mini-rant about villager auctions

[moonolotl]

I've made an auction where i didnt state that people require an open plot and i ended up waiting like an entire day with the villager and then having to sell them to someone else because the person just said "sorry, no open plot"
People will bid on it and then go "cant take it nevermind". Its just a thing people annoyingly do and asking for someone to have an open plot already open usually combats this. Im fine with people ignoring my open plot thing as long as they're able to get one open within like an hour of winning.

 

[kiriod]

i understand why you may feel frustrated about this, however i think you're looking at it from the wrong perspective. some sellers cannot afford to wait for you to get an open plot ready, especially because of how time consuming it can be getting a plot open. i mean, it has taken me 3 hours before to try and kick a specific villager out. i feel like if you participate in an auction, you should be prepared to take whatever it might be in a timely manner, regardless of whether or not it's a villager, some random DIY, furniture, whatever. i've held a villager for someone for two hours, only for them to get back to me and say they couldn't get a plot open. it's the most frustrating thing in the world.

 

[windwake-me-up-inside]

Someone already mentioned in this thread that there's a workaround for having a plot open but not being able to win an auction, something I've done is wait until a day that a villager I don't like is asking to leave, then quit without saving and go biddin'. If I don't win an auction, oh well! I don't have to say yes to the villager moving, which means I'm not scrambling to get a villager to move in. If I get an auction won, great! I can have a plot open in less than 5 minutes and not waste a seller's time.

I totally get the frustration, though.

 

[Sloom]

hi. person who sold dozens of villagers in a cycling town a couple weeks ago here

there's nothing I regret more than always saying yes to waiting on someone to get their plot open. sometimes it would be a few minutes, sure. but a very hefty amount of times it would take literally half the day of them supposedly going at it to finally get the villager out. I was busy waiting to carry on cycling, and I had to put the game down for most of the day just for 1 sale

doesn't just go for cyclers though, if you're selling a villager and want to get them out at a specific time or want to carry on playing (you're blocked from tting basically at all if you have a villager on hold) then this will be annoying.
not to mention how people often end auctions late at night, they might be looking to sell them and then get to sleep. I've done this twice for both my auctions I've held on TBT and the 1 giveaway I've held here too

I get why you're upset, because seeing a villager you really like pass you by sucks. but you gotta understand why the seller's doing it man

 

[Garrett]

I disagree with the original poster. Whenever I've sold or given away a villager, my number one rule is that the buyer has a free plot. Non-negotiable!

With different timezones, that's become my rule for every trade. I'm ready now, if you're also ready now, we can trade. If not, too bad.

 

[Sefyre]

I'm new to AC and I have yet to participate in any trading outside of my current friendslist so all of this information is new to me.

That said, if I knew I had a villager coming to me, then it's only logical to have a plot open right away.

But what would I do if it's an auction where it's not guaranteed and getting another villager from the void is all but guaranteed if the open plot isn't claimed on time by the hopeful?

Obviously, if I already have room like I do now (7 out of 10 villagers) then it isn't as much an issue - I can open a plot in less than 5 minutes if I need to.

But if I don't, then what?

@Cethosia, is that method the only one available and how easy is it to screw it up?

 

[Manah]

I'm in a different timezone and it's already late when everyone is active. I'm not going to pull all nighters or put my game on hold to TT because people can't pick up their stuff immediately. (Not doing auctions for this very reason, actually.)

 

[Cethosia]

@Sefyre It is likely the only way to be ready to have an empty plot without actually having an empty plot. It is difficult to screw this up as long as you do not say yes or no to the villager that wants to move. Just closing the game if they mention wanting to move is enough.

You might have to close and restart the game a few times if the villager went inside to force them outside again though. I also heard the thought bubble can change through the day, so you need to be careful with that

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

I used to have a villager shop in New Leaf and since I would get a lot of adoption requests, I had no time to wait on every single person if I were to get to the next customer in a timely manner. So I made it a rule that they had to have a spot open. I really don't like waiting hours on someone. If the shop was slow, I would wait maybe 30 minutes but I have other things I want to do than wait at the computer for someone to time travel until they have a spot available. So I personally believe the seller has every right to make it a rule that you need a spot open. Maybe just bid when you organically have a spot open? So you don't feel like you opened a spot for no reason.

 

[Xara]

people who host auctions are not obligated to wait for the winner to have an open plot. if you don’t have an open plot or are unable to get one while the auction is going on, they shouldn’t be bidding in the first place. and let’s keep timezones in mind; the winner might not see an issue with scrambling to get an open plot but for all you know, it could be late where the auction-holder lives or they might have other plans for the day, hence why they want the winner to have an open plot so nobody’s time gets wasted ;;

 

[Sefyre]

@Sefyre It is likely the only way to be ready to have an empty plot without actually having an empty plot. It is difficult to screw this up as long as you do not say yes or no to the villager that wants to move. Just closing the game if they mention wanting to move is enough.

