Deposits
Deposits are collected when you post an auction. They are returned if the auction sells, however, if you cancel an auction or it fails to sell you loose this deposit.
| Auction House | Auction Length | Deposit |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance or Horde AH | 12 hours | 15% of base (vendor) sell price |
| Alliance or Horde AH | 24 hours | 30% of base (vendor) sell price |
| Alliance or Horde AH | 48 hours | 60% of base (vendor) sell price |
| Neutral AH | 12 hours | 75% of base (vendor) sell price |
| Neutral AH | 24 hours | 150% of base (vendor) sell price |
| Neutral AH | 48 hours | 300% of base (vendor) sell price |
Sales Fee
When a sale completes you pay a percentage of the sale price as a sale fee. This sale fee is deducted from the amount you receive in the mail for the sale.
| Auction House | Sale Fee |
|---|---|
| Alliance or Horde AH | 5% of the sell price |
| Neutral AH | 15% of the sell price |
Cancellation Fee
When you cancel an auction, you immediately pay a cancellation fee.
Cancellation Fee = Deposit + Sale Fee for current bid (if any)
Amount Received Formula
Amount Received = Sell Price – Sale Fee + Deposit
Amount Received Example — Netherweave Bag
The Wowhead tooltip tells us the (vendor) sell price is 1g. (Mouse-over the link to display the tooltip.)
To post this bag for 12 hours on the Horde auction house would require a deposit equal to 15% * 1g = 15s.
To post this bag for 24 hours on the Neutral auction house would require a deposit equal to 150% * 1g = 1g 50s.
Suppose you post the bag on the Horde auction house for 12 hours and someone bids 15g. If you cancel the auction, the cancellation fee would be:
Deposit + Sale fee for current bid
15s + (5% * 15g) = 90s Cancellation Fee
(*note that you already paid the 15s when you posted the auction)
Now suppose that bid for 15g wins and you sell the bag. In the mail you will receive:
Sell Price – Sale Fee + Deposit
15g – (5% * 15g) + 15s = 14g 40s Amount received in the mail
Maintenance Window
North American and Oceanic Realms: Approximately 5am to 11am Pacific Time (California), Tuesday mornings. NA realm status forum
European Realms: Approximately 5am to 11am Central European Time (Paris), Wednesday mornings EU realm status forum
- Times are adjusted each week according to maintenance needs, patch requirements, etc. Sometimes only rolling restarts are performed, which effect each realm for only about 15 min. Usually the exact plan is posted ahead of time in the realm status forum.
- Note the time zones and be sure to adjust for your local or server time accordingly.
- Auctions continue to run during the downtime. For example, an auction posted at 9 pm on the day prior to maintenance for 12 hours will have expired when the realms come back up after a downtime from 5 am to 11 am.