Diablo® III

Choose Your Auction House

Before you can buy and sell the loot you’ve collected in Sanctuary, you need to determine which auction house you’re going to use. Diablo III offers two types of auction houses, which players can switch between at any time:

• Gold auction house, in which items are bought and sold for in-game gold acquired during your adventures in Diablo III.
• Real-money auction house (available in certain regions), in which items are bought and sold for real-world currency.

Hardcore characters access an exclusive “Hardcore-only” gold auction house. They do not have access to the normal gold auction house or any real-money auction houses.

Each of Diablo III’s three game regions -- The Americas, Europe, and Asia -- has its own separate set of gold and real-money auction houses (one for each supported currency in the region). See the table below for details. Each auction house is completely independent, meaning items listed on one do not appear on another.

Which auction houses you have access to is determined by where you live -- specifically, the country of residence registered to your Battle.net® account. In general, players can access the gold auction house in every game region, but can only access real-money auction houses in their home game region.

When you log in to Diablo III, Battle.net will automatically determine the most appropriate real-money auction house for you. Depending on where you live, real-money auction houses for other currencies in your region may be available to you as well -- check out the auction house FAQ for further details.

Regional Real-money auction houses

• The Americas: U.S. Dollar (USD), Mexican Peso (MXN), Brazilian Real (BRL), Argentine Peso (ARS), Chilean Peso (CLP), Australian Dollar (AUD)
• Europe: British Pound Sterling (GBP), Euro (EUR), Russian Ruble (RUB)
• Asia: No real-money auction house available at launch

By default, Battle.net will display only the most appropriate real-money auction house for you based on the country of residence registered to your Battle.net account. To access an auction house based on another currency within your region (if available), go to the Diablo III Options menu.

Instructions

1. Log in to Diablo III with your Battle.net account. If you are already in the middle of a game, you will need to leave your game first.
2. From the Diablo III main screen, click the Auction House button on the left-hand side.
3. At any time, you can click the button in the upper-right hand corner of the auction house interface to switch between the gold- and real-money auction house.

Buying

Diablo III’s auction house lets players outfit a new character, find gear for a particular build, stock up on consumables, or get their hands on an extremely rare weapon or piece of armor.

There are two general types of items for sale on the auction house: Equipment, such as weapons and armor, and Commodities, such as crafting materials and gems. The auction house handles each a little differently -- check out the FAQ for more information.

Instructions

1. From the auction house interface, choose the Search tab in the upper left corner. By default, you’ll see a selection of recommended items for your character.
2. Choose the category of item you’d like to search for (e.g. equipment, gems) from the left menu.
3. Specify parameters you'd like to search for from the left-hand menu. You can narrow down your search by class, item type, rarity, preferred stats, level range, and more. If you’re looking for commodities such as gold, gems, or crafting materials, the auction house system will automatically search for the best price on the market based on the quantity you requested. For more info on how this works, see the FAQ.
4. Items that fit your criteria will be displayed in the search results. Those results can be sorted by clicking on the filters at the top of the search box.
5. If you find an item you like, mouse over it to see a preview of how it would impact your character’s statistics if you were to equip it. If you like what you see, click on the item, and then click in the lower-right hand corner of the search window to place a bid (specify the maximum you’re willing to pay for an item) or buy it out (instantly purchase for a listed price). Note that not all auctions will have both bid and buyout options available -- this is determined by the type of item and how the seller chose to list it.
6. If you are using the real-money auction house, you’ll be prompted to select a payment method before finalizing your bid.
7. If you have the highest bid when the auction expires (or if you chose to immediately buy out the item), the item is yours. The amount of your bid will be deducted from your gold or selected payment method.
8. After you’ve won, you’ll need to send your new item to your stash in order to use it in-game. Open the Completed tab, highlight the item, and click the Send to Stash button. You can hold a limited number of items in the Completed tab, so be sure to clear it out regularly.

How Bidding Works

While browsing items to bid on, the value displayed under the “Bid” column shows the current public bid. The public bid of an item can be seen by everyone browsing the Auction House and reflects the current bid the high bidder will pay, assuming the auction ends right then. The actual high bid may be higher than this amount, but is kept private and is known only to the Auction House and to the high bidder.

After finding an item you want to bid on, select it and left-click on “BID.”

Placing a Bid

Enter your bid in the field labeled “Your Max Bid,” which represents the highest amount you are willing to pay to win that item. While your maximum bid is hidden from other players, you won’t be able to see how high other bidders are willing to go to win an item, either. Once you’ve entered the amount you want to set as your Max Bid, the gold will be subtracted from your stash.

First Bidder

If you are the first bidder on an item, the starting value for your bid will default to the starting price requested by the seller.

Existing Bid

If there is an existing bid on the item from another player the “Your Max Bid” value will default to 5% more than the currently displayed winning bid (note that this is not the same as the maximum bid, since the current maximum bid is hidden from everybody except the bid holder).

Losing a Bid

If the auction ends with another player’s bid set higher than your Max Bid, then the gold you bid will be sent to your “COMPLETED” tab. From there, you can send the gold back to your stash.

