| AUCTIONS |
QXL
www.qxl.com |
 |
| QXL is the biggest online auction house
in Europe and its online tour makes a great introduction to the
mysterious
world of bidding online. There's a good selection of goods available on
the
site and it's always bustling with activity - the Holidays section is
always
worth a visit. |
The Real
Hollywood
Online Auction
store.universalstudios.com/usacution |
|
| Universal Studios auctions off props
and costumes from its TV programmes and films at this excellent site.
You'll
also find plenty of signed photos for sale and unusual items such as
the
pant suit actually worn by Marlene Dietrich. |
Sandafayre
www.sandafayre.com |
|
| Sandafayre is the world's largest online
auction for stamps. The site might look a tad dull but it should be
your
first port of call if you're looking for first editions and postal
rarities.
Every week Sandafayre holds huge auctions selling everything philatelic
from
single stamps through to valuable collections. |
Sothebys
sothebys.amazon.com |
|
| Sothebys has teamed up with Amazon to
offer some very special online auctions. You'll find unusual and rare
lots
here including old books and manuscripts and entertainment and sports
memorabilia.
The online guides are well worth reading if you're looking for an
introduction
to the art of collecting. |
Vectis
Auctions
www.vectis.co.uk |
|
| Vectis specialises in online auctions
of collectible toys. If you've been hoarding away old Corgi and
Matchbox
cars or ancient Hornby train sets this is the perfect place to get rid
of
them. You can even look back on previous auctions to see what kind of
prices
these collectible toys are going for. |
| Rating :
4/5 |
Yahoo!
Auctions
uk.auctions.yahoo.com/uk |
|
| There's a phenomenal amount of stuff
for sale on Yahoo's person-to-person auction site and they're a mix of
UK
and US-based items. The site is extremely busy and it's free to use for
buyers
and sellers. Yahoo also runs lots of charity auctions, which are well
worth
a visit. |
Auctions.com
www.auctions.com |
|
| You'll find some unusual lots for auction
on this site including historical signed photos and bizarre items
including
an Amish wash tub. Since it's a US-based site the prices are all listed
in
dollars but it's well worth a browse simply for the variety of goods on
offer. |
BidnBuy
www.bidnbuy.com |
|
| From here you can jump off to two separate
sites. Buyer2Seller is a person-to-person auction, while BidnBuy
auctions
off computer products and peripherals. The site is based in Ireland but
they
will ship to anywhere in the European Community. |
Bullnet
Auctions
www.bullnet.co.uk/auctions |
|
| This site mixes business auctions with
person-to-person sales. It's free to buy and sell in the
person-to-person
auctions. The site gives you useful background information on any
seller
you might want to deal with and tells you if they've successfully sold
from
the site before. |
BuyStuff
www.buystuff.co.uk |
|
| The busiest area of this online auction
is the car section. Most of the cars for sale come with photos and
comprehensive
descriptions. You can even auction off domain names here. |
eBay
www.ebay.co.uk |
|
| The UK version of the giant US person-to-person
auction site is impressive. It's free to put your stuff up for sale
here.
And although many of the auctions are based in the US you can search
for
only those lots sold in the UK. |
Ebid
www.ebid.co.uk |
|
| You get to run your own auction on this
site by putting up your own goods for sale. Be warned though: if you do
manage
to sell anything you will be charged a percentage of the final bid.
There
are lots of products being auctioned here and Ebid is especially good
for
computer hardware and software. |
Eurobid
www.eurobid.com |
|
| This nicely designed site shows you which auctions
are
closing today so you could pick up a few bargains if you get in there
with
a winning bid right at the last minute. The sellers come from all over
Europe
and so the prices are listed in euros, although the seller specifies
what
currency they want to be paid in. You'll find everything from books
through
to villas for sale on this site. |
First
Auction
www.firstauction.com |
|
| If you like your auctions fast and furious
check out the Flash Auctions on this site. First Auction hold 21
half-hour
auctions every day - check out the online timetable for more details.
Bidding
starts at a dollar on the Flash auctions. The site is US-based but you
can
still get some bargains. |
Amazon
Auctions
www.amazon.co.uk |
|
| You've got the potential to reach over
13 million buyers around the world if you auction items at Amazon. It's
free
to put an ad up there, you simply fill in an online form. You'll find a
mix
of US and UK-based auctions and there's a wide selection of goods on
sale. |
Auction
Hunter
www.auctionhunter.co.uk |
|
| This person-to-person auction site attracts
plenty of activity. However if you don't want to hang around bidding
all
day, you can always set up the RoboBid which bids automatically for you
up
to your pre-set ceiling. Auction Hunter also conducts Dutch auctions on
this
site. |
The Thesaurus Group
www.thesaurus.co.uk |
|
| More than the normal internet auction
sites.
