TOPIC: White Elephant ACS Benefit Auction Event ($651 raised!!) - Exchange Round

It’s time for another TD Gives for the holiday American Cancer Society benefit event. And this time we are going to make it a little bit of fun. Here’s how it works:

For one week, December 5th-11th, We will auction off 5 “slots” in a “White Elephant Token Exchange” event to be held next week over the forums. The 5 “slots” include the listed tokens for each slot. You are ultimately bidding on what could result in you acquiring a VERY special mystery token when we end the event plus 100% of the money raised goes to the ACS. So it would behoove you to bid decently on the items in the slot. Don’t worry, NO ONE will go home with a “bad” draw.

Here is a sneak peek of “Some” of what’s included:



The auction round will run from 12 noon MST today (12/5) till 12 noon MST on Sunday the 11th. Each of the 5 slot winners will be seeded based on the highest amount they bid on the token(s) they’ve won, with the 1st exchange seed being awarded to the top bidder and the second seed to the next highest bidder and so on for the five total winners. Ties will be determined by who placed the earlier bids. An individual may only win ONE slot. You can bid on multiple slots but as the auction goes on, you will only win the one slot you’ve bid the most on. We want to get 5 unique individuals to the exchange round.

[b}Note: The auction bidding and individuals will be held blind and anonymous. But the exchange round will reveal the winners once the actual bidding and auction is over.[/b]

Then the exchange round will begin on December 12th via public posts on the forum taking as long as it needs to complete it up to Monday the 18th at 5:00pm MST.

I will ask the 1st seed to draw a bag color and I will reveal the contents of the bag. Seed #1 will be awarded this token to hold. Then the next seed #5 will draw. Seed #5 can choose to keep what they drew or FORCE seed #1 to trade the token they drew PLUS the initial slot auction token(s) they won with seed #5. This continues till seed #2 has chosen to keep or trade their token(s). THEN, we return to seed #1 one final time so they can choose any ONE of the tokens already drawn by another seed to force a trade, or keep what they have. This leaves everyone with something valuable and maybe even with something they wanted most, but favoring the #1 seed as the highest (or earliest if a tie) overall bidder.

This picks will be in the following order: Seed #1, Seed #5, Seed #4, Seed #3, Seed #2, then Seed #1 again.

Shipping is free for the token winners and if possible will be shipped with any previous auction winnings.

______________________________________________________________
How bidding works:

◦ Bids should be sent to me via PM
◦ The winning bid is the lesser of the 2nd highest bid + the bid increment and the highest bid.
◦ You must bid at least the current bid + the bid increment.
◦ Bid increment on items less than $10: $0.25
◦ Bid increment on items greater than or equal to $10 but below $100: $1
◦ Bid increment on items greater than or equal to $100: $5
NOTE: All bids must be divisible by the increment in place for their bid tier.

Once your bid is received I will send you a PM confirming it with your Gooey Cube NPC themed moniker. I will regularly update the auction with currently winning bids, as work and life allows. But at minimum, daily, unless extenuating circumstances prevent it.

If multiple bidders bid the same amount, the earliest bids win..

What we are auctioning off:

Slot 1 - Aragonite Power Crystal - Seavra - $86.00
Slot 2 - Large Silver Gear - Jannig - $100.00
Slot 3 - Medium Gold Sprocket - Stoof - $105.00
Slot 4 - Mystery Chaff - Kray - $205.00
Slot 5 - Necklace Palooza - Strem - $155.00

FAQ:

#1
Q:) Does getting slot 1 guarantee that I get the token I want?

A:) Slot 1 does not, no. Winning Slot 1 only gets you entry into the exchange round. The highest bid of all the five winning bids will place as Seed #1 which will give you pick of the one token you want.

#2
Q:) is there only one up per day (so I bid on the #5 right now) or can I bid on any of them?

A:) Nope, it's five different auction items (slots) to bid on that come with a token or token(s) all on the auction block simultaneously starting today. If you win one, you are advanced to the next round where you get to choose a bonus item blindly, then depending on your seed, swap that out with something you want. You can bid on any or all any time, but only win one.

#3
Q:) When do you want $?

A:) Winners will be invoiced on Sunday the 11th following the close of the auction. You will have 48 hours from that point to send me payment.

#4
Q:) Are we only ending up with 1 token or like the trick or treat, a bag of tokens?

A:) You will end up with 1 token plus 1, 10, or 13 tokens depending on how it finishes at the end of the exchange round.

