There's a name for people like you... (qxl.co.uk)

Member Name: andyroo

Product:	qxl.co.uk
Date:	26/09/01 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap to sell, no charges o buy, many users

Disadvantages: outbid! (doh!)

QXL is great for all you would-be Del Trotters. No more running around with your battered old suitcase avoiding the coppers, you can simply sell all your hooky gear online!

This is many people's opinion on online auctions, but couldn't really be further from the truth.

The truth with QXL is that you can find new and used goods at substantial savings to the high street, and QXL have safeguards in place to make sure you get what you pay for.

If you've never used an online auction before, it works like this: there are many goods on offer on QXL from clothes to CDs, from electrical items to golf clubs. Each auction is online for a limited time, usually a few days to a week, as specified by the seller.

Once you've found something you'd like to buy, you can place a bid on that item. If yours is the highest bid when the auction closes, your details are forwarded to the seller and you get the sellers details.

When you are outbid, you automatically get sent an email to advise you, so you can increase your bid if you are prepared to. Bids are increased in increments specified by the seller, so on some auctions you may find £1 increments, on others £5 increments. This is always made clear.

QXL make money from the site by charging the seller a listing fee, together with a success fee if a buyer is found for the item. This rarely amounts to more than a couple of pounds, and can be charged to a debit or credit card at the end of the month. Using QXL to buy items incurs no charges from QXL.

QXL has a few nice features designed to make the site easier to use, and to ensure that the person you are dealing with isn't as dodgy as Arthur Daley.

Firstly, you can easily set up SMS alerts so that you receive a message on your mobile when you are outbid. This is very useful if the auction close is looming, and you are desperate to get your mits on that clothes brush you've placed a b
id on. You can get straight back online and increase your bid!

Another useful feature is auto-bidding. You simply tell QXL what the maximum you will go to is, and the system increases your bid in line with this instruction every time someone outbids you.

You can leave ratings and comments about buyers and sellers and these can be read by other users. You therefore know if the person you are dealing with is reliable, and whether they are prompt about delivery.

I have sold and bought many items on QXL and have never had any problems so far. I would recommend it over Ebay or other auction sites because at the end of the day it's a UK run site, and support from their offices in London is only a phone call away.

Why not have a route around in your loft and see what stuff you can sell?

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