If you are someone who has never bought anything online before and would like to get some general information on how online auctions work, we will explore this topic and fill you in on the basics of what you will need to know.

The very first thing that you will want to do is get a good idea on what the going price range is for your item(s) of interest. One way to do this is to pay a visit to a few different sites, what you'll want to do is type the name of item your looking for into your search engine of choice and visit the first 5 - 7 retailers that show up in the results for this item, this will give you a pretty good idea on the retail price range is. In case you are wondering what types of items can be purchased at online auctions, the list is endless, some of the more commonly purchased items are things like: electronics, jewelry, computers, watches, your dream cell phone, sports memorabilia, art, accessories for your car, hard to find music from your favorite artist and much, much more.

Now that you have a price range of the item you're looking to buy, you will want to head on over to a couple of different online auction sites like: eBay.com, Ubid.com, Webidz.com, Bidz.com, and Priceline.com just to name a few.

One thing that you'll want to keep in mind is that while most online auction sites operate in a similar fashion, its a good idea to read the "Terms of Use" and any other information that the site offers. Another important item to be mindful of is the amount of time allowed for auctions can vary from one site to the other. Some auction sites allow the bidding to continue even though it has gone well past the stated time period, while other auction sites immediately stop at the close of the auction.

Understandably, everyone wants to get a great deal when buying online and especially at online auctions. Try not to let this desire get you in to trouble by buying something that may be ridiculously under priced, because there's a great likelihood of it being a fake. So beware when a price appears to be too good to be true. One way to minimize the chances of buying "bad" merchandise is to read the feedback on the seller, the more positive the seller feedback, the better the chances of having a good experience. Many sellers will even allow you to email them if you have any specific questions about the item for sale.

Now that you've done your preliminary research, it's time to start to bid. As you're looking through the different auctions, you may notice that some of them have bidding starting at a $1, this is usually just to draw in bidders and you'll see that the winning bid will be considerably higher than this. I've found that one of the best ways to get a good price on an item that you're interested in, particularly on eBay, is to wait until the last hour of that particular auction. Assuming your item of interest is still available, the seller's motivation level will go up considerably, especially if you're one of the only bidders left and no one has bought yet.

This should now be enough information to get you started on your way. To get started, I would suggest that you start off with something relatively inexpensive at first, like a book or a DVD of some sort, something priced under $50. Go through the entire process right on down to the opening of the package once it arrives in the mail.

As your confidence grows, you will naturally start buying more and more items through online auctions; you may actually enjoy it so much that you may find yourself wanting to now sell things through online auctions, while generating a nice little income for yourself in the process. If you find yourself really starting to enjoy what you're doing, you may want to take it more seriously and look into becoming an eBay wholesaler, these individuals can usually make a very handsome living for themselves, very often working out of the comfort of their own home- enjoy.