You can sell an item at many auction sites, but remember that there's about a 30% chance that the item won't sell, and the buyer might try to cheat you
Bargain Basement Prices!
Auction Sites
Auction sites are web sites that let you bid on thousands of items, mostly used or refurbished. The most popular items are computers, followed by collectibles and antiques. You can often get a very good bargain at one of these sites; prices are comparable to what you woudl find in classified advertisements.
You start by browsing the site for a consumer item you like. That item will have a minimum price listed with it. Then you "bid" for the item by naming the maximum price you'll pay, and log off. If your maximum price is the only bid, then you get the item for the minimum price. If someone else puts in a bid, and your bid is higher, then you'll get the item for a few dollars above the other bidder's maximum price. If you get the item, you'll usually get it for less than your maximum bid. You can always increase your bid if you want, but you can never withdraw your bid.
The whole process takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 7 days. If your bid wins, your next step is to contact the seller and clarify terms of payment and shipping.
There are a few drawbacks to auction sites that you should be aware of:
| Most online auction sites take no responsibility for the delivery of merchandise, and there is no guarantee of satisfactory product quality. Web-auction fraud was the most common consumer complaint in 1998. You need to make up for this lack of any guarantee by taking steps to make sure you get what you're paying for. Some sites (such as First Auction) are basically liquidators of overstocks, and they do take some responsibility for satisfactory quality and delivery. |
| You can sell an item at many auction sites, but remember that there's about a 30% chance that the item won't sell, and the buyer might try to cheat you |
To protect yourself against fraud, you can take these steps:
| Know who you're buying from. Try to buy from reputable sellers of surplus or refurbished merchandise, and find out if they have a return policy. |
| When you contact the seller, ask for the addresses and phone numbers of both their home and their workplace. Confirm this with directory assistance (1 + area-code + 555-1212). |
| Pay with "cash on delivery", a service offered by the post office. Pay with a check made out to the seller, so you can issue a "stop payment" if necessary. |
| If you pay using a credit card, you can challenge charges with the card issuer. But do make sure you're giveing your credit card number to a reputable company, not some fly-by-night outfit. |
| Use an "online escrow financier", which will take the money you paid for the item, then relay the payment to the seller if you're satisfied with the product's quality. You'll also have the option of returning your product and getting your money back. Some escrow agencies are usually listed at the auction site. |
Try these auction sites (you can find dozens more by searching for
"auction" in a directory such as Yahoo! )
| uBid.com focuses on refubrished computers and peripherals. It sells mostly its own inventory, making it a more reliable auction site than most. It also offers a toll-free customer service line, extended warranties, and a return policy. |
| eBay.com is the largest auction site, with over 500,000 items in 800+ categories. Products sold include collectibles, memorabilia and high-tech equipment. According to the 100Hot Shopping list, it's the most popular shopping destination online (as of October 1998.) |
| Onsale Inc auctions computers, cameras, office furniture, sports equipment and many other items. |
| Surplus Auction focuses on computer products. It's owned by Egghead Software. |
| NetMarket takes a "shopping club" approach. You do need to pay for a membership, but they sometimes offer a low-cost "trial period". NetMarket has both auctions and discounts on retail items. |
| WebAuction is another computer and electronics auction site. |
| First Auction is a liquidator of computer and electronics goods. |
| Visit The Internet Auction List for links to a many more auction sites on the Web. |
Classified ads can be found in interstate sites like America Online. These sites are a little less reliable than auction sites, because they are almost always placed by individual owners, rather than by companies. Most of the precautions that were mentioned about auction sites should also apply to these classified ads.
Another kind of classified ad is the kind you see in your
local newspaper. Almost certainly, your newspaper also puts those ads online at
their web site. Local ads have the advantage that you can drive over to the owner's
place, examine the item, perhaps haggle over the price and then drive home with it right
away. To find your local newspaper's classifieds site, you could look in paper.
But it might be quicker to just go to your favorite search engine or directory, and
type in the name of the newspaper followed by "classified ad" (for example,
"New York Times classified ad".) Most classifieds sites will be organized
by type (sports cars, bikes, TVs, etc.) and some will let you search for any keyword you
care to type.
Shopping Agents are web sites that can help you find the lowest prices offered by online retailers. There are a few disadvantages that you should be aware of:
| They usually don't cover the classifieds or the auction sites, which often have the lowest prices. |
| Some of them don't include shipping charges, which can vary widely (for example, Egghead Software charges $8.00 per shipment as of August 1998, while some others charge $2.95 + $0.75 per item.) |
| If you go for the low price all the time, you'll have to learn how to shop at several different stores. Sometimes you'll be disappointed with the reliability of some sites that claim to offer really cheap merchandise. |
| They sometimes "compare apples to oranges": some products are different, but have the same name. The shopping agent thinks they are identical, and gives you misleading information. |
| They are just robots. A real online store has human beings to answer your questions by e-mail or phone. |
| The overall shopping experience is poorer: shopping agents take more time and usually
provide less information about products. |
That being said, you might save some money if you use one of the following agents and product guides:
| CompareNet is a Buyer's Guide that gives you side-by-side comparisons of many consumer products, so you can look at both features and prices. |
| Lycos Decision Guides is very good at helping you decide what products will fit your lifestyle. Guides include bikes, camcorders, cities, colleges, cruises, dogs and new cars. It doesn't find the lowest price, however. |
| Webmarket can look for the best prices for toys, sporting goods, videos and CDs. This agent does factor in shipping prices. |
| Bottom Dollar looks for toys, sporting goods, movies and much more. Results are given in an easy-to-read listing. |
| Bookblvd.com is an easy-to-use shopping agent that lets you search for books of any kind (by author, title, ISBN or keyword.) It ranks the results by total price, including shipping charges. |
| Pricescan helps you search for computer software. Listings are updated daily by checking ads, catalogs and web sites. |
| MySimon is a new, comprehensive shopping agent with many product categories to choose from. |
| Jango is a shopping agent offered by the Excite portal site, and Yahoo! has created an agent named Shopfind. However, some people have voiced suspicions that the portal companies are more interested in directing your attention to their commercial business partners than to the lowest prices. |
| KillerApp searches for good deals on computer hardware. Listings are updated daily by checking ads, catalogs and web sites. |
On our Consumer Kung-Fu page, you'll
find some good "Buyer's Guides" that may not search for the best online deals,
but they are very strong at comparing prodcut features.
Want free stuff? Try The Free Site, which Yahoo Internet Life magazine called "The Mother of all free sites." Our own RadioPal product is listed there, "The Internet's Alarm Clock Radio/TV".
If you're interested in finding all kinds of ways to save time and money, try the Dollar Stretcher. This web site has over 500 thrifty online articles, and a free weekly newsletter that emphasizes frugality and "simple living."