On-line Auction Houses

On-line Auction Houses

Real life auctions are scary. You sit with your body rigid, frightened to move in case you accidentally bid for some tat from somebody's attic, while the auctioneer mumbles obscure, cryptic phrases.

Auctions on-line are much easier. You can buy anything, from a domain name to a Monet painting, and the site will take care of the bidding process while you have a cup of tea. There's no danger of spending more than you can afford either - simply tell the site how much you're willing to pay and it will stop bidding when the price gets too high.

No matter what you fancy, you can find it being auctioned on the web. Digibid (http://www.digibid.com/) sells high-ended audio and video gear, and you can get exclusive celebrity items from Beverly Hills Charity Auctions at http://www.bhauction.com/.

Auction Universe (http://www.auctionuniverse.co.uk/) offers everything from £25.00 CD players to £8,000 hot air balloons, while discerning drinkers can bid for vintage wines at Winebid (http://www.winebid.com/). We found a JVC camcorder worth £1,000 with a starting price of £1 at http://www.aucland.co.uk/, a copy of Office 97 for £20 at Ebid (http://www.ebid.co.uk/), and flights to France for £90 at LastMinute.com (http://www.lastminute.com/). You can even bid for fine art on prestigious auctioneers Bonham's website (http://www.bonhams.com/).

Sign up, Sign up

The best-known auction site is Ebay, which has opened a new site for UK visitors at http://www.ebay.co.uk/. From here, you can access items for sale on Ebay sites in America, Europe and Canada. The range of products is staggering, with everything from Harley-Davidson motorcycles ($10,000) to Disney collectibles (yours for a mere $150,000) and the usual computer hardware, music players and bric-a-brac. You can bid for cars or clothes, PC equipment or jewellery, and the site does all the hard work on your behalf.

You can browse auction sites like Ebay to your heart's content but, if you want to buy anything, most sites will ask you to register. Ebay's registration process is free, and asks for basic details such as your address and telephone number. There are plenty of nosey questions about your household income too, but you can skip them if you'd rather not provide that kind of information,

Once you've registered, you'll receive a user name and password, and you'll need this information if you want to place a bid.

Bidding for an item is easy - each item for sale comes with details of the minimum bid and the bidding 'increments'. This means how much the bids will go up by - if someone bids £100 and the increment is £50, your next bid needs to be £150. If the other bidder wants to beat you, they'll have to bid £200, and so on.

Ebay provides a great deal of information about each item on sale, and usually includes a photo and description. The most important part of the descriptions are the Payment and Shipping sections, because these detail what you'll need to do if your bid is successful and, by bidding, you're accepting these terms. Look for things like 'buyer pays shipping charges' - if you're buying a motorbike, the charges could be terrifying.

If you decide to bid for an item, you'll be asked for three pieces of information. You'll have to provide your user ID, your password and your maximum bid - this last figure tells Ebay when to stop bidding for the item. When you've provided this information, you will taken to the 'bidding confirmation' screen, which lets you double-check the information you have provided.

Playing fair

The site will also recommend that you view comments about the seller, and this is one of Ebay's biggest strengths. When you buy from somebody, you can post a public message to say that everything went smoothly or whether the seller was a rip-off merchant, and anybody who wants to buy from that person in future can see your comments. If comments are favourable, then you'll feel much more comfortable buying from that person.

Be warned though, sellers can also post messages about you so, if you start making successful bids and then changing your mind, you'll soon find that people are reluctant to deal with you.

Once you've placed your bid, the auction will continue until the closing date set by the seller. The site will automatically increase your bids until it reaches the maximum bid you set earlier and, if bidding continues, it will stop taking part in the auction for you. If your bid is the highest at the end of the auction, you'll receive an e-mail from the seller to arrange the actual purchase.

Success in auctions depends largely on luck. While most sites crow about expensive TV and computer equipment selling for £1, bids push up the price dramatically and it's not unknown for goods to sell for higher prices than they'd cost in the shop.

Read the item descriptions carefully, too - many items of electronic equipment are refurbished, second-hand or obsolete stock, and you may be able to pick them up more cheaply from the classified adverts in your local paper.

Auction sites try their best to make sure everything advertised on their site is genuine and legal, but some things slip through the net. Novell (http://www.novell.com/) successfully prosecuted one advertiser who was auctioning illegal software, and Ebay has been hit with a number of hoaxes where people offered to sell kidneys and even babies. Although the sales were closed down, the advert for a kidney attracted bids of up to $5.7 million, and the FBI was called in to investigate.

Not all the weird things are hoaxes, though - American police are currently investigating how a convicted serial killer managed to offer his paintings for sale over the Internet from his prison cell, while Ebay recently removed an advert inviting bids for half a ton of marijuana. Even the British Royal Family has been offered for auction on the site, although most people believe this sale was a hoax...

Ready to roll

Despite the silliness, on-line auctions are a great place to find bargains - think of them as January sales that run for an entire year. Cheap computer equipment can be found at Morgan Auctions (http://www.morgan-auctions.co.uk/), cheap CDs at QXL (http://www.qxl.com/), cheap flights at LastMinute.com (http://www.lastminute.com/) and cheap software at Ebid (http://www.ebid.co.uk/). In each case, the winning bid was much less than you would pay in the high-street.

If you'd like to try an on-line auction, decide what you want to buy and do some research. Find out what an item is likely to cost you in the shops, and whether you'll need to pay a lot of tax or huge shipping charges. Then set your maximum bid and wait for the bargains to roll-in!

Notes on sensible shopping

When you see an on-line auction site, it pays to read the small print. Many items are sold on the basis that you will pay for delivery, and as the majority of on-line sales are American, shipping charges can soon add up. It's a good idea to get an idea of shipping charges before you make a bid - that hi-fi system might not be such a good deal if it will cost a hundred quid to ship it to the UK.

You need to be aware of tax - especially if you're buying larger items. You'll have to pay VAT at 17.5% on any item worth more than £18 (before postage charges) and, if you're ordering items like alcohol or cigarettes, you'll have to pay excise duty as well. For information about buying from abroad, check out the Customs and Excise site at http://www.hmce.gov.uk/.

Pay special attention to who the seller is too. Sites like QXL have 'partners' and, if anything goes wrong, you can get a refund from the site. If you buy from a private seller, you're on your own - especially if you pay by cheque or money order. Purchasing by credit card is a good idea if items are over £50 because, if you get ripped off, the credit card is liable for the debt.

The most important thing about on-line shopping is to trust your instincts - read the comments about the sellers, find out as much as you can about them and, if you're still not happy, walk away. With so many on-line auctions and sellers, you're bound to find another seller that you feel you can trust.

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