A Little Bidder This, A Little Bid Of That
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday October 28, 2000
Unique tastes and money to burn? Rose Vines uncovers the sites for the person who wants everything.
Abel Stamp Auction
www.drabel.com/cgi-bin/auctions/auction.cgi
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There are dozens of stamp auctions online. Abel's is one of the more active and well presented. While there's a preponderance of US stamps featured on the site, you'll find plenty of international offerings, too. Most of the stamps are offered by the dealer, with person-to-person lots sprinkled throughout. Almost all items include photographs and there are few hidden reserve prices.
BestBidMoney
www.bestbid.com.au
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Looking for a loan? Or perhaps an investment? Tell BestBid what you're after and it will submit your request anonymously to participating financial institutions.
Within 24 hours, BestBid lets you know the best three matching offers. You choose which one you like, if any. There's no charge to you - the financial institutions pay for the service - but you must supply some financial details. BestBid plans to add insurance, auto and communications categories.
TBay
www.tbayauctions.com
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TBay bills itself as a specialty antiques and collectibles auction, although its tendrils stretch a little further than that. You'll find consumer electronics and computers, antiques, art, militaria, postcards and Beanies. TBay has a few ragged edges including poorly organised help. However, with neither listing fees nor commissions, it's an attractive destination. Not all sellers indicate whether they'll ship internationally, so you may need to email a seller before bidding.
Bidder's Edge
www.biddersedge.com
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OK, all you lunchbox collectors out there. If you're after an Invasion of the Monster Women lunchbox, you'll find it here. It's the primo destination for Pez-heads, magnet maniacs and pinback hounds. Bidder's Edge is a search site for collectibles. Choose a category from the more than five dozen listed and up will pop links to auctions on any of 100 sites.
Sothebys Amazon
http://sothebys.amazon.com
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With everything from Star Trek memorabilia to treasure from sunken vessels, Sothebys.Amazon.com is a wonderful destination for seekers of memorabilia, collectibles and art. If you're already familiar with Amazon's stores, you'll be right at home at the Sothebys site, although watch out for the 10 per cent buyer's premium charged on the sale price. This fee isn't charged by Amazon's own auction site. Payments are made by a secure payments site.
Sothebys Auctions Online
http://auction.sothebys.com
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Located upmarket from Sothebys.Amazon.com is Sotheby's own Auctions Online. Splurge and bid on an Alexander Calder mobile starting at $US120,000 ($231,000). Not all the action is quite so heady, with bargains to be found by the knowledgeable buyer in categories that range from watches and clocks to ancient and ethnographic art. Sothebys charges a 10 per cent buyer's premium on top of the final bid amount.
Pacific Book Auctions
www.pacificbook.com/osauction.shtml
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Most of the big, general auctions have categories devoted to books, but Pacific Book Auctions has nothing but books. Offerings are organised into 15 categories, including maps, atlases, erotica and manuscripts. A good way to approach online book buying is to check one of the secondhand booksellers' networks, such as www.bookfind.com or www.alibris.com, first, then see whether you can get a better price at an auction.
Penbid
www.penbid.com
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Whether you're after a replacement for your favourite Parker or contemplating a $10,000 coup on a rare Montblanc, Penbid is the prime spot. Activity is brisk on this specialty site that boasts 5,000 members. Browse through the listings, check the new items or study those closing today to see if a bargain is available. Most sellers seem happy to ship internationally, making it a good destination for Aussie shoppers.
Butterfly
www.butterfly.com.au
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Butterfly's chatty and enticing wine descriptions are enough to get your bidding finger itching. Before you click, keep in mind that most auctions are for a dozen bottles so you'll need to multiply the price accordingly, with GST and freight added afterwards. Some rare wines are offered by the bottle; other lots are offered by the pallet. There's plenty of detail provided in the item descriptions and offerings change regularly.
ImpexNow Fossil Auctions
www.impexnow.com
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For the child who has everything, how about a Carcharodontosaurus tooth? Or perhaps a complete metacanthina? To qualify for auction at ImpexNow, each lot has to be well and truly dead and buried. Everything auctioned is directly from ImpexNow's fossil collection. There's not much information about each item, but the lots are amply illustrated and they'll ship internationally on all items.
Justbeads
www.justbeads.com
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A specialty site for beaders. There's plenty on offer in categories that include beads, stones and cameos, jewellery "findings", beaded jewellery, tools, books, beaded bags, and artwork. You'll have to sift through a lot of listings to find those that feature international shipping. Bidders pay nothing. Sellers pay insertion fees and commission on items sold.
SpeedBid
www.speedbid.com
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Looking for a helmet or a trench map from the Somme? You may find one on SpeedBid, a UK site that specialises in military memorabilia. There's militaria in 16 categories, from trench art to ammunition. The site doesn't restrict itself to military items - you'll find cigarette cards, cartoons, autographs, badges, the inevitable Beanies, and a bunch of other stuff, although these categories are not as well populated as the militaria.
WineTrader
www.winetrader.com.au
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WineTrader features online auctions at regular intervals. The auctions are open to members (for a $27.50 membership fee) and casual bidders (who pay $1.10 to sign up), although the latter pay a 7.5 per cent premium on every winning bid. Lots are categorised according to wine type and each auction features a very wide selection. WineTrader lacks the charm of Butterfly and the lack of ongoing auctions means you'll need to watch for the action.
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald
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