The public auction is accessed by right clicking on the Auctioneer NPC and choosing Operate from the interaction menu. A data-link connection will be established and the main Auction Panel will be displayed on your screen. The default auction view is the Last Calls page. These are the auction items that are closest to expiring.

Reading the Auction Information
The main Auction Panel contains the following information:
On the left are the auction display filters and categories. Click 'Latest Offers' to view the latest items placed on the auction. Click 'Browse' to view item categories.

The main section displays a list of items available in each category. It also includes an overview of important auction information like quantity available, value, buyout price and the auction time remaining for each item.

The lower area of the main Auction Panel contains buttons that allow you to Sell, Remove and View items on the auction. 'Help' and 'Exit' options are also included.
By highlighting an item in the auction list and clicking 'View' you can access an image and detailed information for that item. By right clicking the image you can open the Item Info Panel and review full details for that item including its value, weight, condition and other important information.

Market Value
The Market Value history of all items sold on the public auction is available by pressing the Market Value Icon available from the Action Library and the Item Info. By pressing the Market Value Icon for an item, you will be presented with the Market Value Summary:  summary data directly from the public auction. Summary data includes the number of Sales during a given Period and the average Markup price received. Markup is defined as the difference between and items TT value and its final sale price.

By pressing the purple graph buttons on the right side of the Market Value Summary Panel, you can open detailed Market Value History Graphs for each time Period. These history graphs also allow you to hide/display a variety of different data including graph lines and trends.

The market value is based on all auction sales, including buyouts.  Auctions where no bid was placed are not included. Data from street sales and shops is not included. Sales of stackable items (hides, minerals etc.) are weighted by their amount. The market value is not adjusted in any way (unique high value sales are included).

There can be no absolute market value. There are many different ways of calculating such a figure using different formulas. The history graphs allow you to display market value history and trends over different periods. By analyzing these graphs it is possible to make your own judgments about market value. This information is a very valuable tool for all serious traders.

Selling
To sell an item at the auction: Click the 'Sell' button on the main auction panel. Drag the item you wish to sell from your Inventory on the right into the section marked 'Place Your Item Here'. Set how many days you wish the item to remain at the auction using the Duration spinners. Set the Opening Bid using the spinners. Choose to set a Buyout and its price. Press 'Accept' and then confirm that you really want to sell the item and that you accept the auction fee. Your item is now added to the public auction.

Auction Fees & Commissions
A Procurement Order Fee of 1 PED is charged for every day you wish your order to remain on the Auction. This fee is paid up-front when creating the order.
A Base Fee of 0.5 PED is charged when placing any item on the Auction. This is a one-time fee paid up-front when placing any item on the Auction.

A commission is paid on the difference between the Opening Bid and the item's TT value (the Markup). The commission begins at 5% but gradually decreases as the Markup value increases (a Regressive Commission). It ensures that items with large Markup values don't end up paying very high commissions. In fact, a maximum commission ceiling of 100 PED is in effect.

The Commission is paid up-front with the Base Fee when placing an item on the Auction. Remember, the commission is based on the difference between the Opening Bid and the Trade Terminal value. If you want to keep the initial commission low - keep the Opening Bid low.
When an item is finally sold at Auction, a commission is again calculated on the difference between the final Sale Price and the Trade Terminal value. The original commission you paid to place the item on the Auction is deducted and the remainder is charged against the final Sale Price.

Buying
Right click the Auctioneer NPC and choose Operate from the interaction menu to access and browse the different categories in the auction.
Once you've found an item you're interested in: Highlight it in the main auction list and press 'View'.
Review detailed information about the item by right clicking on the image and viewing its Item Info. Review the auction offer details including its value, opening bid, buyout bid etc. If you are satisfied you can now proceed and place a bid. Drag your PED Card into the section marked 'Place Bid'.

Use the value spinners to enter how much you wish to bid for the item. Press 'Accept' and confirm that you wish to place the bid. Your bid is now registered. By paying the Buyout Bid directly you will not have to wait for the auction to expire and the item will be yours instantly.

