Among the many success stories to emerge from the internet are online auction sites. Millions of people worldwide buy, sell and barter their items through these sites and millions of dollars are made each year. Selling items online through one of the more popular auction sites is a full-time job for many people; it provides a virtually unlimited stream of income and allows most auction job-seekers the chance to work from home.
There are hundreds of online sites selling auction products, many in specific niche markets. Most users will choose to sell their wares on the more popular sites, trying to give as much visibility to their products as possible. The following three sites are among the top 20 most visited online auction websites by Top Ten Reviews.
eBay – The Gold Standard for Online Bidding and Selling
With 14 million individual auctions going at any time and a market value of over 20 billion, eBay is far-and-away the top auction site. Created in 1995, eBay started life small but quickly grew into a massive powerhouse and by 1996 was big enough to require full time CEO and finance staff.
In 1998, the on line auction site went public creating instant billionaires from the creators. Selling items on eBay can be tough because items quickly move down the list but with so many people bidding and buying, it can be an uber-profitable way to make a lot of cash.
eBid – Happy Hour Auctions
Second on the list is the very successful eBid. It’s hard to be in the same market with the behemoth eBay but they do manage very well and offer some unique features not found on other sites. Happy Hour Auctions take place, not surprisingly, from 6 to 10pm.
Great deals are found during this time and it seems to be a popular draw. There is no minimum listing fee (eBay charges for this) and a very small maximum listing fee. eBid also allows escrow accounts helping to protect both the buyer and seller. While it only carries about 1/3 the traffic that eBay attracts, even a small portion of three digit millions is significant.
Online Auction – Buyer and Seller Online Interaction
The smallest of the top three in is still no minor player in the online auction market. According to Power Sellers Unite, an estimated 265,000 listings pump through this site at any one time. Unlike the other two sites in the article, Online Auction has a paid registration but does not charge for listing your products. A lot of great deals can be had on this site because it’s not as busy as the other ones. Online Auction has “O-Mail” and chat, allowing for a rich multi-user environment. They let users instantly contact one another to answer questions about their online products.
It’s mind-boggling how many items are placed, bid on, and sold through online auction sites. With over 100 million auction items changing hands every day, it seems that anyone with the drive, desire and products can make an appreciable amount of money using these markets. It’s doubtful that these sites will go away anytime soon, so get out there and make some money!
Steve Jack - Steve Jack is a full-time software developer and writer based out of San Diego, California. He has held positions in Information ...
