onSale

Pros:  Bidwatch component makes monitoring easy, Good selection of products.

Cons:  Ridiculous shipping charges on some items, poor customer service.

The Bottom Line:  Good selection, good opportunity to get a bargain, just watch out for the shipping charges. Look out for Refurbished items or those lacking all accessories.

Full review
Being a computer and gadget freak, I'm always looking out for a bargain. I've found that auctions are often a great way to go, but you really have to know the rules of the game. Two of my favorites had been Egghead.com and Onsale.com; however, I think each was better when they were still separate. Here's the details of my most recent experience:

I recently decided to upgrade my computer memory, and an online auction seemed to be the best way to get a good price. Since I wanted quality, new memory, I decided to focus on finding it through Egghead+Onsale. After all, I have gotten some excellent bargains from both sites in the past. It only seemed logical that with the two combined, I should be able to find what I needed at a good price.

Now one thing I should make clear to anyone who has not visited the site yet, Egghead+Onsale has two sections - a "superstore" for purchasing products, and an auction. I suggest checking the store side first, just to verify prices, as you don't want to bid more for an item than you could simply outright purchase it directly.

Selection:
The site offers a good selection of products, especially when it comes to computer components. They also offer auctions on: Cruises & Vacations, Electronics, Golf, Sports & Fitness, and other items. Some of the "other" items include jewelry, tools, and household items. Since I mostly focus on the computer components, I'll keep my comments based on my experience within that segment of the auction. Overall, I can find just about whatever computer product I need, although their listing of CPUs is often limited. Otherwise, I can buy just about everything to upgrade a computer or even build one from scratch.

Auction Types:
Typical auctions on the site last about two days. They also offer a section of "Express Auctions" which only last an hour each. These tend to be my favorite, as I often get the best prices due to fewer competitors. Depending on the time of the day, you can sometimes get by with a very low winning bid. I find the best times to bid are during the commuter hours, when most people are driving to or from work. As I sometimes office out of my home, I have the ability to bid while many people are in their cars stuck in traffic.

The site also offers a section of "Freight-Free Auctions", which means that shipping is free. They also have "Mega-Auctions" which are simply items having much larger quantities than usual. I also noticed recently that they have added "10-Minute Auctions" throughout the day. I don't know anything about these yet, but the idea certainly intrigues me. I would think that this would be an excellent place for a bargain, but it depends on the products offered and starting bid.

Prices:
Most of the items listed throughout the site have very low minimum bids, and small bid increments (usually $1,$3, or $10 dollars). Some items, like stereo equipment, often have larger starting bids. I usually avoid these.

In addition to bid prices, many items are listed as available for immediate purchase at a set price. These show up with a green bar in place of the remaining time left in an auction, with "Buy Now!" flashing over it. I've found that these prices are usually similar to others offered elsewhere on the Internet, but no great bargain.

Auction Rules:
Bids are ranked by 1.)Price, 2.)Quantity, and 3.)Initial time of bid, in that order. This means that obviously, highest bid wins. In the case of a tie, the person bidding on the higher quantity wins. And in the case of a tie in price and quantity, whoever submitted the original bid first wins.

Just remember, if you change your quantity during the middle of a bid, it is just like starting over on your bid time. If you submitted one of the first bids, and you started out bidding on just 1 in a lot of 4, just keep bidding on 1. If you started bidding on all 4, keep bidding on all 4. The best way to win: Bid early (as soon as an auction opens), and bid on the highest quantity you can afford (if there are two of the item, bid on both).

Also remember, if you win, you are responsible for purchasing the items. I've seen people bid on 30 of an item, and end up with the winning bid. Not a bad deal if you only pay a couple of bucks, but 30 disk drives at $150 dollars each comes out to $4,500. This can cost you a LOT of money, especially if you only expected to win 1 in the first place. So in a nutshell, if you can't really afford to win a large quantity, don't bid for that many.

Another thing to keep in mind, you get the item based on the description posted on the web site. Read ALL of the description before bidding. Understand if the item is new, used, or refurbished. Also make sure you understand what is included. Sometimes software or cables are not included. If it does not specifically say it is included, assume it is not. Don't go by the picture, and don't expect anything other than what is specifically stated in the description.

Auctions list a time at which the auction is supposed to end. However, remember that these auctions only stop once ten minutes have passed since the very last bid is submitted. If people continue to bid after an auction is supposed to close, it remains open until activity stops and ten minutes elapse. This can be frustrating when you have a winning bid and you think an auction is about to close. Very often I've seen auctions continue for another twenty or thirty minutes after the scheduled close because people keep bidding. I've also lost auctions because some nut jumped in at the last minute and placed an outrageously high bid.

Shipping Charges:
This is my biggest complaint against Egghead+Onsale. Shipping prices are listed as "per unit", which means per item won in the auction and NOT per shipping unit.

For example, I recently won two 128MB PC-133 SDRAM modules in an auction, each being quite small and weighing only ounces. Standard shipping was listed as $8.75 per unit, and I thought this meant per box shipped. I received my statement via e-mail, and it listed my final sales price with a shipping charge of $17.50.

I contacted customer service and asked that this be adjusted, unless of course they planned to ship each memory stick in a separate box. They responded by saying that the memory was being supplied from a vendor other than Egghead+Onsale, and that they had no control over shipping charges. They told me that shipping was per item won in an auction, and not per box shipped. I ended up paying the amount, but I learned a lesson in the process. Even when shipping charges look outrageous, assume it is per item that you bid on and include it when calculating how much you are willing to pay.

Summary:
As much as I hate to admit it, I guess the shipping issue was my fault. I should have checked into the "per unit" definition prior to bidding rather than making any assumptions.

I have actually had very good results with this auction site, and I will probably continue to shop here. Selection is very good, and the automated "Bid Watch" tool allows me to keep track of when others outbid me. Additionally, I can submit the highest amount I'm willing to pay and the system will automatically keep raising my bid as others try to outbid me. It only raises my bid enough to keep me at the top, but it will stop when it reaches my limit. This way, I know the top dollar I will pay, but there is a possibility that I'll pay less.

I highly recommend the site, which can be found at either www.Egghead.com or www.Onsale.com. (Either one takes you to the exact same web site). Just be sure you understand the state of the product (new, used, refurbished), what's included (and what is not), and shipping charges. All of the information is there, you just need to take the time to read it.