*QUICK FAQ*
Q. The lowball listings are messy. How can we keep them organized?
A.
Q. Thinking about having a lowball. Is anyone interested?
A.
Q. How can I get people more interested in my lowball?
A.
Q. I have a PS4 system I want to sell in a lowball, but I want to start it at $100. Is that OK?
A.
Q. What if my $40 game sells for only $5 though?
A.
Q. What if CAG was messing up at the end of the sale?
A.
Shill bidding (bidding your items up yourself or having others do it for you with no intention of winning) will NOT be tolerated in lowball auctions.
Please note that mods can and do check to ensure that this practice does not happen in lowball auctions. If it is found that you have attempted to increase your lowball total through unsavory methods of any kind, you will be contacted by a moderator and you should expect the situation to be handled in an appropriate manner.
Once again, while making some money in a lowball is great, the original purpose was to do a couple other things as well; clear some space and give some good deals to fellow CAGs.
If you do not agree with this and are solely in it for the money, please take your items to another venue.
As with all things in the CAG Trading Forums, you participate at your own risk.
The guidelines below should assist in helping both buyers and sellers have a safer time when hosting or participating in lowball auctions.
Just as bidders are held accountable for their respective bids, the following rules will also help to ensure that sellers are held accountable for the products that they offer in the manner agreed upon in the lowball rules.
Also, in order to create a bit more consistency in the operation of lowballs, the rules below should be followed when organizing your lowball and be adhered to throughout the process.
The following are REQUIRED to conduct a lowball.
#1 - The first line of your lowball will consist of the following information; Start Date, End date (see time notes below), Payment methods accepted
#2 - A minimal starting price (up to $1) per item or group of items sold as one.
#3 - Once your lowball has begun, don't remove items and do not end items earlier than stated.
#4 - Make it simple for all CAGs! The recommended method is to post that the auction has ended and count all preceeding posts rather than posting a specific time as even the seconds in which a post was made as well as forum post order are sometimes questioned at the end.
#5 - Have clear shipping amounts posted.
#6 - Lowball sales are CAG exclusive. If you want to advertise your sale on a different site, that's fine, but no GTZ, NA, "friends" or other bidders. If they want to bid, they can register an account on CAG.
#7 - All bids must appear in the CAG thread for all to see. No emails or PM bids may be accepted.
The following are RECOMMENDED for a successful sale, but not required.
#1 - A minimum of 15 positive feedback on CAG is recommended, both for the seller to be more trusted and to receive a fair amount of bids, as well as for the participants to feel a certain degree of comfort in dealing with an experienced trader.
#2 - If everything on your page is not included in the auction be EXTREMELY CLEAR about what is not included, big lines and text should do the trick.
#3 - Offer some type of "protection" for CAGs at a certain feedback level, for example, "will ship first to CAGs with over 100 positives at 100%." or "will accept 50% payment before shipping for CAGs with at least 50 positive feedback at 100%."
Information for sellers:
Please plan your auction ahead. Your end time is a verbal contract with your bidders and is not flexible. Please ensure that you will be ready and able to end your auction within the window specified in your lowball rules.
Items up for auction should be visually verified before being added to your listing (pictures of the actual product are highly recommended!) as sellers will be held responsible for ensuring that their list is accurate and all items are delivered as promised upon completion of the lowball. This means listed items may not be removed from the lowball once it is underway.
If payment is required by a certain date, be clear about that in your listed payment guidelines. Otherwise, something general such as,
Appropriate feedback may be left by your buyers for actions outside the rules.
Information for bidders:
By placing a bid in a seller's lowball, you are stating that you agree with all of their terms and conditions and will provide payment in a timely manner for the goods won in the end. The item pictured will be the item you get unless otherwise stated by the seller. If the item description didn't happen to say "sticker on case" but it was visible in the picture, the seller will not be held responsible.
Please check the sellers payment requirements before bidding and contact the seller before placing any questionable bids if you need some assistance.
