How to Compare Online Auction Sites
If you're not afraid of a bidding war and long to find a bargain on line, Internet auctions can offer you entertainment and some good deals. With a growing number of Web-based auctions to choose from, how do you know where to start? Check these components of the sites to narrow down the field.
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Compare fees for bidders. Many online auction sites allow you to place bids without any fees. But some sites, like Bidcactus and Bidzilla, work differently. They require you to purchase bids for up to 75 cents each. The bids you use when you to win an item are not returned to your account, even if you lose the auction.
Another fee to note is the "buyer's premium" charged by PropertyRoom.com for especially expensive items like cars and boats. This fee is a percentage of the winning bid. If a buyer's premium applies to an item on PropertyRoom.com, you'll see a notation on its listing.
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Investigate fees for sellers. If you're looking for a place where you can sell items, compare the fees charged by various auction sites. On Ebay and Overstock.Com Auctions, sellers pay a fee to list the item, whether it sells or not. If they do find a buyer, sellers also pay a percentage of the final selling price to the auction site.
Some online auctions do not allow outside sellers to list items on their sites.
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Assess the site's reputation. Go to the Better Business Bureau Website (www.bbb.org/us) and click on "Check out a business or charity." Then, use the "Phone, URL, Email" tab to enter the Web site's address and click on "Search." Click on the "View report" link to see the business' overall rating and its history of complaints. You can also see whether the business is a member of the Better Business Bureau. Some auction sites may not appear in the BBB listings.
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Decide whether you need new or used merchandise. If you hope to find a bargain on used merchandise, not all Internet auctions are for you. Sites like Bidzilla and Bidcactus only offer new items for sale. Used items can be found on sites including Ebay, Overstock.com Auctions, PropertyRoom.com and Shop Goodwill.
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Evaluate research features. Want to know what an item might be worth before you start bidding or before you list it for sale? Some sites allow you to search their closed auction listings to see the final sales price of items and items that did not sell.
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Learn about rewards. Some sites reward you for purchasing or even just bidding on their listings. The Ebay Bucks program gives buyers a percentage of their purchases back in the form of an Ebay Bucks certificate that can be used on future purchases. Some restrictions apply to the program.
On Bidzilla, you can get rewards just for trying to win items. You collect store credits for each bid you place; customers can use the credits to get items from the site's "rewards store."
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References
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