#5

Q: Is the exchange one token from a person or is it all of them?

A: For the exchange round I initially wanted it to have a fiber of Hijinx and chaos, but given this is an auction, and people are putting real money into it, I'm going to refine that and allow the seed who's (random opened) token being is "traded" (stolen) the choice of if they will trade the specific token(s) they actually "won/bought".

Example:
Seed #2 wins Necklace Palooza and picks the Blue bag. The Blue Bag has Shirt of the Oaf in it.
Seed #5 has the Large Silver Gear. They open the Orange bag with the Auri's Candle token in it. They decide to trade with Seed #2. Seed #2 can choose to give everything they have to Seed #5 (Shirt of the Oaf + Necklace Palooza for Auri's Candle + Large Silver Gear) OR just be forced to trade the Shirt of the Oaf for Auri's Candle but keep Necklace Palooza.
that way the person who spent money on something gets to at least keep what they actually spent money to acquire.

I see some yummy yum yums!!!! Good luck to all and Thank you Casey for yet another fun event for the Christmas Season for ACS

Made a minor adjustment to the seeding pick order to balance the fairness based on who bid the most.

This picks will be in the following order: Seed #1, Seed #5, Seed #4, Seed #3, Seed #2, then Seed #1 again.

Also posted a FAQ in the 3rd post. Will add to it as needed. Please keep asking questions.

Sometimes a little prime of the pump can spur involvement. So, if you've not see this tease already, here is a little riddle that can give a clue, or two, or...more about what might be in the White Elephant bags. There are some pretty sweet goodies...

A slow regard for silent things
Rings Marly’s plight from selfish things
Yet those who’s raiment they doth give
Brings riches to a life well lived
So wonder not what treasures be
For candle’s light reveals to thee…

Enjoy, and give a bid or two. You might just be surprised what you can snag.

Since this auction has been successful to this point I'd like to offer the following incentive. If we reach certain funding goals I'll reveal which tokens are included in the exchange round (not what colored bags they are in).

Here is the list to follow:

- $100 Raised = Auri's Candle

- $200 Raised = Shirt of the Oaf

- $300 Raised = Ghost Accelerator

- $500 Raised = Ring of Wonder

- $1000 Raised = ???

You all rock for your generous and enthusiastic support of this charity auction!

Three of the mystery tokens have been revealed with the two most interesting ones left. Push the total raised to $500 to see the next one!

I'm trying to understand how the exchange round works. Is the exchange one token from a person or is it all of them?

Example:
Seed #1 wins Necklace Palooza and picks the Blue bag. The Blue Bag has X tokens in it.
Seed #5 has the Large Silver Gear. They open the Orange bag with X tokens in it. They decide to trade with Seed #1. Does Seed #1 trade everything they have for everything Seed #5 or is it one token + their initial winning, i.e. Necklace Palooza?

Good question!

For the exchange round I initially wanted it to have a fiber of Hijinx and chaos, but given this is an auction, and people are putting real money into it, I'm going to refine that and allow the seed who's (random opened) token is being "traded" (stolen) the choice of if they will trade the specific token(s) they actually "won/bought".

Example:
Seed #2 wins Necklace Palooza and picks the Blue bag. The Blue Bag has Shirt of the Oaf in it.
Seed #5 has the Large Silver Gear. They open the Orange bag with the Auri's Candle token in it. They decide to trade with Seed #2. Seed #2 can choose to give everything they have to Seed #5 (Shirt of the Oaf + Necklace Palooza for Auri's Candle + Large Silver Gear) OR just be forced to trade the Shirt of the Oaf for Auri's Candle but keep Necklace Palooza.
that way the person who spent money on something gets to at least keep what they actually spent money to acquire.

Now this could potentially happen again as 5 total "trades" will take place.

Also note. If folk want to just trade (NOT STEAL) anything in this event with each other they can before I ship them out. I'll leave the thread open for that a few days before I ship.

One day left on bidding to win a spot in the exchange round where there are still two very valuable mystery tokens up for grabs!

Will we find out what they are? Who knows...but I will sat that as of right now, one of the tokens is worth more than the combined amount we've raised in this auction so far. Just saying.

We are in the last few hours of this benefit auction window before the seeds for the exchange round are set. Get you bids in!!

I'm serious, the last two mystery tokens are well worth the bids so jump in while they are hot. No matter what, y'all are getting good deals all around.