Appropriate feedback may be left by your sellers for actions outside the rules.
General Etiquette:
Sellers are still limited to three bumps per day. Questions should be answered via PM when it is not something applicable to the group as a whole, i.e. your personal payment questions.
Product questions may be answered within the thread and will not be counted as a bump.
A post stating that updates have been made is considered a bump and sellers will be strictly held to their three bump limit.
As in the standard Trading Forum guidelines, warnings will be given and mods may choose to take further action for infractions.
Bidders should not post anything non-lowball related. Questions about products listed are, of course, acceptable. Excessive conversation, joke posts, or other forms of comment spam will be dealt with by the moderators on a case-by-case basis.
It is also not acceptable to post "better deals" or advertise your own items in another sellers lowball.
Remember, the lowball thread is for lowball information that pertains directly to the sale and/or condition of the items and that is all.
Pending lowball threads do not need bumps. Completed lowball threads do not need bumps. Lowball threads in general do not need bumps aside from the three alloted to the owner. If you would like to bump a thread, you can place a valid bid.
In the case of both buyers and sellers, what is considered to be excessive posting will be evaluated by the moderators and their word is final.
General Lowball Rules Format (may be used and edited as necessary):
Q. The lowball listings are messy. How can we keep them organized?
A.
Most have suggested - and have been using - tags at the beginning of their thread titles. As for me, if it has not yet begun and is in the "set-up phase" I just have a title. Once it starts, anything such as LIVE, OPEN, NOW ACCEPTING BIDS, etc. is all acceptable. Please though, when your auction has wrapped up add a new tag such as DEAD, OVER, CLOSED, etc. Finally, remember that you can lock your own thread, but please ensure that you have completed your lowball 100% before doing so as some members may look to contact you about their items after the sale.
Q. Thinking about having a lowball. Is anyone interested?
A.
CAG currently boasts well over 25,000 active members. Yes, someone is interested. Don't bother starting a thread just to find out.
Q. How can I get people more interested in my lowball?
A.
First, get some feedback! The number of people attempting to start a lowball with sub 5 feedback is astonishing. Yeah, some people may say it's worth the risk, but many won't. Go ahead and spend a couple months being very active in the trading forums, build yourself a bit of a rep and give it a go afterward.
Feel free to add a small banner in your sig and/or a link on your trade page to direct people to your active lowball thread.
Feel free to add a small banner in your sig and/or a link on your trade page to direct people to your active lowball thread.
Q. I have a PS4 system I want to sell in a lowball, but I want to start it at $100. Is that OK?
A.
No, items should not start for more than $1. Don't worry, no one is going to win your PS4 for $50. It's just not going to happen. Again, 25,000+ active CAGs with hundreds that come through the lowball section every couple of days. Items will sell well enough that these higher starting points are not necessary.
Q. What if my $40 game sells for only $5 though?
A.
Then it's probably not worth much more than $5.
Q. What if CAG was messing up at the end of the sale?
A.
That is a risk inherent in any internet experience and is a risk we all take when running a lowball sale.
Shill bidding (bidding your items up yourself or having others do it for you with no intention of winning) will NOT be tolerated in lowball auctions.
Please note that mods can and do check to ensure that this practice does not happen in lowball auctions. If it is found that you have attempted to increase your lowball total through unsavory methods of any kind, you will be contacted by a moderator and you should expect the situation to be handled in an appropriate manner.
Once again, while making some money in a lowball is great, the original purpose was to do a couple other things as well; clear some space and give some good deals to fellow CAGs.
If you do not agree with this and are solely in it for the money, please take your items to another venue.
As with all things in the CAG Trading Forums, you participate at your own risk.
The guidelines below should assist in helping both buyers and sellers have a safer time when hosting or participating in lowball auctions.
Just as bidders are held accountable for their respective bids, the following rules will also help to ensure that sellers are held accountable for the products that they offer in the manner agreed upon in the lowball rules.
Also, in order to create a bit more consistency in the operation of lowballs, the rules below should be followed when organizing your lowball and be adhered to throughout the process.
