For a lively and addicting shopping experience, you must check out TopHatter.com. Being based in Palo Alto, CA, when invited to shop with TopHatter.com, I just knew I had to. I am the Bay Area Beauty Blogger after all! TopHatter.com is an online marketplace that sells everything from beauty products to electronics in fast live online auctions. We’re talking 90 seconds fast and huge savings, products sell for up to 80% off. Seriously! Also, all name brand items have an authenticity guarantee, so you can rest assured you’re purchasing a quality item.
How it works:
Bids are 100% free, you only pay for an item if you win it. Every time an item is bid on, the auction is extended by 10 seconds. The status of each item is clearly posted under each item’s price, letting you know if that item is accepting bids, going once, going twice, or sold. If you’re winning or if you’ve won an item, that will clearly be stated too. There are two ways to shop:
- You can shop on TopHatter’s home page, getting real time item updates.
- You can also browse items that are about to go to auction and set yourself reminders, so you can bid when they do.
My experience:
At first, I was completely overwhelmed. Everything was moving so fast and items were coming and going before I could even decide what I wanted to bid on! I finally jumped right in and started bidding, I was out bid a few times, but then . . . I won! Seeing the going once, then going twice warnings was stressful, but that stress just added to the excitement when I did win an item. After winning the first item, I was hooked – good thing I was spending free money lol. This site gets your adrenaline going and is addicting, almost like gambling. That being said, enjoy how entertaining this site can be, but don’t let yourself get carried away!
I looked ahead and set some reminders for items I’d like to bid on, but didn’t end up using those reminders. I was having more fun browsing the home page and bidding on beauty products and jewelry that caught my eye as they went up for auction. I ended up winning 2.00 carat green sapphire studs set in sterling silver and a 6.00 carat mystic quartz ring in sterling silver. The green sapphires cost $8.00 plus $5.00 shipping. The stones are a bit cloudy, but for only $13.00 I knew they wouldn’t be perfect. The quartz ring cost $12.00 plus $5.00 shipping. This ring is gorgeous and very sparkly, it’ll make a fun and colorful cocktail ring. Unfortunately, the pictures I took don’t really do it justice.
Shipping:
Not all items have a shipping cost. The item cost and shipping are clearly stated under each item that is currently open for bidding. Be sure to keep an eye on those numbers when bidding so you know exactly how much you’re potentially spending. You’ll be filled in on a shipping timeline once you’ve won an item you’ve bid on. Shipping time was fairly quick for me.
Returns:
If you’d like to make a return, you’ll be refunded as long as you return your item within 30 days in its original condition.
Bottom Line: Shopping on this site is surprisingly enjoyable and you can get some phenomenal deals. Try it out, I’m sure I will again!
Questions on this site? Do you ever shop on live online auction sites? Please let me know in the comments below!
Bay Area Beauty Blogger
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