After log-in errors, across-nation disputes and stolen accounts, Blizzard has managed to release its real money auction house for Diablo 3. The service is currently U.S.-only.

America Exclusive, For Now

On the Battle.net blog, Blizzard revealed June 12 the service supports the U.S dollar along wth the Australian dollar and Mexican peso. On Europe and other American regions, such as Brazil, Blizzard said support would arrive in the "near future." Blizzard is releasing the auction house separately to ensure the "smoothest possible experience," possibly learning from the aforementioned launch hiccups. More information on the European and remaining American regions is coming soon.

The auction house can be accessed by clicking "Auction House" on the left-hand side of the campaign screen, and then on the right-hand side the button showing the region's currency. The latter button switches between real money and gold.

Tied to Home Region

The real-money auction house can only be accessed when users are in the home region, for Americas and Europe, with those outside not able to use the auction house. The home region is tied to the country used when signing up to Battle.net.

Security Requirements

Security measures are needed to use the auction house. Players who want to use Battle.net Balance in the auction house need to have service's Authenticator or Mobile Authenticator, which asks for a code when logging in along with the e-mail address and password. Those who want to use PayPal to buy items or receive money from sold items need to sign up for the Battle.net SMS Protect service. Text messages are occasionally sent when using PayPal, which has to be entered in-game to continue.

Blizzard has already been encouraging users to enable the Authenticator, as stolen accounts have only been gained through log-in credentials, according to the company.

Post-Launch

Some features aren't ready, including Commodities - trading items outside of equipment - to ensure the experience is "quick, stable and reliable" while some items will occasionally be delayed as Blizzard reviews the transaction. However, most transactions will be immediate. Successful transactions will show under the "Completed" tab, and held items will show as "Processing."