The Real Money Auction House (RMAH) was introduced into the beta during beta patch 7, it allows people to sell and buy items in Diablo3 for real money.

In order to buy items on the RMAH, real currency will be turned into Blizzard e-balance and for beta testing purposes, everyone in the beta was given 50 free beta bucks, a currency that is only being used to test the system. Players are currently able to both sell and buy items from each other with these beta bucks, player can also sell gold that other players can buy with beta bucks.

Players are able to buy and sell items through both bidding and buyout options, once an item is purchased, the money will automatically added to your beta bucks/cash balance of your account.

The Real Money Auction House just took a turn for the worst in Beta Patch 7, or did it? Will the Auction House Fees Break Dreams?

Here’s what all the fuss is about (quote from blizzard):

“During the Diablo III closed beta test, the Seller will incur a 0.15 Beta Buck listing fee and a 0.65 Beta Buck fee per successful transaction in the currency-based auction house. These numbers are not final and are for testing purposes only; they’re subject to change.”

Those Beta Bucks are fake dollars allotted to all Beta participants so that they can play the RMAH without spending real money. I know everything is subject to change, but 80 cents per successful auction!? HOLY CRAP! I was expecting 15-30 cents tops, but this is crazy!

For the first time ever, Blizzard did mention that an authenticator should be used, either virtual on your iphone or physical on a keychain. So I’m glad they did that while buzz about the Diablo 3 RMAH is relatively hot. I’m hoping that they actually force players to click “ok” on a reminder form to get an authenticator before using the Diablo 3 (Diablo3 Gold)RMAH.

So why is 80 cents per successful auction and 15 cents per unsuccessful one a big deal? Well, it puts a minimum amount that you must post for in order to avoid losing money. If you put an auction up for 81 cents, you make just a penny for your efforts.

Therefore, if item X is worth 10 cents, you must sell item X in sets of 9 or greater in order to make money.