Winning a Bid

If the auction ends with your Max Bid set higher than anyone else’s, then you will only pay a price equivalent to the highest bid below your Max Bid. If you were the only player bidding on the item, then you will pay its Starting Price. The item you’ve won will then be sent to your “COMPLETED” tab, which you can visit to send it to your stash.

Selling

Before anyone can buy items from the auction house, someone needs to put their loot up for sale. You might decide to auction off an item that you don’t need, excess crafting materials, or a particularly rare piece of gear that you think will fetch a nice price.

Successful auctions are subject to fees (detailed below) depending on the type of item and the manner in which you choose to receive your proceeds. For further details, check out the FAQ.

Instructions

1. From the auction house interface, click the Sell tab in the top center of the screen.
2. Click the item you’d like to auction in your inventory or stash. You can cycle through the inventories of different characters by using the character selection menu on the right side of your screen. In addition to selling equipment (like weapons and armor), you can also sell commodities (such as gems and dyes) in a quantity of your choosing.
3. Once you’ve chosen what you’d like to auction, it will appear in the middle of your screen. For items such as equipment, you can set a minimum bid for buyers as well as an optional buyout price. For commodities such as gems, crafting materials, and other non-unique items that can be traded in large quantities, you can only select a buyout price -- all commodities of the same type will be placed into a single marketplace pool. See the FAQ for more information.
4. If you’re auctioning your item in the real-money auction house, use the drop-down to choose how to receive the proceeds of your auction if it succeeds. Choosing Battle.net Balance will send the proceeds to Battle.net Balance on your Battle.net account, to be used on future real-money auction house purchases or select Blizzard Entertainment™ digital products on Battle.net. In certain regions, if a PayPal™ account is linked to your Battle.net account and you’ve enabled Battle.net SMS Protect on your Battle.net account (see below), you can have the proceeds sent to your PayPal account (a 15% transfer fee applies if you choose this method, calculated based on the amount being transferred). For further details, check out the FAQ.
   
   Important: You can’t change which method to use once your auction has been created, so choose carefully!
5. When you click Create Auction, the item will be immediately removed from your inventory and placed on sale. Auctions can be cancelled at any time, as long as they do not have any active bids. All auctions last a set number of hours, and you can have a limited number of active auctions per auction house. See the FAQ for more details.

Auction Status

The Auctions tab lets you track the status of your current auctions and bids, including the current highest bids on your listings, auctions you’re competing for, and the amount of time remaining on any active auctions. You can also cancel active auctions that have not been bid upon from this location.

Account Security

Blizzard Entertainment takes Battle.net account security seriously. On our Battle.net Account Security website, we provide a wealth of information and advice on how to identify threats and help keep your account information safe. Remember to never share your login information, and consider using one of the additional security measures we offer to help protect your account against compromises and theft, such as the Battle.net Authenticator and free Battle.net Mobile Authenticator.

As part of our commitment to account security, players who wish to use Diablo III’s real-money auction house may be required to use one of the following security measures:

Battle.net Authenticator

The Battle.net Authenticator generates a unique code for use each time you log in to Battle.net, providing an extra layer of security. Authenticators come in multiple flavors:

• Physical Battle.net Authenticator: a small device that you can carry on a keychain
• Battle.net Mobile Authenticator: a free mobile app available for a variety of smartphones

If your Battle.net Balance reaches a certain limit, you’ll be required to attach one of the authenticators listed above before you can add to your Battle.net Balance or post Battle.net Balance-related auctions. See the auction house FAQ for more details.

Battle.net SMS Protect

The Battle.net SMS Protect service will occasionally send a text message to your mobile phone containing a code you’ll need to enter to verify your identity. You will be required to sign up for Battle.net SMS Protect in order to use PayPal to buy or sell items in Diablo III’s real-money auction house.

Account Compromise

Should you experience a security issue with your account, follow the steps found in the Diablo III Account Compromise article. After your account has been secured, Customer Support will be ready to review any rollback requests to get your account returned to a previous state.

• All character equipment including weapons and armor restored via the Diablo III rollback service will become bound to the restored account.
• Hardcore heroes cannot be rolled back.

Payment Methods

A variety of methods are available to buy and sell items in the real-money auction house.

Battle.net Balance: Your Battle.net Balance is a value stored in your Battle.net account. In addition to bidding on Diablo III auctions, your balance can be used to buy select Blizzard Entertainment digital products directly through Battle.net. See the Battle.net Balance FAQ for more information.

Battle.net Balance is available to buy and sell items in the following real-money auction houses:

• The Americas: USD, MXN, AUD, BRL, CLP, ARS
• Europe: EUR, GBP, RUB

PayPal: In certain regions, you can link your Battle.net account to a PayPal account and use it to buy items and receive proceeds from auctions (a 15% transfer fee applies to the latter).

PayPal is available as a method to buy and sell items only in the following real-money auction houses:

• The Americas: USD, MXN, AUD
• Europe: EUR, GBP

Credit Cards (purchases only): You can also use a variety of major credit cards you’ve entered as payment methods in Battle.net Account Management to make auction house purchases.

For more information on accepted payment methods in your region, see the FAQ.