Some Simple Ways to Get the Internet to Do Your Bidding

You’ve read about high-stakes auctions in the newspapers and seen them on TV. Anxious participants make bids on revered art, rare historical items, dresses that were in the collection of Princess Diana or anything ever touched by Elvis.

These are not the kind of auctions you will find on the Internet.

Online auctioneering is far more populist an event than what you’d find at Christie’s or Butterfield’s. Instead of bidding on a Degas or on O.J.’s house, you’ll be vying for a vintage Barbie or a telephone answering machine. And while you won’t experience the drama of a skilled auctioneer’s patter, the tense silences between bids and the final banging of the gavel, you have the luxury of doing your bidding in your bathrobe.

Most of the online auctions follow the same basic rules. An auction site (you can locate a bunch of them by going to https://www.yahoo.com and then typing “auction” in the search space) puts up a group of items for sale, listing a minimum acceptable bid for each. Also, a time limit is set for bids--usually a few days or weeks.

Some of the sites are highly commercial. “Zauction,” headquartered in the San Fernando Valley, is a venture that sells computers and household appliances obtained mostly from manufacturers and distributors. I’m sure there are bargains to be found here (the site includes several testimonials from bidders “amazed” at the deals they got), but most of the items offered seemed to be a bit out of date and/or reconditioned models.

Wandering through the “Zauction” site is a little like visiting one of the slightly musty, jam-packed, all-purpose electronics stores on Hollywood Boulevard.

For example, one of the items recently up for bidding on the site was a Kodak DC20 digital camera, one of the first digital cameras made by the company for the consumer market. They’ve since been replaced by more advanced models.

New, the DC20 sold for about $300 retail. On “Zauction,” a “manufacturer refurbished” model had a minimum bid of $145. As of a few minutes before the close of that particular auction, a couple of people had bid just the minimum, and unless they were outbid at the last moment, both got a camera--”Zauction” had put three of them on the block.

Many items received no bids at all. Looking at past auctions posted on the site, it seems “Zauction” was having a tough time getting rid of a couple of National Rice Cookers (minimum bid: $35) it put up for bidding on several occasions.

The site is at https://www.zauction.com.

An example of a much more homey site is “2j Auction,” named for its founders, John and Jan. Here, anyone can put an item up for auction, and most of the goods fall under the heading of “collectibles” or used appliances.

If “Zauction” is the Web’s storefront reseller, “2j” is its neighborhood garage sale. Barbies and accessories are quite popular on “2j,” where the minimum on a Barbie coloring book was set at $20 and at $70 for a Barbie and Ken set.

A minimum bid of $3.50 was asked for a Flintstone mug (formerly available at McDonalds) and $8 for a box of Gene Autry candy. At last check, no bids had been registered for any of the above items, even though some of them had been available for several days.

“2j” is a free service. There are no fees for buyers or sellers, who deal directly with each other if an item is sold. It can be found at https://www.2jweb.com.

A slicker site that retains a mostly homey feel is “CityAuction.” It also allows individuals to put up items for bid and it attracts a far larger range of products. There are “collectibles” offered, but also microwave ovens, cameras, VCRs, boats and home alarm systems. Here sellers pay a small fee if their item is sold.

Some of the items are blatantly commercial, such as home satellite TV systems that come complete with obligations to pay extra for a minimum number of months of reception.

But if I was looking for a used item (and I have to admit snooping around for a few appliances I’ve always kind of wanted, but never enough to buy new), I’d turn to “CityAuction.”

The address is https://www.cityauction.com.

Surfing these auction sites brought me back to a time when I was about 10 years old and visiting Atlantic City with my parents. As we strolled down the Boardwalk one night, Mom spotted a storefront where an auction was taking place.

We stopped in just in time to see a comic auctioneer warm up the crowd. Then, out came a far more serious man in a dapper suit to conduct bidding on the higher bracket objects, including the largest “diamond” ring I had ever seen.

A man who seemed many years older than his blond companion (it’s amazing what one remembers) bought it for her.

I recall being absolutely enthralled with the scene. That kind of entertainment can’t be duplicated online.

* Cyburbia’s e-mail address [email protected].