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Beginning April 1, 2016, there will be a 47% auction tax on all won and completed creature auctions. This tax has been enacted due to the high volume of creature transactions on Egg Cave and its negative impact on our database servers.
Here is a summary of the auction tax:
We have created a useful auction tax calculator to quickly know the actual amount of Egg Coins you'll be paying if you win a completed auction.
Why the auction tax rate? Egg Cave processes a very high volume of transactions related to creature ownership on a daily basis. This bogs down our database servers, so we need to have some controls in place.
What is the effective auction tax rate? The effective auction tax rate is 47% on the winner of a completed creature auction.
When is the auction tax active? All creature auctions processed after 1 April 2016, 12:00 AM ECT are subject to the 47% auction tax.
How are auction taxes paid? Auction taxes are automatically deducted from your on-hand EC, even if you do not have the amount of Egg Coins on hand to pay for it.
Does that mean I can carry a negative EC balance? What happens with a negative EC balance? Yes. This means you can carry a negative EC balance. If you have a negative EC balance, you will essentially not be able to participate in any site activities (like visiting the Cave) until your balance reaches 0 EC again.
I wish that the system wouldn't let me bid on a creature if I cannot cover the taxes. We have left the flexibility for negative EC balances in place as a kind of safeguard. Think of it as a "loan" that you have to pay back to us!
I think that the auction tax is a little high. This makes the service unusable! That's ok! You'll just have to save up a little bit more. That's the fun of the game!
Is the auction tax subject to change? Yes. The auction tax may change at any time, although we only see it increasing (and not decreasing) to ensure that we can enforce appropriate server loads and activity.