Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Easy to use online shop, good illustrations and descriptions of products, excellent auction service for clearence items |
| Disadvantages: |
This site can be somewhat slow at times, especially during the early evenings |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
I have been using Comet's clearence site for over a year now and I can tell you, I have had some very good bargains.
I found the site whilst looking for a new tumble dryer early last year. To be honest, I thought the actual prices on the Comet website were quite reasonable but still a little expensive for what I was looking for. But, that was until I stumbled upon thier auction section.
Comet's clearence site auctions off all of the stock that Comet can't sell. It is very easy to use once you open an account with them. You pay nothing to open an account and no money changes hands until you place a bid for an item and your bid wins.
The site is very well set out and all items are set into easy to use categories. Once a category has been chosen, you can start looking at the items that are on auction.
Each item is clearly marked as to what the product is, how much the product is currently being auctioned at, the actual Comet store price and also when the auction closes for that particular item. There is also an option to view more details about the product and once you are directed to the full description of the product, it is busting with information.
Within the detailed description of the item being auctioned is a short product damage section. This tells you if there is anything wrong with the item being auctioned. Usually, the item will have a scratch or box damage only. But there are quite a few items that don't have any damage at all and are being auctioned off for almost next to nothing!
From the description page you can place a bid for the item you are viewing. The bidding system is very easy to use and full instructions on what to do are on the web pages. Once you've placed a bid you receive an email to confirm you bid. The website will also inform you by email of any changes to the auction, such as someone putting in a higher bid than you or if your bid wins an auction.
I absolutely swear by this website and whenever I need to replace a hi-fi or washing machine etc., I got online.
However, I have to say that it can be a bit daunting at first. You can get a little put off when your bid doesn't win but my advice to that is keep trying and you'll soon find that you will learn how the bidding system works and beat it!!
In the last twelve months, I've had a new top of the range washing machine, a tumble dryer and a new hi-fi - all of which were brand names, which would have come to a total of £650.00/£700.00 had I bought them from somewhere else but by using the Comet auction facility, I got the lot for just under £400.00!
Another plus point is the tweleve month warranty/guarantee that Comet offer. It doesn't matter you've paid 10p for an item and it's been bashed about a lot, Comet still off the warranty/guarantee.
However, with every good thing, there is always a down fall. I have to admit that you can get rather carried away if you don't watch what you are doing. On top of the amount you bid for an item, there is a delivery charge - and it's not cheap! For small items it's about £7.00 but for larger items it's around £25.00. So you have to think about the delivery charge before you put your bid in - you end up paying more than the store price for an item!
The website can also be quite slow during early evening and when the "lots" are beginning to close (which is usually between 8.30pm and 9.00pm). It can be frustrating waiting ages for the pictures and descriptions to load up.
All in all this is an absolutely excellent website and I would recommend it to anyone who needs to purchase household appliances/items but doesn't want to spend a fortune.
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