Procurement Orders
A procurement order can also be placed in the public auction. By placing this type of order you can attempt to buy a bulk amount from several different sellers at a set price. A procurement order also works for a single item not currently available at the auction. To place a procurement order:

Browse the auction categories and find the item you wish to place an order for. Click the 'Orders' button. This will display a list of all existing orders for this item. Click the 'Place' button to place your own order. Choose the item you wish to place an order for from the list on the left. Fill in the 'Price per Unit', 'Quantity' and number of 'Valid Days' for your order on this item. Press 'Accept' and confirm the auction fee for placing the procurement order.

 

Participants may display and sell any item through shops, selling booths and portable shopkeepers.

The first and most important item needed to open a shop is the Estate Deed for the shop you wish to operate. Estate Deeds are the official deeds to houses, apartments, shops and selling booths. Estate Deeds may be bought from the auction or through direct trade with another participant.

Once the Estate Deed has been acquired, the shop needs to be claimed through the Estate Terminal located outside the shop.

Accessing the Estate Terminal with the relevant Estate Terminal inside your Inventory will allow the estate to be claimed - just click the Claim button in the Estate Terminal interface. The estate will now be registered in your avatars name.

The shelves, floors, walls and outside windows of shops may be used as display areas. Selling booths also have a number of shelves on which items may be displayed. In order to display an item, it must be dragged from your Inventory and placed on the display area. At this point, the item is only displayed and not available for sale - the retail price needs to be set.

Right-click the item and choose Set Item Price from the interaction menu. Set the retail price for the item. Once set and confirmed, the item will be available for sale to other participants. The lowest retail price that may be set for an item is Trade Terminal value plus 1 PED.

Note: If an item, such as a sword, is placed on another item for sale, such as a table, the table cannot be sold until the sword has first been removed or sold first.
While viewing items in another participant shop, right click and choose Item Info from the interaction menu. The Item Info will display full details about the item including its current condition and TT value. If a Retail Price is not displayed, the item is for display purposes and not for sale.

Shop Fees
A regular maintenance fee must be paid in order to run your shop or selling booth. This fee will vary depending on where your shop is located. The maintenance fee will be displayed in the Estate Terminal interface.

When selling an item, a landowner fee will also be added to the retail price and paid to the owner of the land where the shop is situated, when the item is sold.

Items can be limited, unlimited or stackable. The Items Info will reveal whether the item is a limited (L) or unlimited item.  All items deteriorate when being used. When the item deteriorates, the TT value will decrease. The difference is in the life cycle of the item. As opposed to limited items, unlimited items can be repaired after their value has decreased.

Unlimited Items
Unlimited Items are items that can be repaired at Repair Terminals. As they are used they deteriorate and lose their effectiveness. As an item deteriorates, it's condition indicator depletes. In order to restore unlimited items to full capacity, they should be repaired.

Open any item's Item Info by right clicking the item and choosing Item Info from the interaction menu. There you can see its current condition, and its current Trade Terminal value. Trade Terminal is abbreviated with TT. Use the icons in the lower left area of the Item Info Panel to view more information about the item.

Limited Items
Limited Items are items which cannot be repaired, but which do not lose effectiveness as their condition deteriorates. Limited items usually also carry some form of bonus attributes. Open any item's Item Info Panel to view detailed information about an item. The (L) in an item's title, or on the items icon in your Inventory indicates that the item is limited.

Stackable Items
Stackable items are materials or other resources which can be grouped together into one item.
Right clicking stackable resources will provide options to 'Merge All' or 'Split' from the interaction menu.

Item Trade
Unlimited items are bought and sold using the term TT+number. For example, you may find a participant selling an Item for TT+40. This means he/she wants the mining tool's current TT value plus 40 PED. Remember 10 PED = $US 1.

The %
When trading stackable and limited items the % is used.

For example you may see an Item selling at 104%, meaning that the seller wants the TT value of the Item quantity x 1.04. Because the TT value will vary depending on the quantity of the Item on offer, the price automatically follows the quantity on offer.

You may see a limited (L) Item selling at 135%, meaning the seller wants the current TT value of the harness x 1.35. As limited (L) items cannot be repaired, and their TT values decrease as they deteriorate, the current TT value reflects how much usage is left in the item. Higher usage remaining = higher TT = higher price.

