“Have you done your homework?” You likely dreaded that question as a child. Yet, as a new online auction buyer, you should be happy when you hear that query echoing in your mind. Once you register to buy at an auction site, you will be eager to place your first bids immediately. Resist this temptation. Take some time to learn a few things about the site itself. Each online auction venue is different. The features, rules, and restrictions on what you can buy will vary from one site to another. Be sure you understand what you can do — and cannot do — on a particular auction site, before you place your first bid.

On eBay, for example, you should go to the eBay Policies page. This page provides important details in nine general areas of buying and selling policy:

• The eBay user agreement

• Site rules affecting everyone, including buyers, sellers, and eBay employees

• Rules for buyers

• Items that are prohibited or restricted

• Buyer and seller feedback

• Privacy protection

• Identity protection

• Rules for sellers

• Intellectual property protection

Not So Fast

Learn to slow down and temper any impatience when you log on to online auction sites. These are no places to be in a hurry. The world will not run out of things to buy before you can get online and bid. Indeed, haste can make the proverbial waste if you impulsively bid on an item, and then wish you hadn't.

On each auction site that interests you, take the time to study its features and determine which ones are right for your buying needs. The best way to check out an auction site for the first time is to view a few auctions for things you have absolutely no desire to buy. For example, pick an auction that has several bidders and will be ending soon. The auction may have been running for seven or ten days or longer, but most of the real action will occur within the final two days and especially in the final hour. As the minutes count down, the serious bidders will start maneuvering to post the winning offer. The bid prices may suddenly start jumping several dollars or more at a time as one buyer tops another buyer's maximum bid price, then the outbid buyer counters with a higher bid, and so on.