What do you look for in an online auction?

March 23, 2009 10:26 AM

What do you look for in an online auction?
posted by jakubsnm to Shopping (13 answers total)

Clear description describing all possible flaws. Clear photos from several angles. Clear description on how the item will ship. Clear return policy.

In other words, don't make me have to guess what you are selling.
posted by cass at 10:30 AM on March 23, 2009

Things I want to buy? My friend buys surfboards if that's any help.
posted by biffa at 10:31 AM on March 23, 2009

Response by poster: What about the auction site itself? like privacy & security
posted by jakubsnm at 10:33 AM on March 23, 2009

The best thing ebay does is provide a venue for feedback on sellers.
posted by CunningLinguist at 10:36 AM on March 23, 2009

This may be counterintuitive, but I look for the Buy It Now Option. I hate bidding on things, and have never bought anything through eBay. Some people are really addicted to it, though, so I may just be weird.
posted by Juliet Banana at 10:43 AM on March 23, 2009

This site has some reviews of auction websites. eBay's feedback system is probably its strongest point; people are so wary of buying things online, most sellers I've bought from do a fair bit to get that positive feedback (I've got a few messages along the lines of "It's been 3 weeks now and no feedback. Is everything alright? What can I do?").

When buying from an auction site though, always read all the text on the description page. Check all the photos, see if batteries (or equivalent) are included, see if parts are missing and one thing to be very conscious of: shipping charges.
posted by battlebison at 10:48 AM on March 23, 2009

This is a very open ended question. What exactly do you want to know? Have you used an online auction service like ebay before or are you a complete newbie? Are you looking to buy big ticket items or small stuff?

I frequently buy stuff on ebay. If I want something that I've never bought before, I first do my research on Amazon. Then I head over to ebay and search for that particular item. I bookmark (watch) a few auctions and let them finish without bidding. This gives me a sense of what the product goes for on ebay compared to retail.

Once I know how much I should pay, I first search for buy it now options. If something looks reasonable, I just get it right there. If not, then I go for auctions from a sellers that have 99% or higher feedback rating.

I rarely ever bid directly on ebay. I use a snipe service (bidnip for example) where enter the item number and the max price I want to pay and forget about it. More than 95% of the time, I win the item at (usually below) the price I was willing to pay.
posted by special-k at 10:56 AM on March 23, 2009

I always go through ebay, and always use a buy-it-now option since I'm almost always buying relatively fungible goods, and the buy it now prices seem to set the market; auction prices are rarely too far off and I'm generally not willing to wait/deal with snipes. Photos are required, but beyond that I'm just looking at price.
posted by craven_morhead at 10:56 AM on March 23, 2009

There's an interesting balance required for online auction sites. There needs to be some transparency of transactions to ensure that the buyer and seller are reputable, but not so much that people are contacted with bogus missed offers and second chances. For example, eBay no longer displays bidder's full nicknames, to avoid such occurrences. It's odd, but I figure there were enough fraudulent folks contacting non-winners with second options and other such scams that it's less public on this front than before.

Are you looking to find eBay alternatives as a seller or buyer yourself, or are you looking to form a new sites?
posted by filthy light thief at 10:57 AM on March 23, 2009

Ebay gives good protection to the buyer on auctions paid for with paypal. I bought an item t'other month off a new seller. I didn't mind they had no feedback as I knew paypal gave protection. When the item didn't arrive (and seller didn't respond to messages), paypal gave me my money back. I rarely bid on an auction that doesn't take paypal (unfortunately, buyers are treated well at the expense of sellers by paypal and I haven't sold anything for years on ebay partly due to this).
posted by JonB at 11:06 AM on March 23, 2009

I won't buy from someone with spelling and grammar errors in their item description. That kind of carelessness does not bode well for the item or their service.

I am wary of sellers whose "terms and conditions" are of much greater length than their item description.
posted by jgirl at 11:19 AM on March 23, 2009

Things I like about ebay:

1. Cheap items (including shipping).
2. Items that turn up (feedback/buyer protection).
3. Not giving my credit card number to some company I've never heard of.
4. Lots of competing sellers, (see item 1) but only one account/password for me to manage.

Example: I needed some new pedals for my bicycle; I found some new pedals on ebay for less than $5, including delivery; and I didn't need to create any new accounts or hand over my credit card details to anyone new.

Things that make a good auction:

Clear, detailed photos and a clear, detailed description. Ideally the description should look like the seller actually knows about the item, rather than being copy-and-paste from the manufacturer's website. A low buy-it-now price, cheap shipping, seller reputation above 99% positive.
posted by Mike1024 at 2:36 PM on March 23, 2009

Personally, I look for auctions that have sellers with moderate feedback (200-300), 100% positive, and that are from the US. It's also a bit of a "feel" thing for me - how their auction reads, is it detailed, does it seem like it's a "real" person posting it, do the pictures seem authentic, etc.

I also check out their actual feedback comments (both given and received).

It's totally, like I said, a feel thing for me. I've never been burned with it (knock on wood).
posted by karizma at 9:23 PM on March 24, 2009