ONLINE AUCTIONS

When people hear "online auction" they immediately think of eBay. With good reason; this enormously widespread auction site boasts millions of users across several countries and sells thousands of items every day.

Howeve, there are alternatives to eBay. As it has grown in size, so too have a variety of complaints. From rising fees charged to their sellers, to prices that are driven up by large numbers of buyers, other onine auction sites have started nipping at the heels of eBay.

When looking at online auctions, there are a number of factors you'll want to consider. Some of these include:

•  Ease of Use.  If the website is too confusing or difficult, you won't want to use it. Stick with one that feels right to you.

•  Selection.  You want to be able to find the items you're looking for. If you can't you're going to try antoher site. Choose one or two online auctions that consistently give you the results you want.

•  Dependability.  With online auctions, you need to trust the person that your dealing with. The best sites give you some feedback about your potential seller or buyer, so you know whether you want to do business with them.

TopConsumerReviews.com has reviewed and ranked the best online auctions available today. We hope you find these reviews helpful in saving, or making money, online!

 

Number of Registered Users:	150 million
Cost to Join:   Free

 

eBay.com is the standard-bearer of online auction sites. By far the largest and most widely used auction site, it is generally a wonderful place to buy and sell new and used items. It has a solid reputation as a safe and secure environment.

eBay has over 32 main categories to choose from. They sell anything and everything. Books, toys, home/garden supplies, cars, and yes, even homes are sold on this site!

eBay's web site is very friendly to new users. There is a site map that will answer any question a customer or seller could possibly have. There is also a transaction problem link and an emergency contact  link, for those rare occasions if a problem does arise.

Tohelp you avoid problems, eBay makes extensive use of a feedback forum and rating scale. For each buyer and seller, you can easily view comments posted by users from past sales - both positive and negative. This is a great way to weed out any unsavory sellers or buyers.

With over millions of items and literally hundreds of thousands of sellers, your savings on an individual item could run from a lot to very little. It all depends on the number of buyers that are interested in the item you're pursuing. As for payment, most sellers take paypal, direct payments, checks, or cashiers checks. Setting up a paypal account is very easy. A person just needs a credit card or bank account number. Paypal is a very secure site and has become very widely used, even outside of eBay.

Many people earn a full-time income just through buying and selling on eBay. There is great work-from-home potential here. The nice thing is, as new products are introduced into the marketplace, the opportunities for making money with eBay continue to expand. This is definitely worth looking into if you're comfortable with online buying & selling, or are interested in a new sideline career where you can be your own boss.

EBay is a world-class online auction site. If you have never visited eBay, or have browsed it but never purchased anything with it, you are missing out on a great buying experience. Take the plunge; you'll be glad you did!

 

Number of Registered Users:	5 million
Cost to Join:   Free

 

Founded in 1997, uBid.com currently has over 5 million registered users. This auction site features brand name merchandise that is discounted anywhere from 20 to 80% off regular retail price. Ubid features new, overstocked, and refurbished merchandise. On any given day there are approximately 200,000 items for sale. Only established businesses are allowed to sell on this auction site, thereby reducing any problems of fraud or selling counterfeit items. uBid.com has a 100% guarantee no-fraud promise. There are no listing fees, which is a nice plus.

uBid.com is easy to navigate, with very clear categories and a helpful question and answer section. Finding items is a breeze and the search facility works like a charm. uBid also supplies one-click actions to such helpful features as Auctions Closing This Hour and Items That Include Free Shipping.

In addition to the traditional auction, uBid has two interesting auction formats - Mega Auctions and Express Auctions. Mega Auctions are used to sell quantities of items - such as 20 watches or 100 suitcases. This is a convenient format for power sellers and buyers. Express Auctions are used for quick sales - they only last 20 minutes! Every 20 minutes, from 9am to 3pm, items are put up to bid and sold within that 20 minute timeframe. So if you don't have the time or inclination to monitor an auction stretching over days, you can pop in to check out the items in the Express Auction.