 

Trading directly with other participants is always conducted using the Private Trade Panel. Right click an avatar you want to trade with and choose Avatar -> Private Trade from the interaction menu. The Private Trade Panel will appear.  Drag your trade offer from your Inventory into the lower section. Your trade partner will place his/her offer in the middle section. Right click any item offered and check it's Item Info Panel to make you are getting what you expect. The top section will list the items offered and their Trade Terminal value. Choose confirm to proceed to a Trade Recipt Panel. Choose exit to abandon the trade.
Always use the Private Trade Panel for trades with other participants. It is secure and allows you the opportunity to check if the items being traded are exactly as agreed upon.

Private Trade Panel
The Private Trade Panel should always be used for private trading with other avatars. Drag your trade offer from your Inventory into the lower section. Your trade partner will place his/her offer in the middle section. Right click any item offered and check it's Item Info Panel to make you are getting what you expect. The top section will list the items offered by your trade partner and their Trade Terminal value. Choose confirm to proceed to a trade confirm panel. Choose exit to abandon the trade.

Trade Receipt Panel
The Trade Receipt Panel appears after Private Trade Panel has been confirmed. The Trade Receipt Panel will present you with complete details of the trade. This will allow you to once again check your deal. Please review all details before choosing 'Accept Deal'. Choose 'Cancel Deal' to abandon the deal.

Trade Terminal
The abbreviation TT stands for Trade Terminal. The Trade Terminal is where you will find all the basic tools and equipment you need to begin your adventures. You can sell almost any item to the Trade Terminal and receive the actual TT value of the item. The actual TT value of an item is always available from the Item Info.

Where to find: Located in all major towns and outposts
How to use: While in Aim Mode, right click and choose Operate from the interaction menu to access the terminal.

 

The term estate refers to different forms of property available including apartments, houses, hangars and castles.

Every piece of property comes with an Estate Deed. The Estate Deed shows the name and location of the estate, and any additional area that may come with the property such as a garden etc. Some properties, especially apartments, do not come with additional areas.

There is no limit to the number of estates a single participant may own, meaning that you may become a true real estate broker if you like. Estate Deeds can be purchased from the auction or through direct trade with other participants.

Maintenance Fees may be applicable to some estates like apartments. Maintenance Fees must be paid in order to ensure continued access to the estate.

Land Areas are purchased locations where owners can have creatures that are available for hunting as well as vast lands that can be mined.  Owners of Land Areas collect taxes on these activities.

 

Ad Terminals are used to display participant created advertisements on public Ad Display Boards.

In order to create an ad you must first be an estate owner. This means you must own an apartment, a house, a castle, a shop, or a spacecraft hangar. Each estate comes with an estate deed, which you must have in your Inventory when creating an Ad.

Once this requirement has been fulfilled, right click on an Ad Terminal and choose Operate from the interaction menu. You will be presented with an option to Create a new Ad, or Modify an existing Ad.

Creating an Ad
An ad is always, and is restricted to, 30 seconds. Ads are made up of Sequences and each ad may consist of up to 5 Sequences. Each Sequence can have its own text and background image which can be set using the Sequence Options alternative.

The Sequence Options alternative also allows you to format your text and add effects, as well as manage a range of other options. The Sequence Text alternative allows you to enter the text you wish to display during the particular Sequence you may be editing. A Preview alternative is also included to allow you to preview your ad on the preview screen before going live.

An Investment must be made in your ad, and the minimum Investment possible for any ad is 30 PED. You may also set the Duration that you wish to run the ad. The minimum Duration available for an ad is 1 day. The maximum Duration is 30 days. The Length of your ad (combined Sequences) is also displayed, enabling you to increase or decrease Sequence lengths in order to maximize the 30 seconds of ad length available.

The ad system is based on a Dynamic Display Probability. The Dynamic Display Probability is displayed as a percentage, and shows the current probability of the ad being run on the main Ad Display Boards. The probability will continually increase or decrease depending on the number and Investment values of the other ads in the system.

When you feel satisfied with your ad, and you've previewed it, simply click on the Create button and you'll have created advertising. The Investment will be drawn from your PED card and your ad will be displayed exactly as you saw it on the preview screen.

Modifying an Ad
Once created, ads may be modified. By clicking the Modify option in the initial Ad Terminal window, the Investment and Duration settings of an existing ad may be altered. You may wish to modify these elements in order to increase the Dynamic Display Probability of an ad you have created. You may also remove an existing ad using the Remove alternative.