They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – and wannabe Ebays are legion. One of the best and most successful is Ebid – a slick and professional looking site that's been competing quietly with a dominant Ebay for the best part of a decade.
To survive in a market so thoroughly dominated by one major player, a site has to offer something unique to survive, and Ebid has several strong differences that set it well apart from its rivals.
For one thing, it supports Google Checkout alongside PayPal; a continuing and unseemly spat has prevented that option from appearing on Ebay.
While the larger auction site charges you for listings as they're placed and then creams off a percentage of the final selling fee to boot, Ebid has a more user friendly and transparent two-tier system.
Casual 'standard' sellers enjoy free listings, with three per cent of the final fee given to Ebid as payment. 'Seller+' accounts, for regular listers, offer free listings and no final fees for an up-front payment of £59.99 a year, or £1.99 a week. That's not bad.