Bungie jumping. High stakes poker. Executing a bank heist. Few things in this world are more exciting than placing the winning bid in an auction and winning something truly rare and special. But you don’t need to risk your life, wealth and personal freedom to participate in an auction. In fact, you don’t even need to leave your house. Thanks to the internet, people around the world are placing bids on highly desirable items every day and feeling the rush and joy that goes with winning the auction. But with the success of popular auction site, eBay, there are dozens of auction sites to choose from. So which sites are the most worthy of your time and money? We’re here to answer that question with our list of the internet’s best auction sites.
We’ll just get this out of the way now. WebStore is not a conventionally attractive or sexy website by any means. But it doesn’t take a gorgeous interface to have something to offer online auction hunters. In fact, the bare bones presentation means navigating the site won’t slow down older computer processors. This is a design choice which has worked to the advantage of sites like craigslist. You can find a lot of great stuff here from almost every product category you can imagine. There is also a lot of older items available you would never find at the Amazons and Walmarts of the world. Give Webstore a try. You might find something you love.
eCrater is an ecommerce site which allows anyone to set up an online store and hold online auctions if they so choose. Because sellers can import eBay and Google Shopping products into eCrater, the selection of items is quite good. Another nice aspect of eCrater is the fact that no registration is required to buy an item. All a user has to do is add the item to their cart and proceed to checkout. Buyers should note however, that eCrater does not itself offer buyer protection, and so buyers should use a payment method which guarantees this, or only stick to sellers with good feedback ratings. Nevertheless, eCrater is one of the best auction sites around.
Listia is a mighty slick website with a lot of cool bells and whistles for you to enjoy while you’re hunting for those special items. Now this is not your typical auction site. Buyers buy goods on Listia using credits on the site. Credits are obtained when you sign up, but you can get more credits by listing your own items for sale. You can then trade in your credits for actual cash, or you can use them to get more stuff. It’s a pretty neat concept.
Listia also offers something called Listia Assurance, which means buyers will get a full refund if the items is not what was described in the listing, if the seller changes payment terms after the fact, or if the seller makes a false claim that they did not receive funds. It’s the unique approach and consumer protection which makes Listia one of the best auction sites.
What sets uBid apart from the crowd is the fact that you will not find any items from independent/individual sellers here. Instead, uBid only auctions items which come from overstocked manufacturers, which uBid claims to be selling for between 20 to 80% off the MSRP. In this way, uBid is a one sided consumer facing auction site. This makes the uBid buying experience different from other auction sites in a number of ways. On the downside, you are less likely to find a killer deal or a rare/antique item as you are dealing with professionals. But on the upside, uBid presents a reliable way to get overstocked items from manufacturers.
The selection at uBid is more limited in terms of variety than other auction sites, but it is a great place to go if you are looking for watches, electronics or coins. It has over 200,000 items to choose from, many of which are from these categories. uBid also has a feature called Mega Auctions, where people can buy in bulk. So if you find yourself needing 50 watches all at once, uBid may be the place to make that dream come true. You can also participate in Express Auctions, which scratch that instant gratification itch many of us have. In instant auctions, an item goes up for sale, and the auction lasts for just 20 minutes before it is sold to the highest bidder. This makes Ubid one of the best auction sites for buyers who want a consistent and straight forward experience.
Bonanza’s slogan is “everything but the ordinary”. Looking at their site, this makes a lot of sense. You’ll find a lot of different things here; some of it geeky, some of it old, all of it unique. Even in the typical categories like clothes, Bonanza shoppers will find items unlike anything they have seen while wandering around their local shopping mall. Bonanza’s ace up its sleeve is its tremendous ease of use for sellers, which in turn, makes a welcome place for buyers to check out their wares. Bonanza is one of the best auction sites for finding strange and unique items.
Exactly as the URL suggests, this is a pure online auction site. This place mostly specializes in collectibles, with stamps and coins dominating the selection, so if you’re into those niches, you’re definitely going to want to check this place out. This site also boasts a wide selection of classic cars and car parts. If you can look past the bare bones presentation and are interested in finding some truly rare objects, take a look at OnlineAuction.com. It may not be among the top 3 best auction sites, but it definitely has something to offer certain collectors.
Much like OnlineAuction.com, Atomic Mall has a very internet 1.0 aesthetic, but contains some very interesting niche products. This place is of particular interest to record collectors, crafters, and retro gamers. You’ll also find sporting goods, tools and other collectibles here. One great thing about some of the best auction sites including this one, is that it doesn’t require registration on the part of the customer.
With over 2 million users, Ebid is one of the bigger auction sites (aside from Ebay). Spend a little time on the site, and it’s not hard to see why. The selection is wonderful, with all kinds of weird stuff. Choose from categories such as, “Sport Memorabilia”, “Spiritual and Metaphysical”, and “Wholesale & Large Lots”. To give you an idea of the large variety of things available on the site, during a quick perusal, we found an Akua’ba Fertility Doll, snowmobiles, and a selection of Reiki energy crystals.
Ebid also makes it easy to start buying, with an extensive help section. Here, you’ll find answers to almost any question you could possibly have about participating in Ebid auctions. There is even a wide array of online videos to help you along. While the amount of different auction types and features on the site can be daunting to first timers, if you stick to the help guides, you might find the products you can get from the site are well worth the effort.
This online auction site specializes in large lots of bulk items in a wide variety of different product categories. Like uBid, Liquidation sources their inventory from overstocked manufacturers. You’ll find auctions for items like 100 Android tablets or a shipment of various sporting goods. For this reason, the items being sold here are more appropriate for businesses looking to buy more inventory, but the general public could see some use in it as well.
If you do decide to buy from this site, make sure you look up the item’s condition. Many of these items are returns or salvaged, while some others are brand new. You will also want to pay attention to the stated weight and dimensions of the shipment in order to factor in your shipping costs.
C’mon, don’t look at us like you’re surprised. Of course eBay is on the list and we would go as far as to call it the all around best auction site Its slick presentation means you’ll always find what you’re looking for, and you’ll even find some things you’re not looking for. But its presentation isn’t the biggest reason you should shop there.
The selection beats the hell out of other auction sites. There is almost nothing you can’t get on Ebay. We like to talk a lot about how Amazon is the internet’s everything store, but Ebay arguably has a competitive variety of products, with an especially incredible selection of collectibles in just about any niche or interest you can imagine. Ebay is also a thriving auto-parts trader, and even has a blog dedicated to its eBay Motors division.
Buyers can also shop eBay with quite a bit of peace of mind. It is easy for buyers to check seller’s return policies, and eBay even has a money back guarantee if a buyer does not receive the promised product.
So you maybe you’re wondering, why go to any of the other sites listed if eBay is so great? Well, you’re probably looking into auction sites because you are looking to buy rare or one-of-a-kind items, right? The fact is, that as great as Ebay is, it might not have the exact item you are looking for, while one of the other auction sites listed here might. Furthermore, the other auction sites listed above can fulfil specific needs better than eBay does. The reason they are able to survive alongside Ebay is because they have slightly different business models, and cater to different areas of the market. So be sure to give these smaller players a chance because they might suit you better.
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