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#### Auction bought in 5 seconds flat?!

As should be pretty evident from the auction page, I sold a lot of 5 bushels of grain tonight in 5 seconds flat.
Looks like an automated purchase, if you ask me. If it is automated, is that something we should be OK with? Glitch shouldn't get to be anything like the old eBay stereotype.

Posted 14 months ago by dgw | Permalink

### Replies

- Nah, there have been times I have bought entire groups of things in seconds. Not that hard to do.
  Posted 14 months ago by Innie✿, Obviously | Permalink
- What's the issue again? You sold your stuff, right?
  Posted 14 months ago by Djabriil | Permalink
- There is an auction sniping script for Glitch. But I have bought stuff immediately too.
  Posted 14 months ago by snarkle | Permalink
- Search for "auction sniper" in the forum. It's a Greasemonkey script set to buy an x amount of something, in this case bushels of grain, under a certain currant/item cost.
  Use this in your advantage. When you notice a snipe is set on your auctions, try to find the maximum currant/item cost it's set to. Set the price exactly to this if you want to sell fast. Or a bit higher, if you don't want to reward the sniper.
  Posted 14 months ago by Victoria | Permalink
- I used to price my cooking low enough to sell. Above a certain point, (less than list price * .8) it would languish . Below that point it would sell instantly. They always sold to the same person, and that person spent all his time on level 4 of the mines where a tool vendor (who pays list price * .8) can be found. AFAICT, he runs this script on almost anything that can be sold, and the frog visits him constantly with the results. He turns right around and sells it to the tool vendor for varying degrees of profit.
  I now walk to the tool vendor with my food, if I sell it at all.
  BTW, I still like to cook and regularly purchase bales of grain for around 250c. That is about the energy cost of squeezing all those chickens, no? Or am I missing something.
  Posted 14 months ago by WalruZ | Permalink
- Often people just use the sniper to buy several lots of the same thing at once (e.g., 40 Fruity Juices in 20 auctions)- the max number and price of the item wanted gets typed in, and the person buys all the items at once instead of clicking all 20 auctions. It's not always set up as a long-term snipe tool, so your mileage may vary on trying to avoid "rewarding" the sniper/feeling out the highest price on a snipe.
  Posted 14 months ago by Djabriil | Permalink
- Oh this makes total sense now...I have seen my items purchased in seconds to the same person over and over...I love some grease monkey scripts (the ones that tell you where you've visited and what badges you have) but...I think this goes too far
  Posted 14 months ago by ◘ ▪ Leï.Leï ▪ ◘ | Permalink
- There is a Greasemonkey script which allows you to name a maximum price you'd be willing to pay for an item in the Auction. The script has been previously sanctioned by Tiny Speck, although we monitor it to make sure that it is not creating an unfair advantage for anyone.
  Posted 14 months ago by Essie Kitten | Permalink
- I guess I could see being concerned about losing out on an auction to somebody else, but I don't really see the problem sales-wise- you're still selling your goods... and if you know you're getting sniped on a regular basis and it bothers you for whatever reason, raise prices a little to ensure you're getting your money's worth.
  Posted 14 months ago by Djabriil | Permalink
- What are Greasemonkey scripts? It takes me FOREVER to buy stuff at auction (clicking, page loading, etc). I'd like to have this advantage too. Is the forum the only place to learn about these things? Thanks!
  Posted 14 months ago by Friend | Permalink
- @Friend - AFAIK you can find it by searching for it in the search box on the left.
  Posted 14 months ago by Djabriil | Permalink
- The problem wasn't so much that my stuff was getting sold as that it was really fast. I was worried that something "illegal" was happening with scripting. Essie Kitten set that straight (thanks!)
  I should explore the Greasemonkey script collection for Glitch...
  Posted 14 months ago by dgw | Permalink
- There should be an official explanation somewhere other than the forums about what Greasemonkey is. I've never heard of it. And wouldn't necessarily go on third party sites to learn about it. But it sounds like it gives users an advantage.... (For example, I have literally spent hours clicking through auction pages. This sounds like it could have been automated.)
  Posted 14 months ago by Friend | Permalink
- Friend - greasemonkey is an extension for the firefox web browser that allows people to install scripts that change their interactions with various websites. If you google a bit, you'll see that there are greasemonkey scripts for virtually every website you can imagine, and it's not something unique to glitch.
  I don't have the link handy, but the glitch strategy wiki (a fan site that is not an official tiny speck page) has a page in it for unofficial browser extensions. I use the ones for chrome, for example, to help me figure out which achievements I still need to accomplish.
  You might also be interested in um... (again, on my phone, link not handy, sorry) zog's glitchy tools (zoggish, maybe? Someone will correct me, surely) which has a sweet auction tool that clearly shows if items are listed above or below vendor price. I use that one a lot.
  Posted 14 months ago by Wintera Woodswitch | Permalink
- http://www.glitch.com/forum/general/3040/page2/#reply-84670
  Greasemonkey Script thread.
  Posted 14 months ago by Leithwyn | Permalink
- So can a greasemonkey skip the purchase confirmation? Or does it still have to click through all the pages?
  Posted 14 months ago by Friend | Permalink
- scripts don't use the same pages as players do.
  The API interacts directly with the game server. If a script has a flaw, you don't get a chance to approve or disapprove the purchase before it happens.
  Posted 14 months ago by WindBorn | Permalink
- They need to ban these scripts or make them available more officially. If you can skip the purchase confirmation, you can snipe auctions from others and save a TON of time. I don't want to have to use a third-party script just to be competitive.
  Posted 14 months ago by Friend | Permalink
- Actually, when that script first came out, stoot said that it was exactly what they were trying to encourage when they created the API.
  Posted 14 months ago by WindBorn | Permalink
- If bots can have 1-click buying, so should the humans!
  Posted 14 months ago by Friend | Permalink
- Friend wrote: If bots can have 1-click buying, so should the humans!
  So install the Greasemonkey script and use it?
  Posted 14 months ago by Warrender | Permalink
- Here's what stoot said
  Ping's script is exactly the kind of thing we'd like people to build with the API (and what I hoped would happen with auctions).
  Posted 14 months ago by WindBorn | Permalink
- This is splitting hairs, but for the record, the API does not currently support buying auctions.
  I've not looked at the greasemonkey script, but can only assume it simply automates the use of the usual web page route of buying.
  Posted 14 months ago by Kraftmann | Permalink
- Warrender, my point is that if this script gives such a large advantage to its users, Tiny Speck might integrate that into the game, allowing everyone to enjoy the benefit. It will only make the market more efficient and liquid, things TS wants to see as well.
  Posted 14 months ago by Friend | Permalink
- /shrug
  The way I see it, anyone who really wants this functionality can install the script just like they can with the other Greasemonkey scripts.
  Posted 14 months ago by Warrender | Permalink
- Friend, the whole point of the API is to give people a way to create functionality that (the devs don't have time for, isn't very high on the to-do-list, is useful to a small number of players, etc).
  As Warrender said, anyone who wants the functionality can have it.
  Posted 14 months ago by WindBorn | Permalink
- All I'm saying is it would be nice if TS integrated this community-generated feature into the main game. It will save everyone time, make the markets more liquid. I don't want it to be in the hands of a few.
  Posted 14 months ago by Friend | Permalink