The official release of our unstoppable auction contract, available for immediate use by any creator — and on any platform — is here today!

This new contract will allow ERC-721 token holders to put their pieces up for auction with a minimum reserve and/or "Buy Now" price in a permission-less manner. Once a minimum reserve has been met, the auction will automatically proceed to countdown until a new high bid comes in or the auction timer reaches the end. Both the NFT and bid funds will be escrowed until the end of the auction.

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This means that when collectors see a piece with a reserve price on Async, they’ll know with certainty that by bidding the reserve price the NFT will be going to a new home once the timer is up, guaranteed. Now whether it goes to the original bidder, that is really up to the collector...

Read more here in this blog post by our CEO and Founder, Conlan Rios on how we’re “Making Unstoppable Auctions a Web3 Public Good.”

The contract is available to all NFT creators. See instructions on how to activate for Async pieces:

1. Click “Sell” 

First, navigate to the main page for the piece you're looking to sell. Make sure you're logged in and you should see a "Sell" button:

2. Permissions

If this is your first time setting an auction, you'll need to give permission to the auction contract to move the art once a bidder has won. This only needs to be done once; you won't need to do it again on any future auctions. Having trouble? More info on this here.

(Plus, learn how auctions work here.)

3. Sell Options

Here you will see your 3 options:

Auction: Triggers an auction timer once “Reserve” price is reached. Optional “Buy Now” price will override the auction if met.

Buy Now: Choose a set price to sell your piece. Anyone can purchase it at any time for this price.

Private Sale: This is the same as setting a “Buy Now,” except only a specific buyer can purchase it. The artist needs to input the ETH address of the buyer, and the Buy Now option will ONLY be available to the buyer when they login to Async with same address.

4. Auction Settings

Set a “Reserve” price as well as the Auction Countdown Timer length. You also have the option to add a “Buy Now” price (must be at least 25% higher than the “Reserve” price.)

As a reminder, these auctions work as follows:

• There's a minimum “Reserve” price a bidder needs to bid in order to trigger the start of an auction. If you’re just starting out, we suggest keeping reserve low to kick start bidding action first!
  
• Once the “Reserve” price has been met, the Auction Countdown Timer will start and that bid is LOCKED. The only way a bid is returned is if they’re outbid by someone else, or someone purchases the piece at the full “Buy Now” price before the auction ends.
  
• If someone else comes in and bids a higher amount before the timer has ended, the timer will reset to the full amount. For instance, if you set the timer for 24 hours, the countdown would reset to an additional 24 hours when the new bid comes in.
• This continues until the timer fully runs out and at that point the highest bidder is the winner and will receive the NFT in escrow once the artist logs in to settle the auction.
• The NFT will transfer to the winner of the auction regardless of who settles the auction. It can only go to their address now.
  
  

5. Review Auction Settings

After you click “Review,” you'll see a summary page with all your details. Once you've reviewed, click "Confirm.” This will require a gas fee to the Ethereum network to set up the auction.

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6. Settle the Auction 

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After the auction is over, the final step is to "Settle the Auction" — this will transfer the NFT from the auction contract to the auction winner's wallet. Either the seller or the buyer can pay to settle the auction. 

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‍Need some help? Contact us on Discord or email us at support@async.art if you run into any issues in setting up your auction. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for more from Async!

Featured header image: "Birth of the Monolith" by sooxy_art.