The Budget Fashionista

Eleven Top Online Auction Sites

Shopping auction sites requires a few caveats—beware of designer knock-offs, check the feedback ratings on sellers carefully, only pay through secure options like PayPal. Once you’ve got the cautions out of the way, however, there’s the possibility of finding some truly great deals, even on items that are rare or one-of-a-kind. Also there’s the thrill of being the top bidder—if you enjoy that sort of thing (and we kinda do). Check out our reviews of these sites so you’ll know where to begin:

UpperBid.com. The most designer (Armani, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, BCBG Max Azria, etc.) and vintage items we’ve found thus far, and it looks the most like eBay, too, which may not exactly be a big deal except that means it’s familiar and relatively easy to read/navigate. Our fave find? A Miu Miu handbag (which appeared legit) with a buy now price of $59.99.

OnlineAuction.com. Lots of apparel, lots of handbags, a huge list of detailed categories. Okay, we like—but a few random clicks didn’t bring us much in the way of super-hot deals (there were several Juicy Couture handbags for example—which would be super except the prices weren’t much different than if you bought them directly from Juicy Couture). That being said, if you don’t mind browsing quite a big, OnlineAuction.com is a site that appear to have a good reputation and an extensive number of sellers.

CQout. When, at first look, we see more than 44,000 apparel items available, our heart rises just a little. And upon further inspection, oodles of cool shoes (Chanel, Fendi, Christian Louboutin), handbags (Gucci, Hermes), and apparel, with current bids well within the realm of affordability. Jackpot! The downside? Many of the items would be coming from abroad (the site is based in the UK) meaning pretty high shipping costs. However, if you find a fab designer deal on the cheap, the additional shipping still might be worth it . . . just watch your budget carefully. And there is a “local only” tab to sort out auctions closer to home, meaning in the US—the pickings are much slimmer, but many sellers offered free shipping.

ePier.com. After sorting through pages of random items on some other sites, we appreciate ePier’s search function—which, when we clicked “apparel” took us to the next set of categories (kids, men’s women’s) and then upon clicking “women’s” even more categories (designer clothing, evening wear, jeans, etc.). Of course, “designer clothing” brought up items like an Express skirt and Wilson’s leather jacket, but still. Well organized, easy to navigate, and opportunities to peruse classifieds, trade, and wanted item listings as well.

ShopGoodwill.org. We’re just going to come right out and say it—we love Goodwill. We love the stores, and we love the online site, mostly because this is the first auction site we’ve come across that when we clicked on women’s apparel, we came up on the first page with a mink coat and a vintage black, rhinestone studded dress. Okay, so we weren’t in the market for either, but it made us feel like we might really find something here. A little further searching turned up a few things more in our price range, like a Dooney and Burke handbag with a starting bid of $5.59 and a pair of new Nine West Black Leather Pumps (in a hard to find size 10 yet!) at $11 with 12 hours to go . . . Our favorite part is that being items sold through Goodwill organizations throughout the country, we’re pretty confident that the namebrands we’re bidding on are authentic items, not cheap knock-offs. And it’s for a good cause.

eBay.com. Of course you knew we’d get to this one sooner or later . . . and there’s probably not much we can tell you that you don’t already know. It’s the behemoth of online auction sites, and if you’re looking for something—anything—you will most likely find it here. The deals, however, aren’t quite what they used to be. We remember the days of actually getting designer and brandname goods for, almost literally, a song—now, with lots of eBay “businesses” and “buy now” options, the prices just aren’t as good as they used to be. Still, it’s no fuss, no muss—easy to find items, easy to bid, and pretty darn trustworthy payment options. 

Webidz.com. Webidz gets pretty high marks from lots of the online auction site reviews we read, and they had a reasonable amount of apparel. But designer stuff? Not so much. We searched for a few designer names (Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Burberry) and came up with 3 items total, none of which were particularly tempting deals even at the starting bids. But, if you’re in the market for, say, sports memorabilia, toys, books, and collectibles, this just might be the site for you (the “sports memorabilia” category alone boasts more than 28,000 items . . . )

uBid.com. When clothing items are relegated to the “Everything Else” category, we know this isn’t exactly a site made for fashionistas (the day we looked there were only 45 apparel items, total)—so if you’re just looking to pick up designer apparel on the cheap, skip it. However, if you’re looking for computers, electronics, fine jewelry and watches, however there are plenty to choose from, with lots of auctions that didn’t even have reserve prices.

Overstock.com Auctions. Overstock.com is where we love to shop for namebrand and designer goods at big discounts, so we’re delighted to find that Overstock.com Auctions looks exactly like it’s easy-on-the-eyes overstock counterpart, featuring all the same categories, but with auction items from retailers and private sellers. Want some Overstock.com-worthy deals at potentially even cheaper prices? Look for the seller name “Overstock Returns.”

PropertyRoom.com. A police auction site, PropertyRoom.com is just what you might imagine, featuring items that have been stolen, seized, found and otherwise acquired by more than 1,100 law enforcement agencies that are involved with the site. Of course, designer goods are on the docket, but just don’t expect to find a specific item you have your heart set on. Instead, think of it as an adventure—one never knows when 200 Burberry handbags might be seized by authorities in Des Moines, for example (it could happen!). And we’re pretty sure the transactions are reasonably secure.

Amazon.com Auctions. We’re only including this because you may be wondering about it—but the honest truth is, don’t bother. Amazon may be a Goliath in terms of online sales of, well, just about everything else under the sun (and at great prices, if we do say so) but for auctions? Well, it’s clear that it’s not a priority. First of all, to log-in to Auction.Amazon.com one must have an account, and once logged in, you’re inexplicably taken to a page that says “search transactions.” Well, we didn’t want to search our transactions. So we clicked the teeny tiny “auction” tab—only to be taken back to the log-in page. Um, nevermind.