Online auction websites

Online auction websites explained

Online auction websites act as huge marketplaces, bringing buyers and sellers of items together. The auction website makes money by taking a commission on every transaction; usually a percentage of the final sale price. Commission can be charged to sellers, buyers – or sometimes both.

Online auction websites are great for:

• Buying new items cheaper than you might get them elsewhere.
• Purchasing rare products that are difficult to find in the shops.
• Buying secondhand and used items.
• Selling things you don’t need any more.
• Setting up an online business without having to build your own website.
• Finding buyers for an unusual item you’re trying to sell.

As well as offering standard auctions held over a set period (usually several days), many auction websites allow you to buy or sell in different ways. For instance, some sellers prefer to offer items at a fixed price, or use a Dutch auction, where the price starts high then drops until someone is willing to pay it.

Buying and selling on online auction websites

The biggest online auction websites offer a huge number of items for sale, usually divided into thousands of different categories. Look for a logical category structure and a good search function to navigate the site. Some sites let you view old auctions too, so you can see what prices items have fetched in the past.

Most auction sites enable buyers and sellers to build reputations by leaving feedback for each other. Viewing another user’s feedback reassures you that they are genuine. Some sites will also offer protection to buyers and sellers in case they never receive payment or the item they’ve bought fails to arrive.