You might have to close and restart the game a few times if the villager went inside to force them outside again though. I also heard the thought bubble can change through the day, so you need to be careful with that

Thank you very much for explaining all of that!

I'll definitely keep that in mind going forward.

 

[Chris]

People are often looking to move the villager out exactly at the end time because they have something else lined-up right after (e.g. to pick-up a villager from someone else or to go to sleep, etc). It is a fair condition to include.

 

[Littlered]

i didn’t mean to cause so much controversy lol. i get what most of y’all are saying, and i think a lot of this holds true if there is an actual set ending time. which there sometimes is, (especially with raymond-tier) but looking at the current auction/for sale posts, there are a lot that aren’t. “a few hours” or “make offers” but then reject the first one, saying maybe if they don’t get a better offer they’ll take that. i’ve personally had good luck selling like 5-6 higher villagers but i don’t cycle so i’m willing to wait. i have however bid/offered on a post that didn’t demand an open plot and after i asked for a half an hour to tt i was rejected twice. i suppose i’m just bitter about that, but y’all have made me realize that if there is a set time, that is absolutely reasonable and i really gets it. however, i do still think that on the no set end time or specific asking price for a villager/taking bids, you shouldn’t demand an open plot right away.

 

[Manah]

Well, auctions with no set ending time strike me as the seller version of of buyers picking up a villager whenever. Didn't know people. I'd definitely avoid those auctions too.

 

[Littlered]

Well, auctions with no set ending time strike me as the seller version of of buyers picking up a villager whenever. Didn't know people. I'd definitely avoid those auctions too.

idk i’d consider technically “selling” but actually “taking offers” as an auction. that happens all the time, probably more often than not

Post automatically merged: May 27, 2020

You would be surprised, people do it very often. I've had people ask me for villagers, be in contact all day and the moment the deadline comes up, radio silence. Its kinda the risk of selling anything, people get it for another price, bid on multiple auctions, don't have space, so they don't contact you despite winning

i personally think that would be the case regardless of demanding an open plot or not, unfortunately. do you think demanding a plot be open helps this problem?

 

[niko@kamogawa]

And this is why I don't do auctions without an empty plot. I don't time travel. That means, I only have 24 hours to hold that empty plot before a random villager comes in the next day. It's vexing but that's how it should work. I am not gonna let the seller wait for me and hold the villager for a long time.

 

[Blueskyy]

I get your frustration, but I know as a seller I usually don’t want to Jeep the villager for that long. I ask that people have space ready so the transaction can be quick. In some situations some people are at work or not home and I waited a few hours for them, and in many I just post a quick sale to be done within several minutes. Either way, it is up to the seller and what they want to do with their villager. I personally would rather see mine adopted than voided, so that’s why I may post a quick sale. In short, I do think it is unresasonable that sellers should be demanded to wait hours for the buyers to adopt. As stated above buyers want the space to find new villagers, etc.

 

[pocky]

I think it makes sense, specially for people selling who don't time travel and don't have the time to wait. There are people who will take hours or sometimes even days to open up a plot.

But at the same time I can understand the frustration of not wanting to open up a plot for an auction that you might not even win. This is why I prefer to just straight up buy or sell a villager without the need for auction.

 

[Fendi]

I definitely understand both sides of the argument, and I do feel that there should be some flexibility on both sides since getting a villager to move out can be tedious and time consuming. But, at the same time, for the seller, the buyer should also respect the seller's time and realize that they may have other obligations which is why a lot of them request to have an open plot available.

For me, this is why I choose to not partake in auctions because it's really time consuming on both ends. I definitely understand the frustration from sellers though who have to experience buyers no longer interested in buying because they cannot open up a plot. I think if you are certainly going to bid, at least notify the seller about how long it might take, since I feel like this is just basic consideration.

 

[Chris]

i didn’t mean to cause so much controversy lol. i get what most of y’all are saying, and i think a lot of this holds true if there is an actual set ending time. which there sometimes is, (especially with raymond-tier) but looking at the current auction/for sale posts, there are a lot that aren’t. “a few hours” or “make offers” but then reject the first one, saying maybe if they don’t get a better offer they’ll take that. i’ve personally had good luck selling like 5-6 higher villagers but i don’t cycle so i’m willing to wait. i have however bid/offered on a post that didn’t demand an open plot and after i asked for a half an hour to tt i was rejected twice. i suppose i’m just bitter about that, but y’all have made me realize that if there is a set time, that is absolutely reasonable and i really gets it. however, i do still think that on the no set end time or specific asking price for a villager/taking bids, you shouldn’t demand an open plot right away.

If an auction doesn't have a clear time it is actually a violation of our Rules & Guidelines. If you see any on TBT please report them, thank you.