Times,dates and places of sales sites across the UK, plus Auction
Search
allows you to search 1,000 pages of catalogues from over 600 auction
houses
and ACTS tracks stolen fine art, antiques and collectibles. |
|
CD's,
TAPES, DVD's, & VIDEOS |
101CD.com
www.101cd.com |
|
| This site doesn't look great and the
design is very basic, however it does stock over one million CDs, DVDs,
videos,
games and books. That figure includes over 500,000 import CDs. Price
and
breadth of choice are the big selling points here. A selection of the
top
40 major new releases are going for a mere £9.99 and that price
includes
postage and packing within the UK. For each CD you get track listings
plus
reviews from other 101CD customers. |
Audiostreet
www.audiostreet.co.uk |
|
| The prices are very reasonable on this
UK-based site with some chart CDs selling for a mere £9.99. Even
better,
delivery is free to UK addresses. The site is a doddle to use - you
just
search the database by artist or by CD title. You get to see your name
in
lights if you add your own album reviews to the site. If you want to
stay
on top of the charts you can choose to view only the last fortnight's
worth
of new releases. |
CD Paradise
www.cdparadise.com |
|
| This site is a spin off from WH Smith.
The selection of CDs is reasonable with many going for as little as
£9.99.
You can search for the title of CD or go to a specific artist or just
browse
through a musical genre. The CDs are well reviewed and you can submit
your
own opinions to the site. Shipping rates are fixed at £2.95 if
you
order over £50 worth of products and the items should be
dispatched
within 48 hours. There's also a handy Email Update option that lets you
know
when your favourite artist releases a new CD. |
CDNow
www.cdnow.com |
|
| CDNow was one of the first and remains
one of the best and most comprehensive of online music stores. The site
is
based in the US, which means you get attractive US prices. The good
news
is that CDNow use a European shipping centre to speed up delivery and
cut
down on costs for those over the pond. You'll find Realaudio samples of
many
tracks on the site so you can get a taster of a CD before you buy. You
can
even create your own greatest hits CD by downloading tracks at the very
reasonable
price of 99 cents per track. |
Emusic
www.emusic.com |
|
| This professional looking US site stocks
a huge range of CDs. Many of the CDs available have sample tracks that
you
can listen to for free and you can download tracks at 99 cents a pop.
The
site also has a music news service and plenty of background information
on
the artists. There's even a pretty comprehensive list of live gigs
around
the world. |
HMV
www.hmv.co.uk |
|
| The huge high street music and video
store, HMV, as got a rather good web presence as well. In case you
hadn't
guessed already, the site offers you the chance to buy everything
on-line
that you can get from any one of the standard shops. The front page
contains
that week's new releases, any of which you can buy. As you would expect
from
HMV, the back catalogue is truly immense, and the search engine allows
you
to find what you are looking for with ease. |
Boxman
www.boxman.co.uk |
|
| This site is very simple to use and
it's fast. But perhaps the best news for music fans is that it sells
CDs
at very competitive prices (the price of chart CDs varied between
£10
and £11). You can search the CD database by title, artist or by a
specific
track. If you're lucky you might find you can even listen to sample
tracks
of your chosen CD over the Internet. |
Yalplay
www.yalplay.com |
|
| Yalplay sells chart CDs at prices of
around £10.99, which is a couple of quid cheaper than you'll find
them
in high street musical outlets. As well as CDs the site also stocks a
reasonable
selection of vinyl and mini-disks. You won't find much background
information
on the artists and there are no track listings, which can be
frustrating.
Most CDs are shipped out the next working day at a delivery cost of
£1.25
for the first CD and 25p for each CD thereafter. |
BlackStar
www.blackstar.co.uk |
|
| The simple design of this site means
it's fast to load and easy to work your way around. You're tempted in
on
the front page with special offers and free postage costs on DVDs and
videos.
You can browse by film genre or search for specific titles. There's a
plot
summary for most of the films and suggestions of other films you might
like
to see in the same genre. The site is not short on bargains either -
some
popular videos were available for a mere £3.99. |
DVD Box
Office
www.dvdboxoffice.com |
|
| This site offers free shipping worldwide,
which makes a pleasant surprise. Of course because Boxoffice is based
in
the States you can get hold of films before they're available in the UK
and
they're much cheaper than over here. New Arrivals take centre stage on
the
opening page of the site and you're looking at prices between $25 and
$30
for the latest movies. |
DVD Express
www.dvdexpress.com |
|
| If you are serious about DVD, then the
only way to go is to import titles from America. The problem is
choosing
a suitably reliable site. DVD Express is one such site. Offering
thousands
of titles, as well as music CD's and movie merchandise, this is a great
site.
