So what IS an auction?... (qxl.co.uk)

Member Name: one47

Product:	qxl.co.uk
Date:	11/09/01 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent site with all the features.

Disadvantages: Spoiled by some site-users and many of the sellers

There are many different types of auction, and in recent years, "Internet Auction" has been added to that list. One of the earlier contenders (in the UK at least) was Quixell, who soon rebranded themselves as "Qxl.com". With this new territory came new problems, and QXL have their fair share.

On the other hand, they have an great site and an excellent range of items for sale.


>>> The site

The QXL site is well laid out, and is updated regularly with shortcuts from the front page to relevent sub-sections, and receives occasional style changes to keep it from stagnating. From the homepage:

* £1 no reserve - A collection of auctions where there is a small chance of getting something very cheap
* Bargain PCs - PCs that start cheap. For an internet site, this will be a popular section.
* Browse by themes - Some auctions are categorised by a theme, such as "Football", "Fitness" and "Golf"

The main purpose of the index and top-level pages is to guide you to an auction category and sub-category so that you can find the product type you want to bid for. There are 15 categories, each of which has on average 10 sub-categories.

Top level categories are:

* Antiques
* Automotive
* Books
* Collectables
* Computing
* Electronics & Cameras
* Games & Software
* Home & Garden
* Lifestyle & Wine
* Music, Movies & DVDs
* Sport & Fitness
* Telecoms
* The Travel Shop
* Toys and Games

Alternatively, look through the "More categories..." link, to be presented with a massive page of all categories and sub categories.


>>> The auction

QXL's system is well thought out and well presented. All of the information on a product is to-hand in one place, with a c
ountdown to when the bidding ends. Product descriptions seem to be fairly honest, and items are listed as refurbished or seconds where appropriate.

The auto-bid system is all you would expect - Place a bid, and place a highest-bid value for the system to place incremental bids on your behalf. It does what you'd expect, and never increases your bid un-necesarily. To resolve deadlocks (two or more equal bids) the earlier bid wins. Simple...


>>> The problems

This is why the op has a title of "So what IS an auction..." - to me an Internet auction is where a product is offered at a reserve price less than its real value - Customers can then offer increasing amounts of money until one person wins and takes the product. Unless the price paid is less than the high-street value, I find little point in having done this on the internet. This is particularly true for the primarily run-of-the mill products available on the QXL site.

QXL fails to meet my definition above on a couple of counts:

1) What I call "fake" auctions. Almost every hour there is an auction by a commercial company selling televisions fridges, computers etc. brand new. Take a look at the reserve price.... OK, now take a look at the sellers site... Look familiar? There is often no "Auction" involved, they have just found another channel to sell through. There are so many of these it is often impossible to find a real bargain. QXL even promote these "Merchant Partners" on their front page.

2) Daft users! My most recent purchase was an ONDigital box, which I got for about £50. Excellent, the highstreet price was £120 at the time. If 30 other people understood the meaning of "bidding", that price might have been £40 or even less. There are some very silly people out there, bidding well over the reserve price, even to the point of bidding £75 when the next hi
ghest bid is only £35!


>>> The competition

Well there's Ebay... That's about it in terms of bigger players. Ebay has the benefit of having a reputation for weird sales, so you might well buy stuff there that you simply cannot buy elsewhere. They are well established, and have all of the features, and a large customer base too.


>>> Overall

Don't get me wrong, I've bought through QXL, and received a few superb bargains, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to do.

So you end up with an excellent site, well run, but badly spoiled for the masses. I still check them occasionally for a bargain, but Ebay wins overall.

Summary: