comes in then Person 2 will start selling their gold as they are the next oldest.
At 8:10am the remainder of your auction expires at 36 hours.
Between 8:10-8:12am Person 2 is the oldest auction on the AH. In that 2 minutes window they will fulfill all gold sales that come in. If none come in you will not sell any gold. If more than 10m comes in the next oldest person will start selling.

If you posted 2 auctions back to back regardless of their size at 8:10 and 8:11 you'd still only be available for 11 mins...although can't predict when the next auction is going to post if you post your auction back to back to back you are essentially competing with yourself for sales. It would probably be better to spread them out and give yourself more of a chance to be up for sale.

So as you can see the length of your auction availability is determined by the size of the auction that was posted before you and how long between that auction and yours. Neither of these you can predict nor control. So what you CAN do is give yourself more chances to be up for longer. To do that split your auction up into 4 amounts and post them 15 mins apart over an hour. Ultimately its a game of chances and you can't win if you don't play

[JD]

Really good thread, +15 from me

[Xeroxed33]

Very good thread.

[TanookiLover]

i posted all this info two weeks ago lol

[sporkington]

should be helpful to most others.

[Shady89]

common sense but thanks

[HelpMeCauseYoureCheating]

Question

I sell gold, payment is processed, i am banned.

will gold be disputed on paypal?

i sell gold, payment is not processed, i am banned

sales will be reversed


i understand #2 but help me understand #1

[Jaerin]

What are you talking about? Neither of those things are mentioned in my guide so what are you asking?

Why would you get banned for selling gold on the RMAH? It's what its there for...

[xilverxurfer]

Question

I sell gold, payment is processed, i am banned.

will gold be disputed on paypal?

i sell gold, payment is not processed, i am banned

sales will be reversed


i understand #2 but help me understand #1

I had 1 account banned too when I posted my first 3 items in rmah. But then again I think I was silly enough to use the same account I was botting with to post for real money.

Anyone uses the same botting account to list gold and items in RMAH and not banned?

Anyway.. good read. Thanks for info. +rep

[Jaerin]

Okay you need to do a couple things if you honestly think you got banned because of a RMAH. Unless you were selling a duped item or trying to hack your way to early buyout or something I doubt you got banned simply for posting any number of auctions on the RMAH. That's totally absurd.

If you were banned then more than likely it was related to something you were doing on the account. Otherwise I would HIGHLY recommend that you call Blizzard and ask them what the hell is going on. I have heard of people having problems with their Paypal account or SMS messaging attached with their accounts that will get it suspended, but contacting Blizzard usually is a quick resolution for that.

I've heard this myth that posting auctions on the RMAH is some how dangerous and its just total bullshit.

[xilverxurfer]

Okay you need to do a couple things if you honestly think you got banned because of a RMAH. Unless you were selling a duped item or trying to hack your way to early buyout or something I doubt you got banned simply for posting any number of auctions on the RMAH. That's totally absurd.

If you were banned then more than likely it was related to something you were doing on the account. Otherwise I would HIGHLY recommend that you call Blizzard and ask them what the hell is going on. I have heard of people having problems with their Paypal account or SMS messaging attached with their accounts that will get it suspended, but contacting Blizzard usually is a quick resolution for that.

I've heard this myth that posting auctions on the RMAH is some how dangerous and its just total bullshit.

Hi Jaerin

I used an account that I have been botting for gold. That's all. No hacks, no dupes what so ever. Along my botting time, I picked up some legendary items and thought I list them in RMAH to sell them. I put up cheap prices just about the same to the lowest that is listed by others. The account was used to botting for like only 1 week. After I lsted the items, I got banned within 3 hours.

I did write to them but they have turn down my request without much explaination but the usual crap. Do you guys use same botting accounts to list in RMAH and are still safe?

Now I intend to get a fresh account, NOT bot n the account but use it as my main and trasnfer my gold from other botting accounts to it so I can list them in RMAH, My question now would be will Blizzard ban me again for listing gold in RMAH within 1 day of creating a new account?

My only guess is that they have banned me for trying to sell anything in RMAHand they checked to see that I have been botting with the account. I do run almost 20/7 on the account though.

[Jaerin]

My guess is you got banned for botting like the rest of the people that have been banned for botting and it had nothing to do with your RMAH auctions.

I've sold close to 10 pairs of hammer jammers and a number of BOJ's from my account without any problems. No none of these accounts are botting accounts hence the reason they are not banned. I've lost 11 accounts to botting, I have 4 accounts that I am using to post RMAH auctions and craft gems. I've posted close to $4k worth of auctions on these accounts with well over 2 billion gold bought from people and sold through the RMAH.

So might want to look to your botting activities as the source of your bans.

[xilverxurfer]

My guess is you got banned for botting like the rest of the people that have been banned for botting and it had nothing to do with your RMAH auctions.

I've sold close to 10 pairs of hammer jammers and a number of BOJ's from my account without any problems. No none of these accounts are botting accounts hence the reason they are not banned. I've lost 11 accounts to botting, I have 4 accounts that I am using to post RMAH auctions and craft gems. I've posted close to $4k worth of auctions on these accounts with well over 2 billion gold bought from people and sold through the RMAH.

So might want to look to your botting activities as the source of your bans.

Yes, thats my guess too. I think it would be best to use NON botting clean account to sell. In anycase, if I were to start selling from a fresh account with 1 day or creation, I am also not sure if it would look suspicious too. I guess I will "warm-up" the account a little.. like a few days before I start to list items in RMAH.

Thanks for reply and advice.

[Jaerin]

Warm up the account? What the hell are you smoking?

No one is looking at your account. No one will care if you never posted an auction and then all of a sudden posted your first auction as 100m gold or a 1g level 1 item. RMAH does not cause bans. Botting causes bans. Hacking or trying to exploit the RMAH through some obvious means of getting something for less than you should will cause bans. Selling items on the RMAH or the gold AH will not get you banned.

NO WHERE IN MY GUIDE IS THERE AN EXPLOIT OR CHEAT OR FREE MONEY.

If you are getting banned then its not anything to do with this thread. PERIOD.

[oid0r]

I created a new account just to sell gold, but got banned shortly after the first batch went through. i didn't do anything other than posting the gold auctions and log off.

first mail:

An auction associated with this Diablo III account has encountered an issue and has been cancelled for the protection of the parties involved. While we strive to minimize any auction cancellations and regret the inconvenience involved, keeping the auction house safe and secure is something we take very seriously. Any funds used to participate in this auction will be returned to the buyer, and the item will be returned to the seller in the Diablo III auction house “Completed” tab.

second mail right after the first one:

This Diablo III account has been locked due to an auction-related issue. Until this issue is resolved, the account will be unavailable for play. Access to the Diablo III auction house is restricted until the account is unlocked.

using the rmah purely for profit is against the tos, so you should be careful about using it too much or with lvl1 chars.