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Two More Auction Sites Reviewed A couple of week ago I did a column on internet auctions and reviewed eBay (August 11th). Today I want to look at two more auction sites as well as provide advice on using internet auctions. The kind of auctions covered are known as ‘person-to-person’ auctions. Yahoo.com The first one covered this week is different from eBay in many respects. The site is www.yahoo.com. Yahoo has been around for a long time and is one of the leading search engine sites. Over the years they have expanded in several directions. They have their own e-mail site where you can get a free e-mail address. They link to sites to find people, places, and things. Fairly recently they have also added an auction site. This site is totally free to both buyers and sellers. eBay charges several fees to sellers because that is how they make their money. Yahoo makes money from its commercial advertisers. The more people who log onto their site and participate in their links, the more the company can charge advertisers. There are significant similarities in all of these sites. On the Yahoo site, there are a number of rules that you must agree to before you can participate. Items that can not be sold include any item that is illegal to sell, items you don’t have the legal right to sell, any item that infringes or violates anyone’s rights, live animals, food, alcoholic, cigarettes, stolen goods, firearms, or anything else that Yahoo decides is inflammatory or offensive. The agreement stipulates that you consider the purchase a contract and limits participation to persons 18 or over. Like eBay, you have to register, including your real name and address. In addition you have to present a credit card number that the company uses to verify that you are who you say you are. There are measuring guides that allow you to check out the reliability of both buyers and sellers. You can have the items automatically resubmitted if they do not sell. There is a bidding system that automatically places bids on your behalf (up to a maximum that you designate) at the lowest possible increments. Increments are defined on the help pages. The help pages are very complete and easy to use. I found that I could get answers to most questions that came to mind. I e-mailed their help line late on a Saturday night and received an answer to my question Sunday morning. If you are either buying or selling there is a link that will take you right to the appropriate spot to allow you to check on the status. You can ask for instant alerts that will tell you if anyone has bid against you, or when some kind of specific item that you are searching for has been placed in auction. Items are divided into categories that include: Antiques & Collectibles, Arts & Entertainment, Business & Office, Clothing & Accessories, Computers, Electronics & Cameras, Home & Garden, Sports & Recreation,Toys & Games, Trading Cards, Transportation, and Other Goods & Services. Each category, of course, has sub categories. Payment and delivery are strictly between the buyer and seller. While reviewing the site I came across a object that I really wanted. I can’t say I had been looking for it, because I didn’t know it existed. I decided to put in a bid. One interesting thing about this site is that as soon as you sign on to the site you are recognized and acknowledged. When I went to place a bid on the item I wanted the site to automatically put in my name, address, etc. All I had to do was put in the amount of my bid and then confirm that I really did want to place a bid. When I placed my bid I upped the bid by several dollars. The site automatically showed my bid as being $1.00 more than the last bid because that was the appropriate bid increment. At that point I could choose to put in the amount I was willing to go to or decide to watch the site several times a day until the auction closed. Once I successfully entered my bid, I got an instant confirmation. Since the whole thing is free, I decided to list something for sell as well. This was an equally simple process. Again, my personal information was automatically entered and then I described the item, set the starting bid amount, stated the least amount I would accept, and indicated if I wanted it to automatically reenter if it did not sell the first time. If I had had access to a scanner, I could have also included a photo. Almost every item is accompanied by a photo. My overall impression of this auction site is very positive. There has been a great deal of effort put into the design and implementation of the site. About that advice. The following tips are included, along with some others, at AuctionInsider (www.auctioninsider.com). AuctionInsider seems to serve as a gate keeper for auction sites and keeps lists of auctions throughout the internet. They also offer valuable reviews of different sites. Amazon.com Like eBay, Amazon.com operates an auction strictly as a business proposition. The auctions are only one aspect of the many levels operated by Amazon which is far better known for its books and music sales. You register in the same manner as with the others, and like Yahoo, you must provide a credit card number to verify your identity and read and agree to their participation agreement. There is no charge for bidding or buying items. The site provides a search option for those who are only interested in one thing. Bidding operates in the same way as well. You may bid the next bid increment above the current price, or you may enter a maximum amount that you are willing to spend and the system, called Bid-Click, will up your bid as necessary until your maximum amount has been reached. You are notified if you are outbid on an item. There is also an early morning e-mail update on any items you are bidding on so that you can check progress without opening the site. As with the others, the business transaction is strictly between buyer and seller. When selling an item you are asked to provide a title, description, category designation, minimum bid accepted, a reserve price (the amount that you must have to sell the item), duration, shipping terms, accepted payment methods, and a photo if desired. Sellers must pay listing and completion fees as well as any optional promotional features chosen. The listing fee is currently ten cents per listing. This is a special promotional price good through December 31. The amount of closing fee is determined by the price of the item sold and that information is readily available at the site. Amazon.com requires sellers to use a credit card to cover transaction fees. Charges are placed against your card monthly for whatever amount you owe. There is a rating and feedback system for both buyers and sellers that lets you check out reliability before concluding a sale. There is also a fraud investigation team that looks for problems and a guarantee for up to $250 if a seller can prove that fraud has been committed. Prohibited items include pornography, offensive material (hate literature), living creatures, homemade alcoholic beverages, items whose sale is prohibited by law, firearms and ammunition, and stolen goods. For the seller there is a tutorial that helps you list your items as well as add photos. There is also an option for authentication and grading of products by a third-party grading service. This would be a useful tool if your are bidding on expensive or rare objects. The auction types include the standard type that most of us would be interested in, Dutch auctions (auctioning multiple, identical items in which all sell for the same price), and private auctions. Private auctions are the least common type. Bidders are not identified during the auction process and only the seller and high bidder are notified of the results. I hope that with this information you will be comfortable checking out the auctions. If you have any tips, suggestions, or other comments about this, or any other Mac topics, send them to me so that I can share them with other readers. |