Eleven Top Online Auction Sites

Shopping auction sites requires a few caveats—beware of designer knock-offs, check the feedback ratings on sellers carefully, only pay through secure options like PayPal. Once you’ve got the cautions out of the way, however, there’s the possibility of finding some truly great deals, even on items that are rare or one-of-a-kind. Also there’s the thrill of being the top bidder—if you enjoy that sort of thing (and we kinda do). Check out our reviews of these sites so you’ll know where to begin.

11 Top Online Auction Sites for Designer Goods

UpperBid.com. The most designer (Armani, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, BCBG Max Azria, etc.) and vintage items we’ve found thus far, and it looks the most like eBay, too, which may not exactly be a big deal except that means it’s familiar and relatively easy to read/navigate. Our fave find? A Miu Miu handbag (which appeared legit) with a buy now price of $59.99.

OnlineAuction.com. Lots of apparel, lots of handbags, a huge list of detailed categories. Okay, we like—but a few random clicks didn’t bring us much in the way of super-hot deals (there were several Juicy Couture handbags for example—which would be super except the prices weren’t much different than if you bought them directly from Juicy Couture). That being said, if you don’t mind browsing quite a big, OnlineAuction.com is a site that appear to have a good reputation and an extensive number of sellers.

CQout. When, at first look, we see more than 44,000 apparel items available, our heart rises just a little. And upon further inspection, oodles of cool shoes (Chanel, Fendi, Christian Louboutin, handbags (Gucci, Hermes), and apparel, with current bids well within the realm of affordability. Jackpot! The downside? Many of the items would be coming from abroad (the site is based in the UK) meaning pretty high shipping costs. However, if you find a fab designer deal on the cheap, the additional shipping still might be worth it . . . just watch your budget carefully. And there is a “local only” tab to sort out auctions closer to home, meaning in the US—the pickings are much slimmer, but many sellers offered free shipping.