The following are REQUIRED to conduct a lowball.
#1 - The first line of your lowball will consist of the following information; Start Date, End date (see time notes below), Payment methods accepted
#2 - A minimal starting price (up to $1) per item or group of items sold as one.
#3 - Once your lowball has begun, don't remove items and do not end items earlier than stated.
#4 - Make it simple for all CAGs! The recommended method is to post that the auction has ended and count all preceeding posts rather than posting a specific time as even the seconds in which a post was made as well as forum post order are sometimes questioned at the end.
#5 - Have clear shipping amounts posted.
#6 - Lowball sales are CAG exclusive. If you want to advertise your sale on a different site, that's fine, but no GTZ, NA, "friends" or other bidders. If they want to bid, they can register an account on CAG.
#7 - All bids must appear in the CAG thread for all to see. No emails or PM bids may be accepted.
The following are RECOMMENDED for a successful sale, but not required.
#1 - A minimum of 15 positive feedback on CAG is recommended, both for the seller to be more trusted and to receive a fair amount of bids, as well as for the participants to feel a certain degree of comfort in dealing with an experienced trader.
#2 - If everything on your page is not included in the auction be EXTREMELY CLEAR about what is not included, big lines and text should do the trick.
#3 - Offer some type of "protection" for CAGs at a certain feedback level, for example, "will ship first to CAGs with over 100 positives at 100%." or "will accept 50% payment before shipping for CAGs with at least 50 positive feedback at 100%."
Information for sellers:
Please plan your auction ahead. Your end time is a verbal contract with your bidders and is not flexible. Please ensure that you will be ready and able to end your auction within the window specified in your lowball rules.
Items up for auction should be visually verified before being added to your listing (pictures of the actual product are highly recommended!) as sellers will be held responsible for ensuring that their list is accurate and all items are delivered as promised upon completion of the lowball. This means listed items may not be removed from the lowball once it is underway.
If payment is required by a certain date, be clear about that in your listed payment guidelines. Otherwise, something general such as,
is also acceptable.
Appropriate feedback may be left by your buyers for actions outside the rules.
Information for bidders:
By placing a bid in a seller's lowball, you are stating that you agree with all of their terms and conditions and will provide payment in a timely manner for the goods won in the end. The item pictured will be the item you get unless otherwise stated by the seller. If the item description didn't happen to say "sticker on case" but it was visible in the picture, the seller will not be held responsible.
Please check the sellers payment requirements before bidding and contact the seller before placing any questionable bids if you need some assistance.
Appropriate feedback may be left by your sellers for actions outside the rules.
General Etiquette:
Sellers are still limited to three bumps per day. Questions should be answered via PM when it is not something applicable to the group as a whole, i.e. your personal payment questions.
Product questions may be answered within the thread and will not be counted as a bump.
A post stating that updates have been made is considered a bump and sellers will be strictly held to their three bump limit.
As in the standard Trading Forum guidelines, warnings will be given and mods may choose to take further action for infractions.
Bidders should not post anything non-lowball related. Questions about products listed are, of course, acceptable. Excessive conversation, joke posts, or other forms of comment spam will be dealt with by the moderators on a case-by-case basis.
It is also not acceptable to post "better deals" or advertise your own items in another sellers lowball.
Remember, the lowball thread is for lowball information that pertains directly to the sale and/or condition of the items and that is all.
Pending lowball threads do not need bumps. Completed lowball threads do not need bumps. Lowball threads in general do not need bumps aside from the three alloted to the owner. If you would like to bump a thread, you can place a valid bid.
In the case of both buyers and sellers, what is considered to be excessive posting will be evaluated by the moderators and their word is final.
General Lowball Rules Format (may be used and edited as necessary):
START DATE: ?/?/11
END DATE: ?/?/11
PAYMENT METHODS ACCEPTED: PP, AP, MO
1) Simply type in your max bid for the item(s) in this thread. No PMs. No Emails. Just reply in the forum reply section. This is to keep bids public. Obviously post edits and spoilers hiding bids are NOT acceptable. If you made a mistake in your submission, please post again.
