How to activate/use auctioneer?

[Sully]

I am in game and have hired the auctioneer, I cannot seem to find out how to start an auction. I open up opposing cities and click the $ icon but there is no popup relating to starting an auction. Are there certain criteria that need to be met? I am in the campaign if that makes a difference.

[The_10th_Man]

The auctioneer's purpose is to allow you to start a bidding war for an AI competitor's business. Just like bandits, reporters, and saboteurs, if you have no active AI competitors to use them against, there's no benefit in hiring them.

When you have no competitors, all the AI non-competitor businesses will just be for sale if you'd like to buy them. So when you go to buy a business, it will ask if you'd like to pay the amount that the non-competitor owner is asking, because you have no AI competitors to bid against you. Then you either pay the asking price (which is usually top dollar for a city business), or you don't.

However, if your character has an inherent auction penalty or bonus, the final cost will be adjusted accordingly. Even though you didn't get to participate in a bidding war, you still initiated an auction, albeit without the use of an auctioneer. It's only when the owners (or the city mayor) approach you to ask you to buy the business without going to auction that these adjustments will be disregarded. The dialogue box always explains this when it happens.

When you do have one or more active AI competitors in the scenario and you would like to buy a business owned a competitor, the auctioneer will be automatically utilised to initiate the auction and then they will disappear from your available personnel list when the auction is over.

Without first hiring an auctioneer, you simply cannot buy an AI competitor's business. You would instead have to take over their company and then their businesses will become yours - all at once.

[Thineboot]

@chaney: you should ask The_10th_Man golden for permission to add this to your https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1293183195

[chaney]

Nice write up!

I avoid buying industries so forgot or never knew ... do you use the Auctioneer to buy factories/rural industries not owned by competitors but when competitors are in the game?

[The_10th_Man]

Chaney & Thineboot: I appreciate the positive comments.

Chaney: You don't need an auctioneer to start an auction for a business that is not owned by a competitor. Pretty easy to verify, just start any free mode game with competitors and immediately buy whatever business is nearby.

There is one aspect of my previous advice that doesn't hold true. When there are no competitors in the scenario at generation, you aren't initiating an auction to buy a business. As a result, your character's inherent auction bonuses/penalties are not applied. So if you'd like to use anything from the previous post (permission granted), please just leave that paragraph out.

Sully, apologies for potentially misleading you there.

[chaney]

Thanks for the added info and correction. I'm happy to learn these details even if just forget again ... they're here for everyone now :)

I'm weighing adding the topic to my guide (with credit if so.) It's already a long read, and that is after some effort to keep it a little streamlined and restricted to the basics. Still, these employees probably deserve a little attention. Would adding the above (edited just a little) be too much? It seems if each type got a similar treatment it would be a bit expansive, but leaving out the rest would be odd, too. Hmm. How about a general treatment of temp hires with a fairly stripped down detail on each type? Could use some help honestly - I'm rusty on the details.

[Thineboot]

Since I never buy a business owned by a competitor - I just merge them - I never use the auctioneer. I hardly remember them when it comes to a list of potential freelancers ;)

As for the Guide, just add more index points wherever necessary. Nobody expects one to read everything at once. But knowing where to find answers fast is what makes an excellent guide.

Start with The_10th_Man's last paragraph. When someone needs more explanation they can read the rest.

No competition changes many things and it leaves various freelancers without use.
Your update should be obvious. But especially new players are often not aware of hidden implications. When no auction happens no auction bonus can be granted.
But now I'm getting curious. When you start with competition, merge them all, and than buy a business without auction do your character's inherent auction bonuses/penalties still apply since it would have been an auction if there were still competition?