The design allows you to search for a title based on a key word, or
delve
through the structure in place. |
DVDplus
www.dvdplus.co.uk |
|
| This site looks very stylish and proved
to be easy to navigate. You can search for videos or DVDs by title,
actor
or director or you can browse by genre. Each DVD comes with a plot
summary,
reviews and a star rating. If you're stuck for gift ideas then why not
visit
the Inspire Me section where you'll find a list of 10 classic films
that
anyone would appreciate. |
Filmstore
www.filmstore.co.uk |
|
| This site is a subsidiary of the Odeon
cinema group and it sells the top DVDs and videos. Each movie comes
with
a plot summary and you can search for specific actors or directors.
There's
a special section called TV Heaven for cult soaps and TV shows on video
which
contains classics such as Brideshead Revisited. |
Filmworld
www.filmworld.co.uk |
|
| You'll find a good selection of videos
and CDs on sale at Filmworld. The movies are accompanied by detailed
background
information. Movie buffs will appreciate the many and varied ways you
can
search the Filmworld database - by film title, director, actor,
distributor
or by a specific year. You could even use the online Film Atlas to
choose
films made in specific countries. And just to get you in the mood, you
can
even check out a few film trailers online. |
Video
Paradise
www.videoparadise.com |
|
| Video Paradise is yet another WH Smith
spin off. You'll find plenty of special offers on the site, with most
of
the videos being backed up by comprehensive movie reviews along with
customer
comments. If you're not sure what you fancy watching then check out the
video
charts for inspiration. Videos are sent out within 48 hours and
delivery
is charged at £2.95. |
Entertainment
Express
www.entexpress.com |
|
| Not only does Entertainment Express
sell videos but it also turns its hands to CDs and software. You'll
always
find some attractive special offers at the site with many videos going
for
as little as £3.99. If you're looking for inspiration you can
browse
by genre or find a specific title by typing in a movie title or an
actor's
name. The prices are good and include delivery costs. |
|
| SHOPPING |
Iceland
www.iceland.co.uk |
|
| The TV ads tell us that Iceland sell
more than just frozen food and in attempt to compete with the big boys
they've
recently launched an online shopping service. The service is available
to
customers living within a 10-mile radius of an Iceland store (or three
miles
within the M25 area) and, even better, delivery is free if you order
over
£40 worth of goods. As you'd expect from Iceland the prices are
competitive
and the range of goods available is impressive. |
Lastorders.com
www.lastorders.com |
|
| Instead of nipping round the corner
to the local offy you can get all your booze from Lastorders. The site
stocks
over 250 products and is strong on lagers, ciders, spirits and
Alcopops.
The choice of wines is less impressive, wine buffs will be better off
with
a dedicated wine merchant. Prices are reasonable but do bear in mind
the
fact that you're usually ordering in bulk. The delivery fee is
£3.50
per order. |
Organics
Direct
www.organicsdirect.com |
|
| We might all want to eat healthy organic
food but it can be tricky to find a good local supplier. Organics
Direct
gets around this problem by delivering its range of organic fruit,
vegetables,
dairy produce, bread, wine and cakes to anywhere in the UK mainland.
Bizarrely,
you can even order organic nappies from the site. The produce comes
highly
recommended - the company won the 'Box scheme of the year' award in the
National
1999 Organic Food awards. A mixed vegetable box will set you back a
mere
£12.95 including delivery. |
Tesco
Direct
www.tesco.co.uk |
|
| It's good news for Southerners on the
Tesco site - if you live in London or the South East you can order your
weekly
grocery shop from the Tesco site and get it shipped direct to your
door.
If you live in the rest of the UK there's a fair chance you might still
fall
in the Tesco online shopping catchment area - you'll just have to type
in
your postcode to see if you're one of the lucky ones. There's an
excellent
range of goods available from the site including items from the
off-license
area and magazines and newspapers. Delivery costs a fiver and if you
order
early enough goods can be shipped out the same day. |
Whittard
Of
Chelsea
www.whittard.com |
|
| The tea and coffee specialist Whittard
has branches all over the country, and now you can order your tea and
coffee
over the Internet with this simply designed, easy to use site. As well
as
tea (covering heaps of varieties from Oolong Black Dragon through to
English
Breakfast) and coffee (covering virtually every coffee you care to
mention),
you can also order china and 'specials' (biscuits, gift vouchers, hot
chocolate).
