Concerning Reverse Auctions

Recently, there’s been considerable discussion about the origins of the Reverse Auctions platform, particularly with one seed bank asserting exclusive ownership and suggesting that others cannot utilize it. However, it’s important to clarify that the Reverse Auction integration isn’t a bespoke platform developed for or by a specific seed bank. Rather, it’s a freely accessible, open-source code that’s available to all. We aim to demonstrate the simplicity with which a Reverse Auction website can be established. Additionally, we’ll discuss the legality of any claims by a single seed bank to exclusive rights over this code, highlighting that such claims are not legally tenable.

We’ve received a few questions about our Reverse Auctions, so we’d like to explain exactly how the system works.

The Reverse Auction plugin used on Seedlys is a third-party plugin. We did not develop it, nor did we design how the checkout process works. The plugin functions the same way on every website that uses it.

One important thing to understand is that the price is not locked in when you add an item to your cart. The final price is determined when you complete checkout. If the auction price changes before your payment is completed, the checkout price will update accordingly.

This behavior is built into the plugin and is not something we can change. There is currently no option for the checkout page to display the remaining countdown time or automatically refresh the auction price while you’re checking out.

Because of this, the product page is always the authoritative source for the current auction price and the remaining time before the next price drop. If you’re waiting for a lower price, we recommend keeping an eye on the product page until you’re ready to check out.

About the Countdown Timer

Occasionally, customers tell us that the timer showed several minutes remaining but the price still changed during checkout.

The countdown timer is synchronized with the official NIST Internet Time Servers, which are used worldwide for highly accurate time synchronization. The timer is continuously updated and does not run independently in your browser. Because of this, it cannot randomly display an incorrect amount of time remaining.

If you’ve worked with Linux servers or systems that synchronize using NTP (Network Time Protocol), you’ll already be familiar with how this works. The timer is based on synchronized network time—not a local browser clock that can drift.

In nearly every case, what appears to be a discrepancy is usually caused by page timing, checkout timing, or the auction advancing between the moment the product page was viewed and the moment the order was finalized.

Our Recommendation

If you’re trying to purchase at a specific auction price:

• Always check the timer on the product page immediately before checking out.
• Complete checkout as quickly as possible once you’ve decided to purchase.
• Remember that adding an item to your cart does not reserve the current auction price.

We appreciate everyone’s understanding. Our goal is to make the Reverse Auction system fair and transparent for everyone, and these behaviors are part of how the plugin was designed to operate across all websites that use it.