Best Online Auction Sites 2018 - Features, Fees and Listing Options

We researched and compared the top seven online auction sites to find the best. We compared selling and listing fees, payment options, support features and the size of each site’s user base. After our research, we think that eBay is the best online auction site because it has over 160 million registered users. Though this site charges a higher final value fee than other sites we researched, it doesn’t charge for seller verification.

Best Overall

eBay

eBay has the largest user base of all the online auction sites. Though it has some steep fees, it also has an easy-to-use interface that makes listing items simple.

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Best Value

eBid

This site has one of the lowest final value fees and doesn’t charge you to list your items. If you’re looking for a cheap way to sell, eBid is our top value pick.

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Best for Sellers on Multiple Sites

Bonanza

Bonanza has easy tools to help you manage inventory across multiple auction sites. It doesn’t have as many registered users as other auction sites, but it’s fees are relatively low compared to eBay.

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Product	Price	Overall Rating	Selling Fees	Selling Features	Listing Options	Payment Options	Help & Support	Advertise Internally	Registered Users	Traffic Reports	Search by Seller	Automatic Bidding	Resolution Center	Credit Card	Alternative Payment Options	Store Subscription Fees (monthly)	Listing Upgrades	Listing Fee	Relisting Fee	Final Value Fee (per item)	Seller Verification Fee	Block Bidders & Buyers	Early Listing Cancellation	Ease of Use	Save Seller Option	Live Chat	Phone	Community Forum
eBay	Check Price	9.1	6.9	10	10	10	10		162 million							$19.95 - $299.95		50 Free	Free	10%	Free			100%
eBid	Check Price	8.9	8.8	9.4	9.4	8.8	7.5		2 million	N/A				N/A		$1.99		Free	Free	3%	Free			95%		N/A	N/A
Bonanza	Check Price	8.8	8.1	8.8	9.4	10	7.5		50,000			N/A				Free - $250.00		Free	Free	3.50%	Free			95%		$	N/A
Webstore.com	Check Price	8.6	10	8.8	8.8	7.5	5		300,000	N/A			N/A	N/A	N/A	None		Free	Free	None	Free			92%		N/A	N/A	N/A
OnlineAuction.com	Check Price	8.5	7.5	8.1	8.8	10	9.4		100,000	N/A		N/A	N/A			$4.00 - $96.00		Free	Free	None	$8/month			90%		N/A
Atomic Mall	Check Price	8.3	7.5	8.8	8.1	10	7.5		173,000		N/A		N/A			Free - $19.00		Free	Free	0.75% - 7%	$10.00 - $29.00		N/A	80%		N/A	N/A
eCRATER	Check Price	7.8	8.8	6.3	6.9	10	7.5	N/A	65,000+		N/A	N/A	N/A			None	N/A	Free	Free	2.9%	Free	N/A		90%	N/A	N/A	N/A

Best Overall

eBay

eBay is one of the oldest and best-known online auction sites and it has the largest body of active shoppers and sellers out of all the sites we researched. With over 160 million registered users, your products are more likely sell.

Unfortunately, this company does charge higher fees than other websites we researched. You don’t have to pay a seller verification fee, but after your first 50 listings, you pay 30 cents to list items. When you sell an item, eBay charges a 10 percent commission on the total sale amount. You also pay extra fees for upgrades such as adding additional photos to your listings. If you want to host a web store on eBay’s platform, you’ll have to pay a monthly fee depending on which subscription you choose. Store subscriptions remove the need to pay listing fees, but you still pay for upgrades. eBay lets you list items internationally, share your past transaction history with potential buyers and allows you to block buyers. You can accept payments through PayPal, eBay’s preferred method, or through Skrill, ProPay or credit cards.

Pros

This site has over 162 million registered users
Easy-to-use interface
Live chat support

Cons

Only your first 50 listings are free
Charges a 10 percent final value fee, the highest we researched
Extra fees can be confusing

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Best Value

eBid

If don’t want to deal with extra fees that other sellers tend to charge, eBid is our top value pick. This company never charges you more than three percent in final value fees and there is no cost to verify yourself as a seller. There are two sign up options: as a buyer or as a seller. If you sign up as a buyer for this site you can’t also sell items. As a seller, you pay eBid three percent of the final value of your items, but you can both buy and sell.