2) I will update the first page to reflect your bids as often as possible. Feel free to check the latest bids on the last page(s) if you are unsure of the latest update time.
3) There is no minimum to win any item. You can win them for as little as you bid. So if you bid $1.00 and win it, it's yours for a $1.00 (plus shipping). If someone bids $5 and you outbid them for $10, you may win the item for your $10 bid and pay your bid plus shipping at the end of the sale.
4) The smallest bid increment is $.50, no $.10 or $.01 bids!
5) Please note that you will be expected to pay the amount you bid plus appropriate shipping if you have the highest offer at the end. Negative feedback may be left for those who choose not to follow through with payment.
6) If you place a bid, you are committing to that item. DO NOT place a bid if you do not intend to keep that bid active. While I understand that sometimes unavoidable circumstances arise, if you are fearful that this may happen, please wait to bid on the last day so you know that nothing unexpected occurred!
7) All bids are welcome (excluding bids from CAGs on my Negative Experience List).
8) CAGs with over ~~ positive itrader at 100% are eligible for shipment before full payment if requested. Please ask if you do not feel safe bidding.
Ending the Auction:
I will not be posting the exact ending time, but I will tell you it will end sometime late (EST) on ?-?-11 or possibly even very early (EST) on ?-?-11. Once I post saying AUCTION OVER - NO MORE BIDS ACCEPTED, that is it and nothing further will count.
Shipping/Payment:
If you win one item, shipping is $~. *Each additional item will be $~.
* If you end up with a bunch of light things, I will refund some of the shipping to you afterward if it's more than $~ difference.
The following form(s) of payment is/are accepted.
~ Paypal
~ Amazon Payments
~ Money Order
END DATE: ?/?/11
PAYMENT METHODS ACCEPTED: PP, AP, MO
1) Simply type in your max bid for the item(s) in this thread. No PMs. No Emails. Just reply in the forum reply section. This is to keep bids public. Obviously post edits and spoilers hiding bids are NOT acceptable. If you made a mistake in your submission, please post again.
2) I will update the first page to reflect your bids as often as possible. Feel free to check the latest bids on the last page(s) if you are unsure of the latest update time.
3) There is no minimum to win any item. You can win them for as little as you bid. So if you bid $1.00 and win it, it's yours for a $1.00 (plus shipping). If someone bids $5 and you outbid them for $10, you may win the item for your $10 bid and pay your bid plus shipping at the end of the sale.
4) The smallest bid increment is $.50, no $.10 or $.01 bids!
5) Please note that you will be expected to pay the amount you bid plus appropriate shipping if you have the highest offer at the end. Negative feedback may be left for those who choose not to follow through with payment.
6) If you place a bid, you are committing to that item. DO NOT place a bid if you do not intend to keep that bid active. While I understand that sometimes unavoidable circumstances arise, if you are fearful that this may happen, please wait to bid on the last day so you know that nothing unexpected occurred!
7) All bids are welcome (excluding bids from CAGs on my Negative Experience List).
8) CAGs with over ~~ positive itrader at 100% are eligible for shipment before full payment if requested. Please ask if you do not feel safe bidding.
Ending the Auction:
I will not be posting the exact ending time, but I will tell you it will end sometime late (EST) on ?-?-11 or possibly even very early (EST) on ?-?-11. Once I post saying AUCTION OVER - NO MORE BIDS ACCEPTED, that is it and nothing further will count.
Shipping/Payment:
If you win one item, shipping is $~. *Each additional item will be $~.
* If you end up with a bunch of light things, I will refund some of the shipping to you afterward if it's more than $~ difference.
The following form(s) of payment is/are accepted.
~ Paypal
~ Amazon Payments
~ Money Order
Last edited by a moderator:
up a lowball.
, but this is just a suggestion to help clear the clutter.