Getting great deals on items from online auctions can be a fun experience. However, if you’re a novice or simply not paying attention to what you’re doing, there’s a chance that you can make some mistakes, which can cost you a great deal of money or the opportunity to own something you’ve always wanted.
Here are the most common mistakes we’ve seen buyers make in our online auctions…
Many of us have busy lives, which means we can often become forgetful. You may have seen something in an online auction that you wanted and had the intention to go back and place a bid on the last day, but somehow it slipped your mind. Now you missed out.
In our auctions you can set a maximum bid and the system will bid on your behalf up to that max bid. For instance, there’s an item you want, but you’ve decided that the most you’ll pay for it is $100. You can enter a max bid of $100 and whenever someone outbids you, the system will automatically bid for you. You don’t have to sit in front of the computer or keep checking the item.
If you don’t want to go through this process, you can sign up to be on our mailing list. We send out weekly emails on Monday notifying you of auctions that are closing that week. We also post reminders on our Facebook page.
We all love online auctions because there are many opportunities to get great deals, but if you get too emotionally attached or don’t realize how much something is really worth, you can easily pay too much for items. This is especially true during the last few minutes of an auction when competition can get fierce and you feel the need to win.
Probably the biggest mistake we’ve seen buyers make is not doing enough research on an item to determine its value or worth. We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s probably worth mentioning again because this happens during every auction.
Every company has a Terms & Conditions that may read as a long novel, but it’s worth going through so there aren’t any surprises when your credit card is charged.
Many newbie auction buyers are not aware that auction houses charge what is called a “Buyer’s Premium”, which is a percentage of the winning bid. For example, if the buyer’s premium is 15% and an item sells for $100, the buyer will be charged a total of $115. This is something to consider especially if you’re purchasing a high-ticket item.
Another thing to be aware of is the deposit to participate in an auction. In our online auctions, we only hold $1 on your debit/credit card just to verify that it works and we are able to charge that card if you do make a purchase.
If you’re new to our company, check out our buyers page for more information about the buying process.
Which of these mistakes have you made? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!
