Okay maybe not blow your mind...

But remember the AH in FF3/6...when items are present for live bidding. Why don't we have a live bidding house?

I mean live bidding not the mere act of putting it up on a list and post hours for it to be up for sale.

So it should go like this:

All items should be given a rating and the public auction houses broken up by the rating so peeps know which live house to enter and bid.

If you want to put an item up for auction you go to the auction line and wait your turn to approach the NPC and present an item in the auction house. You can see the number of people in the house by the seats filled. (Or make it Special NPC items only)

When a buyer enters the auction house they sit down in a seat. At any time during an auction of an item if they emote raise hand they have made a bid for said item. NPCs may also end up buying and bidding on items. Items may also have a reserve which especially for rare items means the sale will not happen so easily. This could also be a way to introduce rare items into the world that can't be obtained normally by any other means.