The Best Online Auction Websites for 2021 - Investopedia

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Bottom Line

Online auction websites allow you to sell and bid on items from the comfort of your home or office. Purchase or sell things like real estate, jewels, business equipment, vehicles, and electronics. Most online auction websites offer protection for both buyers and sellers.

We recommend eBay as the best online auction website because it’s free for buyers, fees are reasonable for sellers, and its platform is incredibly user-friendly. It also offers protection for buyers and sellers from fraudulent and misrepresented listings.

Compare Providers

Online Auction Website	Why We Picked It	Key Benefit
eBay	Best Overall	It’s free for buyers and most fees are reasonable for sellers
Auction.com	Best for Real Estate	Buy bank-owned and foreclosed homes
Copart	Best for Auto	You can buy clean and salvage titles whether you’re an individual, business, or dealer
BidSpotter	Best for Business Equipment	Caters exclusively to business equipment with professional auctioneers all over the world
Sotheby’s	Best for Luxury/Collector Items	One of the oldest and largest auction houses for luxury and collector items
GSA Auctions	Best for Government Surplus Items	This is an actual government website for excess items

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do Online Auction Sites Make Money?

Online auction sites make money through listing fees, advertising fees, and buyer’s premiums. Think of buyer’s premiums as a commission—it’s a price above the winning auction price. You’ll usually find buyer’s premiums with online auction sites that use auctioneers. Other websites like eBay charge insertion fees, final value fees, and fees to upgrade listings. 

What Are the Most Popular Online Auction Sites?

The most popular online auction sites include eBay, eBid, Sotheby’s, Copart, Auction.com, and GSA Auctions. Most of these sites offer free buyer registration and allow winning auctions to be paid for with credit, debit, money orders, and cashier’s checks. Some even provide in-house financing options. 

How Can You Tell If an Online Auction Site Is Legit?

Before buying and selling on an online auction site, look at its reputation. You can usually find real reviews on social media sites like Reddit or Facebook. Legitimate auction sites offer privacy, security, and dispute resolution. 

It’s important to understand that while an online auction site might be legit, there are unscrupulous buyers and sellers on most platforms. Check seller reviews before bidding on an item, and if you’re a seller on a platform that allows buyer reviews, like on eBay, look at their reviews, too. 

What Measures Do Auction Sites Take to Protect Buyers and Sellers?

Most auction sites offer dispute resolution for buyers and sellers and limit what methods of payment are available. For example, most auction sites don’t allow wire transfers but allow payment by debit card, credit card, or PayPal. The Fair Credit Billing Act helps protect buyers when using their credit cards. 

Use the auction site’s in-house communication system if available. This way, should a dispute arise, the site can see the exchange between buyer and seller. Never take communication or payment offline to avoid fees because that limits your protection. 

How We Chose the Best Online Auction Websites

We looked at 28 online auction websites available and narrowed it down to the best options based on several features and considerations. We considered fees for both the buyer and seller, the site’s online reputation, real customer reviews, and available categories. Some sites are free for buyers, and others require a membership to bid on items. Those membership fees should be reasonable.

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The Best Online Auction Websites for 2021 - Investopedia
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