Friday, July 29, 2005

A few tips on bidding for Overstock Auctions Users






Welcome! Below you will find some basic tips for on line auction bidding which I have found very useful.

Tip #1
Wow! this is too good to be true. It's the old adage: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. The majority of auction sellers are very honest, there are a few that are not. The key here is to protect yourself by doing the following quick checks.

Carefully read all of the Auction wording. I know some auctions have a lot of wording but it is to your advantage to read everything, especially the small print, usually that is where the unpleasant surprises are hidden.

Ask questions: If you are reading an auction and a question pops up in your mind click on the link to "ask the seller a question" and ask! If you don't receive a reply, move on. It may not be a rip off but if the seller does not reply, then you may have a lazy seller or a bad seller. If it is an auction for a lot of money, is it worth the risk to find out which one they are?

Check out the seller 's Home Page. Do they have information about themselves there? You want to know a little bit of information about the person you are going to be conducting business with when the auction has ended.

Check the seller's Business Ratings out, it can provide important information prior to bidding. On Overstock you can do this by finding the box titled seller's information (top right of the auction page) and clicking on the Read ratings and comments link toward the bottom of the box. I would go back about 60 days and read all the comments. While you are reading click on a few of the auctions and see what kind of items were sold. Some sellers will sell a lot of real cheap items to build up their ratings. Be careful here, some sellers have a lot of great items that do not cost a lot. An example is something you will find on eBay but I have not seen on Overstock, some eBay seller's build up their ratings is buying and selling recipes. It cost you one dollar and both parties get a positive feedback. This does not mean they are all bad sellers, just be a little more careful in reading the whole auction.

Tip #2
Something to watch for when reading the auction.

The One-Penny Auctions or under pricing an item: This is a tool that I have used in the past but caused so much confusion I avoid. There are three basic reason for One Penny Auctions.

The first reason is to save money on fees; every auction cost the seller a fee to list. The fees are based on the starting bid of the auction. You will see a lot more of this on eBay because their fees are so high.

The second reason is to attract buyers. Everyone would like to get a great item for a penny. Somewhere in the auction wording it will give you the shipping and handling amount. This amount will include the true cost of the item you are bidding on.

The third reason is to lure in new people who have no experience with on line auctions, and hassle them into paying for an item at a much higher cost than the bid amount. This one just makes me mad and also makes the new buyers mad.

This is very easy to cure, just read the entire auction. Somewhere in the wording is the true amount you will pay. If the auction you are looking at has a shipping calculator be sure to use it before you bid, just put in your zip code and it will list the total amount for shipping and handling.

Tip #3
Remember when your mother told you to always read the fine print, the same applies to reading auctions. Don't be distracted by all the seals, banners or labels. Just because the auctions has a seal or banner that says the seller is a power this or a trusted that, does not make them a good seller. Take the time to read the comments left by buyers in the seller's ratings or feedback. Click on the auction number and see what the person purchased and always check the shipping cost.

Tip #4
Want a look at what the sellers are really like? Check out the auction site's message board. You can get a look into the way a seller treats other people. See how the sellers views the site they are selling on. If they are very negative about the auction site ask yourself why and what is behind their entries. Do you really want to do business with a person who has nothing good to say about anything.

Tip #5
One last tip I can think of is the use of certain words in descriptions. The word "Like" or "Similar To" and many others are often use for items that look like the real thing but are not. This does not mean it's a bad item, just make sure you are willing to settle for a look like rather that the real thing. If it is not the real thing then you should be able to get it for a much lower price.

There are other things that can happen, but if you use the top five suggestions most of your bidding will be fun, which is as it should be. I hope this has helped, I love to sell and buy using on line auctions and I would like everyone else to love it too!

Fire


Feel free to share your tips or how you delt with a bad experence by making a comment, please leave off names of sellers or business names. The information you share today could keep someone else from getting ripped off.