Auctionity is a platform for selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In other words, it’s a place where you can sell all of those CryptoKitties, Blockchain Cuties, Axies, 0xUniverse planets, and other collectibles you’ve accumulated from playing blockchain games.
Most collectors so far have used OpenSea to trade collectibles. But Auctionity has some unique features that may make it a better choice, at least for some users.
This article will explain the features of Auctionity that make it unique. We will also discuss how to get started with Auctionity.
Auctionity unique features
Here are a few unique features of Auctionity that distinguish it from other NFT trading platforms.
Auctioneers
In most collectible-trading apps, there is no “marketing” that sellers are responsible for, and the sellers do not hire third-parties to help sell their items. Items are simply listed according to a relevance algorithm based on the search terms entered by the shopper.
By contrast, in Auctionity, some users are Auctioneers. Auctioneers help items to sell by creating evocative descriptions and appealing videos for the items.
Auctioneers are awarded 20% of the community reward when an item sells.
Community reward
When a seller creates an auction, he has the option of offering a community reward of between 1% and 50% of the final sale price.
Once the sale is finalized, the auctioneer gets 50% of the community reward. The rest of the reward is split between referrers who increase awareness of the auction by sharing it with others.
If a seller does not want his auction referred to others and does not want a video or description created for it, he can choose to offer no community reward. In this case, the seller will receive the entire sale price – without any deduction for the community.
DRT (DomRaiderTokens)
DRT is the native cryptocurrency of the Auctionity platform. DRT allows holders to become Auctioneers. The more DRT a person holds, the more often he will get a chance to be selected as the Auctioneer for an item.
Separate network for bids
Auctionity uses the Ethereum mainnet for deposits and withdrawals. However, it uses its own Ethereum testnet for bids. This allows it to cut down on gas fees from registering multiple bids.
Review of features
These unique features distinguish Auctionity from other NFT-trading platforms. In Auctionity, sellers do not have to simply post an item and hope it sells. Instead, sellers get help from Auctioneers and Referrers.
And the use of a separate Ethereum network helps to cut down on the high cost of gas fees for bidders.
Some users may not want these features. But for users that have especially unique and valuable collectibles, these features may be worth the extra cost.
How to create an auction using Auctionity
If you are interested in auctioning some of your collectibles using Auctionity, here is how you can get started.
Logging in
Navigate to Auctionity.com and click visit saleroom or access saleroom.
Using the menu bar on the left side of the screen, click the seller icon that looks like a red circle.
If Metamask is closed, you’ll get a message telling you that you need to open it. Once you’ve opened it, Auctionity will display a message with your Ethereum address. It will then ask you if this is the address you want to login with.
Click login to continue.
Metamask will produce a popup asking you to sign a transaction. Signing this will log you into Auctionity.
Creating an auction
By default, Auctionity auctions are for DRT. So if you want ETH instead, click the drop-down box that says currency, and select ETH.
Now click create auction, right below where it says “I sell at best price.”
Auctionity will provide you with a list of games and apps. Choose the app that corresponds to the collectible you want to sell.
In our testing, we found that the only collectibles we could get Auctionity to recognize were mons from Etheremon. However, we did notice that other people had been able to successfully auction collectibles from Blockchain Cuties and other games.
So whatever was stopping us was probably a temporary bug.
Once you’ve selected a game, you should see a list of the collectibles from that game held in your wallet.
Choose the collectible you want to sell by clicking the sell it button.
The auction creation page will appear.
Enter your starting price, bid increment, community reward percent, and a description of the item, then press next.
You’ll be asked to sign your deposit.
Click sign with Metamask. Then click confirm when the Metamask popup window appears.
Auctionity will give you a message saying that the deposit is in progress.
When the deposit is finished, it’s time to switch to Auctionity’s network to finalize the auction. A url will appear with the Auctionity network’s address.
Click the chain icon beside the url to copy it onto your clipboard.
Now open Metamask, and select the drop-down menu for Ethereum networks at the top.
Select custom RPC.
In the new RPC url field, paste the contents of your clipboard. In the name field, enter Auctionity or some other appropriate name.
Click save to continue. Auctionity will produce a message saying that your asset has been transferred.
Click finalize my auction, then click confirm within Metamask to finish creating the auction.
Once the auction is live, it will have its own url, and a sample video will play whenever a shopper goes to the page.
When an Auctioneer wins the right to be in charge of your auction, you may eventually see a more interesting video and description on this page.
How to bid on auctions in Auctionity
The process for bidding on auctions in Auctionity is much simpler than creating one. So we won’t dwell on it too much. But here is a summary of the steps that need to be completed.
Click bidder on the left-side of the screen.
Push the new deposit button.
Enter the amount of ETH you would like to deposit, and sign the transaction with Metamask.
After receiving the message that the deposit was successful, search for items in the search bar at the top of the page.
When you find an item you want to bid on, enter the amount of ETH you would like to bid in the field on the right, then click bid.
Sign the transaction in the Metamask popup window. That’s all there is to bidding on an item in Auctionity.
Auctionity review
In our testing, we found that the Auctionity interface worked fine for the most part. It was a bit more complicated to use than OpenSea, but we were still able to figure it out how to use it within 20-30 minutes.
If you have unique collectibles that are extremely valuable, you may have trouble getting a good price for them on OpenSea. In this case, you may want to try out Auctionity as an alternative.
You may find that the extra help from Auctioneers and Referrers comes in handy.
If your collection is more average, however, whether to use Auctionity or other platforms will really come down to personal taste.
Are you excited about the idea of someone creating a video to market your item? Or do you think the item doesn’t need much marketing because it essentially sells itself?
How you feel about the Auctioneer system will determine whether you would be better off using Auctionity or another platform.
But having used Auctionity, we can say that it seems to be a useful means for collectors to find buyers for their items – and for buyers to find collectibles they are looking for.
What do you think of Auctionity? Is the Auctioneer system the future of NFT trading? Or are these videos and descriptions a waste of time?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