You can also sign up for a seller plus account which removes the final value fees, but is a paid account. Seller plus has weekly and monthly subscriptions, or you can pay $99 for lifetime access. This site has over 2 million registered users, which is significantly less than our top pick eBay. However, eBid is active all over the world. You can view how many people have looked at your listings and show your buyer feedback from past purchases so new customers can know that you are trustworthy. This auction site doesn’t offer as many payment methods as other sites we researched. You can accept payments through PPPay.com, PayPal or Skrill, and eBid does charge a transaction fee on all purchases.

Pros

Only charges a 3 percent final value fee
Free to list items
You can purchase lifetime seller’s access for discounts

Cons

No traffic reporting for your items
Only option for customer support is through email
You can’t pay with a credit card

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Best for Sellers on Multiple Sites

Bonanza

Selling items on Bonanza is easy if you’re a seller with multiple product stores across sites Bonanza has a product sync feature that lets you coordinate your inventory with other sites like eBay and Etsy.

This company doesn’t charge seller verification fees, which is a nice bonus. It’s also free to list items on the site and you get one free relisting if an item doesn’t sell the first time. This company charges a 3.5 percent final value fee, which Bonanza deducts from your sale. The minimum fee is 50 cents, no matter how small your sale and the maximum fee is $250. If you sign up for professional subscriptions you get a seller’s badge, which boosts your credibility. You also can see your traffic and give buyers coupons for your items. Bonanza’s listing feature comes with a photo editing feature called Background Burner that automatically removes the background from product photos you upload. In our research, we found this feature was slightly glitchy, but a built-in-photo editor can save you time and money as you upload your listings.

Pros

Syncs products across multiple auction sites
Photo editing tools
No fee for seller verification

Cons

Extra fee for live chat support
This site has fewer registered users than many other sites
No automatic bidding

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Why Trust Us?

We picked the top seven online auction sites to research for our comparison. While eBay is the most well-known online auction site, our research uncovered several other alternative sites with almost as many registered users and lower fees. If you’re interested in becoming a seller on online auction sites, it’s important to consider all the fees.

We also compared each site’s payment and support options. If you’re a seller, look for sites that organize your payments in a logical way. Some of the sites we researched only have email addresses for technical support, while the best offer phone support too and even live chat support.

Top Ten Reviews has reviewed tech products and software for over a decade. We’ve published reviews about online auction sites since 2006.

How We Researched

We researched the top online auction sites and compared them based on selling and listing fees, options for listing products, payment options and each site’s help and support features. We compared the sites' buying and selling processes and to see how simple it was to set up a listing on each site.

We also looked at the cost of each service and whether the fees outweigh the benefits. Fees can take away a large chunk of your selling profits, so make sure you understand what each company charges for listing fees, final value fees, and seller verification fees. We calculated all these fees and found that eBay has the highest final value fees, while companies like eBid doesn’t charge listing fees.

What’s the Difference Between a Listing and a Web Store?

A single item that you list in an auction is a listing. A listing has a description of the product, a suggested selling price and photos. Unfortunately, most sites will only let you list a certain number of items for free before charging you for each listing. If you want to avoid this fee and have many items to sell, look into opening a web store.

A web store lets you pay a monthly subscription for lower listing fees and fewer fees overall. Buyers can browse all your listings in one place, instead of finding you by searching for the individual items.

Are Online Auctions Safe?

Auction fraud usually occurs when a seller doesn’t ship a purchased item. It can also happen when you accidentally purchase black-market goods and are subject to numerous hidden fees. It’s important to research any seller you’re buying from. Be cautious of sellers outside your country or any who ask that you mail payments to a P.O. box.

If you make a purchase on an auction site, be sure to pay with a credit card or another payment option where you can dispute the charges if you don’t receive the items. Don’t mail a check and never send cash.

Apps

You can even use some online auction sites on your phone. While longstanding auction sites like eBay have apps you can download and use on the go, there are other options to make monitoring and bidding on the things you want easy and fast. Handbid is a silent auction app you can program to continually bid on an item up to a predetermined amount. Tophatter lets you participate in 90-second auctions for everything from electronics to toys. In short, you don't have to be tethered to your computer to participate in an online auction.

Best Online Auction Sites of 2018

eBay

eBid

Bonanza