Whittard will even ship items over to America for you. There's one area
of
the site that Americans will find particularly useful, it gives you
instructions
on how to make the perfect cup of tea. |
Worldfoods
www.worldfoods.co.uk |
|
| It's not always easy to get hold of
organic foods, which is where WorldFoods steps in with its range of
unprocessed,
additive-free foods. Amongst the myriad products you can buy online are
nuts,
snacks, dried fruits, grains and pasta, organic groceries, breakfast
cereals,
seeds beans and lentils and organic vegetables. The site is smart
enough
to store details of your last order so you can use that as a basis for
your
next online shop. |
Sainsbury's
www.sainsburys.co.uk |
|
| Shop online with Sainsbury's and your
fruit and veg is specially selected for you by trained Orderline
shoppers,
you can even specify how ripe you like your bananas. The online
ordering
service doesn't cover all of the UK as yet - you have to type in your
postcode
to see if you're in the catchment area. Order before 9pm and you'll get
your
goods by 10am the next day. As with Tesco, the delivery fee for
ordering
your grub online is a fiver. |
Berry Bros
&
Rudd
www.bbr.co.uk |
|
| This is one of the best online wine
merchants selling some top quality grape juice. Hang the expense and
check
out the vintage section of the site where you'll see lots of wines at
over
£250 a bottle. But there's plenty to suit at the budget end of
the
market too. Each wine comes with a helpful description and you can
search
their huge database by grape variety, country of origin or colour. If
you
order over £100 worth of wine delivery is free, otherwise it
costs
a rather expensive £7.50 per order. |
|
| STORES |
Toys R Us
www.toysrus.co.uk |
|
| The giant toy superstore stocks nearly
1,000 toys on its bright and breezy Web site. You can browse by
category
of toys with most items accompanied by clear pictures. The prices are
competitive
and there are often special online promotions and deals. You should
also
check out the sister Babies R Us site (www.babiesrus.co.uk) where you
can
buy baby toys, clothes and even nappies. Products are normally
delivered
within three working days and the delivery charge is £2.50 per
order. |
Zoom
www.zoom.co.uk |
|
| Zoom isn't a big name on the high street
but you will know the stores behind this new online brand; TopShop,
Principles,
Dorothy Perkins and Evans are just a few of the brand names represented
in
this online department store. Zoom majors on selling clothing although
you
can also buy electrical items, gifts, household goods and even cars if
your
credit card will let you. Every product is accompanied by a picture, so
you
can see exactly what you're buying. |
Debenhams
www.debenhams.co.uk |
|
| Debenhams is one of the first of the
big department stores to actually offer products for sale online. The
online
goods for sale are limited to a selection of gifts and flowers and you
can
also access the wedding list service through the site. The gifts are
nicely
presented and beautifully photographed. The 100 or so products are
split
into section gifts for Him, for Her and for the Home. Delivery is free
on
orders over £125 otherwise it's £2.95 per order and that
includes
free returns. |
The Gadget
Shop
www.thegadgetshop.co.uk |
|
| The Gadget Shop is packed full of those
stylish items so beloved by boys everywhere. You'll find a good
selection
of the products available on the high street on this site. Real gadget
fans
can even set up their own personal gift wish list, which is a great
boon
if you've got a birthday coming up. If you don't know where to start
why
not check out the top ten most popular items on the site. Once you've
chosen
one product just follow the suggestions that lead you to other similar
products.
You could be there for days. |
Hamleys
www.hamleys.co.uk |
|
| Visiting Hamleys with kids in tow can
be a torturous experience - you'll never get the children out of there
without
kicking and screaming as there's just too much stuff to play with. Now
you
can get hold of that famous red Hamleys bag without setting foot in the
store
by shopping online. You can choose items by category of toy or check
out
the toy recommendations. There are even some limited-edition toys that
adults
will probably take a bit of a fancy to. The site looks great and every
toy
is well photographed - but be warned, it's not cheap. |
Liberty of
London
www.liberty-of-london.com/shopping |
|
| This site is gorgeous, which is no more
than you'd expect from this exclusive London department store. If
you're
looking for unusual gifts this is the site to visit. You'll find
exquisite
fabrics, hoards of gift ideas for the man or woman in your life and
some
fabulous furniture. All the products are clearly photographed and then
dispatched
in the distinctive purple and gold Liberty packaging. The items shown
here
aren't cheap although you could always click on the button that pulls
up
all the items under £50. |
MFI
www.mfi.co.uk |
|
| If it's free-standing bedroom, office,
lounge or kitchen furniture you're after, they can all be ordered
online
from MFI. If you're after more detailed information and help on
planning
your room you can even book an appointment with one of MFI's specialist
planners
from the Web site. Delivery is free and as you'll know MFI boasts some
of
the keenest furniture prices in the business. |
Argos
www.argos.co.uk |
|
| You won't find the entire Argos catalogue
online just yet. Nevertheless the selection of products is impressive.
You
can choose to search by entering a key word or you can relax and browse
through
product areas. The products are accompanied by photos gleaned from the
catalogue.
The delivery process is less than impressive though, Argos state you'll
usually
get your product within four to six working days - which is a bit
tardy.
Spend over £150 and delivery is free. |
|
|
CONTACT US CLICK
The Informed
Investor 
