The first time you visit Jidoor in Final Fantasy VI you'll probably wander into the Auction House, on the east side of town. Home to the rich, powerful, and probably bored, the Auction House starts out closed, only opening up just before you deal with the Floating Continent. You can pick up some valuable items in the Auction House - if you have the money to spare, that is.
The Auction House is essentially a regular store with extra steps. The process is easy enough:
- Speak to the man by the door to start the auction
- Watch the auction play out until you see the item up for bid
- If you want to buy the item, bid on it twice
And that's all. The second price is the final price, every time. There's no real bargaining in the Auction House, and you can get the same item for the same price during each visit. Note that there are a few items that you can never buy, resulting in a comedic - but ultimately pointless - scene.
The items you can purchase at the Auction House vary between the World of Balance and the World of Ruin. There are items that you can purchase in unlimited amounts, as well as items that you can only buy once. They're listed as such below. If you lose an auction you'll get another chance to buy the item, even if it's only available once under normal circumstances.
World of Balance - Auction Items
- Angel Wings (common, repeatable) - 10,000 gil
- Angel Ring (rare / uncommon, repeatable) - 20,000 gil
- Golem Magicite (rare, only one) - 20,000 gil
- Zona Seeker Magicite (rare, only one) - 10,000 gil
- Talking Chocobo (uncommon) - Can't buy
World of Ruin - Auction Items
- Hero's Ring (common, only one) - 50,000 gil
- Zephyr Cloak (rare, repeatable until you buy the Magicite) - 10,000 gil
- Angel Ring (rare / uncommon, repeatable once you buy the Magicite) - 20,000 gil
- Excalipoor (common, only one - GBA / iOS versions only) - 500,000 gil
- Golem Magicite (rare, only one) - 20,000 gil
- Zona Seeker Magicite (rare, only one) - 10,000 gil
- 1/1200 Scale Airship (uncommon / common) - Can't buy
- Robotic Imp (rare / uncommon) - Can't buy
Auction Manipulation
Normally the items up for bid at the Auction House are chosen at random. This means that you may be visiting and revisiting the Auction House over and over to get specific items, and those specific items will probably be the two pieces of Magicite, Golem and Zona Seeker. Fortunately, there's a way around this problem.
If you leave the Auction House you'll see a female NPC wandering a little ways to the west. Odd as it sounds, her movements predict which item goes up on auction next. Follow what she's doing for four movements, then run back inside and speak to the man to get the item you want. You'll either need to equip Sprint Shoes or use the dash function to get this to work.
The patterns you want to see are as follows:
- Golem: Right, down, down, right (World of Balance) / Down, down, right, up (World of Ruin)
- Zona Seeker: Up, up, right, left (World of Balance) / Down, down, right, up (World of Ruin, after acquiring Golem)
You specifically want to see the first movement, then immediately run back inside the Auction House. If you didn't see the movement you wanted then head back outside and try again. This thread provides some more information on manipulating the Auction House. (As far as I know, this still works on the Pixel Remaster version.)