Auction rules: listings, durations, increments and anti-sniping
The Auction rules tab decides how your marketplace works: who can sell, what needs approval, which features are on, how long auctions run and how bidding steps up.
Menu Settings › Configuration Options › Auction rules
Features and moderation
| Setting | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Members can list items | Off = only the administrator lists items (an auction house). On = a marketplace where members sell. |
| Approve the new listings | New listings of members wait in Auctions › Pending approval before they go online. |
| Public questions to the sellers | The Questions & answers block on the auction pages. |
| Make an Offer | Sellers can accept offers on fixed price items and on auctions without bids. |
| Private messages between members | Buyers can contact sellers; both can talk about payment and shipping. |
| Saved searches with e-mail alerts | Members save searches and receive new matching items by e-mail. |
| Report this listing | Members can report listings to Auctions › Reported listings. |
| Banned words | One word or phrase per line; * at the end matches any ending. Checked in listings, questions, messages and offers. |
| Listings with a banned word | Go to the approval queue or Block. See Moderation. |
Durations and photos
| Setting | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Auction durations | The durations sellers can choose, in days, comma separated: 1,3,5,7,10,14. |
| Default duration | Pre-selected in the form, for example 7 days. |
| Maximum photos | Photos per listing, for example 10. |
Anti-sniping
Anti-sniping window (minutes): a bid placed in the last X minutes extends the auction. Extend by (minutes): how much. With 2 and 2, a bid at 1:30 before the end gives everybody two more minutes. 0 = off. See Anti-sniping.
Bid increments
One line per price level in the format from:increment:
0:1
100:5
500:10
1000:25
2500:50
5000:100
10000:250Line 100:5 means: from a current bid of 100, the next bid must be at least 5 higher.
Maximum bid protection
Maximum bid multiplier protects against typos: a bid can not exceed the next minimum bid multiplied by this value. With 10 and a minimum bid of $105, the highest accepted bid is $1,050. 0 = no limit.