
So what exactly makes a legit auction
site? You’ll want to make sure that a site is the real deal before you place your first bid and buy
any bid packs. According to Wikipedia, the online auction business model is one in which participants bid for products
and services over the internet. Fortunately there are sites that are in fact the “real
deal”. Some sites are actually legit, however there are some sites that are a total scam and are
there just to rip you off. While we have joined several membership and auction sites, the only one
that we can recommend with complete confidence is AuctionResource.org.
The question is how do you tell a legit
auction site from sites that are not so legit. It can be really hard to pick out the legit
auction sites. There are several different ways you can determine if a site is legit before
you start losing money.
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Read Reviews
There are tons of sites on the web that
are dedicated to providing consumer reviews. Finding legit auction sites can be accomplished by reading some of
these independent reviews. From all of the sites that we have reviewed, the most popular choice of all auction
sites is probably AuctionResource.org. They are an auction listing service that has appx. 4000 auction listings
at a time. While the claim on their site is that customers who join can save up to 90% off the retail price,
from our experience and from reviews of others, the savings are more in the 50% to 60% range.
So for example, if you were interested
in joining AuctionResource.org, you would do a Google, Yahoo or Bing search for such terms as
“AuctionResource.org review” or “AuctionResource.org reviews” or even “AuctionResource.org scam”. So whatever
site you want to find more info on, just follow these steps.
Do Some
Research
Most of the legit auction sites will
have a ‘contact’ page as well as a ‘FAQ’ page. If you can’t find either one of these without searching through
the entire site, stay away. We usually skip on a site if these two pages are not clearly stated on the sites
home page.
Tried and
True
There are some big legit auction sites
such as Ebay that have become household names. Look for sites that have been in business for awhile. Usually a
site that has been around for awhile can be counted among the legit auction sites. Longevity typically points to
legitimate business practices.
Signs
There are certain signs that a website
is not legitimate those signs include “the too good to be true factor”. It is absolutely astounding how many
people will fall for the too good to be true scheme. If someone is offering you something that seems too good to
be true than it probably is.
If you are asked to buy bids up front,
this is not a very legitimate way to do business. Another huge red flag that points to the fact that the site is
probably less than legitimate is if everyone else claims they have been ripped off. Keep in mind that buying
bids and paying a membership fee are two totally different things. Membership fees are o.k. as long as it’s not
a monthly fee. I think AuctionResource.org has become so
popular because they charge a one time fee with no recurring fees.
Bottom Line
Consumers should definitely do their
homework before placing any types of bids. This is especially true when it comes to penny auction sites. Many of
these are fly by night companies so it’s better to go with a site that has been around for a while that you can
research before you join.
Good luck and happy bidding!
Legit Online Auction Sites
There is always a lot of
buzz about which of the online auction sites is among the legit online auction sites. There are far more legit
online auction sites than there are scam sites. The public is usually a bit weary of any online venue unless it
is one with a strong reputation.
Finding legit online
auction sites is as easy as point and click. There are so many websites now that are dedicated to providing you
with information about which sites are legit and which sites you should avoid. All you have to do is your
homework.
The
Obvious
There are some legit
online auction sites that are obvious. Think EBay! There was a time which seems like a life time ago that Ebay
was a new innovative online auction site. Think of the deals that the skeptics missed out on when Ebay was a
start up, now Ebay is the standard.
There are other sites
that are obviously legit online auction sites.
Tell Tale
Signs
You can actually figure
out which online auction sites are legit by looking for a few signs. The top five signs to look for
are:
- Customer Service Info
- Payment Protection
- Rating System
- Site Layout
- Positive Reviews
The legit online auction
sites all have a means of contacting customer service that is beyond a simple web form. A good indicator that a
site is legit is that you can pick up the phone and contact customer service.
Another indicator that
the site you are considering is legit is the payment protection system. Pay Pal should always be accepted if it
is not than you risk not having the protection that you need.
Rating systems should be
in place. Rating systems provide two things: A way to rate a person that has sold you something and a way to see
how well that person has done in the past.
Site layout is also a
good measure, if the site looks like a five year old put it together than you should probably opt out for
another site.
Positive unsolicited
reviews from independent websites are a good indicator that a site is legit.
You are far more likely
to find legit online auction sites than you are to come across a site that is simply a scam but that does not
mean that you should not do you homework before you start to lay down your cash.
What Are the Best Auction Sites Out
There?
There are many different auction sites online. Finding
the best auction sites will largely depend on what you category you are looking at. Each auction site caters to
different types of items. For example there are hundreds of penny auction sites.
Here is a list of top ten sites with a smattering of both
penny auction sites and regular sites.
Ebay of course is still top on the list. There are a
couple of reasons that Ebay stays on top. The first and foremost is because of the category of items that are
offered on Ebay. You can find just about any thing you can think of on Ebay. The items that are available are
just about unlimited. The other reason that Ebay is number one is because of the extensive amount of
verification that is involved with selling on the site. Security is a big priority on this site which is a great
way to shop!
Ubid.com is probably Ebay's biggest competition. Ubid
also offers a verification system to keep you a bit safer while you are shopping. Ubid also has a large range of
categories and a large community of both sellers and buyers.
Bidz.com is an auction site with a bit of a twist. The
seller at Bidz.com is the site itself. Bidz.com buys lots of close out goods and auctions it off on the site.
All of the merchandise being sold is in new condition. The website offers a generous return policy and receives
high ratings from its users.
Sotuhbeachbids.com is an upscale auction site. You can
expect to find high end jewelry and big ticket electronics. There are a lot of unique items up for grabs. This
is a site that is meant to be used for high dollar luxury items.
On the other end of the spectrum is Beezid.com.
Beezid.com is a penny auction site. Penny auction sites offer you the opportunity to buy big ticket items for
pennies on the dollar. Beezid.com is one of the top rated penny auction sites.
Quibids.com is also a top rated penny auction site that
is very popular for a couple of reasons. Most people find that quibids.com is easy to use and found the
inventory to be interesting. If penny auctions are your thing than Quibids.com is the place to
go.
Dealdash.com is also easily rated as one of the top ten
auction sites. Dealdash.com offers many of the similar qualities that Ebay offers with lower fees. Dealdash.com
enjoys high ratings for customer service.
Oztion.com is a unique auction site that deserves a look.
What makes Oztion.com unique is the live streaming auctions that are offered. Oztion.com also offers no fee
listings. Your item can be listed for free for 30 days if you decide to re list it if it does not sell than you
will be charged a small fee.
Cqout.com is an auction website that charges a small fee
to buyers that have won the auction. Sellers are not charged a fee. Cqout.com does a good job of presenting a
wide variety of options for both buying and selling.
Epier.com also makes the top ten list because although
there are fees associated with buying on Epier.com listing is free. The fees are lower than Ebay and the site
has a wide variety of items.
But probably the best liked auction site according to our
reviewers is Auctionresource.org so you may want to check them out as well.
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