The fact that uBid has 5 million registered users compared to eBay's 150 million carries with it both positive and negative aspects. First, the negative - the amount of merchandise being sold is far less than eBay. Try running a search for designer clothing, or a hard-to-find item, and chances are you're likely to come up empty. On eBay you can find anything and everything; the uBid universe is much smaller. On the other hand, because uBid has far fewer registered users, you have far less competition when bidding on items. This means you can usually buy items for less than you can on eBay. The trick, of course, is finding those items in the first place. For example, while uBid may not have a limited first-run edition of a 1955 bestseller, they do have an ample supply of new electronics including computers, cameras, games, and bluetooth devices.

uBid is perfect for customers wanting steep discounts on general merchandise. You will not be able to find a first edition book or rare antique on this site, but you will definitely find solid deals on popular merchandise like electronics. If you have not registered with uBid yet, you are certainly missing out on some very good deals.

 

 

Number of Registered Users:	1.5 million
Cost to Join:   Free

 

The Overstock company has two storefronts - an online retail store, and an Overstock Auction store. Overstock Auctions is an easy to use, attractive auction site. Recently, the Overstock company was rated #4 in customer satisfaction.

Overstock Auctions is a lot like eBay. A new buyer can get information on the feedback of all sellers, how many items the seller has sold and general information on the product. We found the website to be a little more "busy" and less user-friendly than the other auctions in our review. Like most of the other auction sites, a buyer can use paypal, check, credit card or money order. This auction site also has a very nice message board, where a new user can get any possible question answered.

Overstock is trying to become a larger player in the online auctions arena. The problem is, they have far fewer users (and therefore inventory) than either eBay or uBid. In contrast with uBid, where you can usually find a variety of popular items and brands up for bid, Overstock has a smaller range of items. You won't find the same quantity or quality of items that you can on the top 2 sites. For example, on a recent search we found 587 items in girl's clothing on Overstock Auctions, while eBay produced over 100,000 results.

Overstock Auctions is a reliable storefront that offers features similar to eBay. Besides some minor user interface issues, its main problem is simply lack of volume compared with our top 2 auction sites. Worth a look if you're interested, but in reality you'll probably be doing most of your trading on eBay and uBid.

 

 

Number of Registered Users:	100,000
Cost to Join:   Free

 

EBid is the second-largest online auction site in England. Started in 2000, they have since expanded into the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Ireland markets.

eBid.net is a visually very busy site. It is easy to become overwhelmed and confused when trying to find your way around the interface. In some ways it reminds us of a Vegas billboard gone amuck. There always seems to be an advertisement that is either flashing or moving on the screen at any given second.

Many sellers seem to have never sold before, which makes us leery, especially when they are selling Rolex watches. In fact, on eBid.net's main page most of the FEATURED sellers have never sold. The most any of the featured sellers had sold was only 17 items. Also, because of its origins, a great many of the sellers are located outside of the US. In addition to the high number of "new" sellers, this raises our concerns for the chance of fraud and counterfeit issues.

eBid.net encourages buyers to sign up for PPPay.com for payment options. This is obviously a holdover from their European roots, as PPPay.com works only with accounts in Euros or British Pounds. Why does eBid encourage PPPay.com? What you may not know is that eBay, a direct competitor to eBid, owns Paypal. So by using Paypal, you are helping to fund eBid's main competitor. In reality, while PPPay.com is a reliable payment service, it doesn't fully support the U.S. buyer. American users will need to use Paypal or another form of payment.

eBid.net has 60 minute auctions, happy hour auctions, front page auctions, free auctions, standard auctions.... the list goes on and on. In this case we believe that more is not always better. The variety of auction types can be confusing if you're just interested in trying the auction site. Also, the volume of items being sold seems to be on par with Overstock Auctions, so buyers may not be able to locate hard to find or very popular items.

While eBid.net may have a better reputation in England, its transition to the U.S. is confusing and somewhat lacking. If you do take a look, be prepared to take an aspirin afterwards for your headache.