Hooked on cyber bids

By GINNY ANDERSON

The mission? To purchase a slick designer bag or wallet via an internet auction.

Budget? Dwindling every day. At present sitting on $50.

Mission impossible? No way! This is the only way to land a bargain in 2001.

Or is it?

The internet has spread its cables and broadband pipes into almost every community. Even scrimmaging through your local flea market for that retro paisley dress or rare antique pot might become a ritual of the past if present trends are any indication.

Online bidding for collectables and curios is certainly catching on. Jupiter, the global company that monitors and advises the e-commerce sector, believes that the future of e-commerce lies in the auction model.

And PC Data Online says auction site eBay is the ninth-ranked site in the world, with 23,703,000 visitors in October alone.

No wonder, when it means you can avoid diving through mothballed clothes racks and venturing to strange neighbourhoods to barter with weirdos.

If variety is the spice of life, auction site www.ebay gave me tingling taste buds.

So it came as no surprise that while searching for my prized purse I stumbled upon something far more outlandish. Human eggs for sale. Harvested from no less than a "fashion model."

The eggs promised long legs, blond hair, blue eyes and most probably an eating disorder.

Like standard auctions, online trading posts are not immune to the odd indiscretion. Stories of human body parts up for dibs are well documented. Last year, eBay removed an auction for a kidney, after bids had topped $US500,000.

Most sites state that they are not liable for the type of advertisements posted - although they do point out it's illegal to post an ad for any human body part.

Regardless of the commodity, online auctions are aimed at bringing people with compatible interests together, even thieves and oddballs. That's what they're good at. Just type in the product you desire and voilà. You are instantly connected with a vendor regardless of national borders or currency.

Your first step, once you discover an item you would like to bid on, is registration.

The site will ask you to enter personal details, including an e-mail address. (It's best to set up a new web-based mail address such as Yahoo!Mail or HotMail, so you can keep your auction affairs separate.)

Deciding upon my first bid for a cheap imitation Prada bowling bag was no easy task considering the seller didn't have a reserve, or any previous bids.

Remember you're more likely to be duped if you don't know your product, so use the internet to research the price of a genuine item and whittle it down from there.

You're also better off buying from a seller who has included a high-quality digital image. Warning bells should ring if the item is photographed from a fuzzy distance.

And when it comes to designer labels - caveat emptor. There is no way the site can authenticate these claims, so your best bet is to carefully evaluate the seller, by checking previous buyer comments on the site and by e-mailing the vendor a few crafty questions.

Once you have made a bid you will receive e-mail confirmation and, later, mail to alert you when or if your bid has been bettered (which saves you having to keep an eye on the auction).

I had to leave the bowling bag in New York to a competing bidder.

My refusal to bid above $US30 for the bag left my budget intact and my heart set on closer shores - an Australian auction site, sold.com.au

I had previously ventured to local site Trademe.co.nz, but discovered that the site is better suited to buyers searching for a computer.

Nevertheless, there are advantages to bidding on a site closer to home.

Favourable currency rates, shipping costs and delivery time all work in favour of a more satisfying purchasing experience.

Sold.com.au, like many other Australian and New Zealand auction sites, offers less variety, although I did find a near-new Christian Dior wallet on offer for $A40.

And after e-mailing the seller a few questions I am almost 100 per cent sure it's the real McCoy - not that it really matters.

It's merely a challenge for a seasoned bargain hunter like myself, who loathes paying the genuine price for the genuine article.

Alas. The seasoned bargain hunter is attacked from cyberspace. Just one hour before the auction closes, a new bidder swoops, bidding $1 more at $50 to secure the wallet.

In retrospect I should have signed up for automatic bidding, allowing the site to bid on my behalf to my ceiling price. Regardless, I still may have lost.

Just goes to show you've got to be on your toes even when the auction concludes.

Tips for bidders:

AVOID

1. Spending a large amount on one item. Spread your risk.

2. Payment that is non-reversible (in case the goods don't turn up).

DO

1. E-mail the seller to ask questions.

2. Look up previous deals the seller may have conducted on the site.

3. Act with courtesy and professionalism in order to complete a transaction, because once you have won the bid it's up to you and the seller to work it through.

4. Factor in the cost of shipping.

5. Make use of the auction search engines. You'll save loads of time.

6. Log in 20 minutes before the close of the auction!

Auction sites:

NEW ZEALAND

www.turners.co.nz - mainly cars nationwide, car enthusiasts will drool.

www.trademe.co.nz - strong on second hand PCs and strange collectors items.

AUSTRALIA

www.ebay.com.au - limited for fashion and wine, but strong on computers, electronics.

www.sold.com.au - mix of new and secondhand items.

www.gofish.com.au - glut of stock offloads as opposed to secondhand goods.

www.yahoo.com.au/auctions - great for cars, jewellery, antiques, art and collectibles.


WORLDWIDE

www.auctions.yahoo.com - options are endless.

www.ebay.com - ditto.

www.christies.com - visit here if you're not afraid to fork out thousands of pounds.

www.artnet.com - specialist art auctions.

Other links:

Jupiter