Tophatter is a shopping website and app that includes a wide range of items from jewelry and clothing to phone accessories and gaming items. It is a free to bid auction site with fast-paced auctions online and in apps for iPhone and Android. All of the auctions start at $1 and they only last for 90 seconds. The tagline for the service is that “It’s like eBay, but everything sells in 90 seconds.”
Some items ship fast and arrive within a week or two, while other items may take up to a month to arrive. Unlike penny auction sites, you won’t find a lot of name brand items on Tophatter. It is mostly made up of non-name brand items or off-brand items similar to the listings that you see on Wish.
How to use Tophatter
You can shop on Tophatter online or using the Tophatter app for iPhone or Android. The Tophatter app and website shows a range of short auctions that you can bid on once you get an account. Unlike some auction sites, each bid is free, so you only pay when you win an item.
To start, you need to signup for an account before you can bid on the app. This is to help them convince you that you should buy something later with emails.
The auctions last 90 seconds, so you have to act fast. You can bid immediately on live auctions and you can set reminders for auctions that are coming up so that you don’t miss out.
When you see something you like, bid on it, and pay attention to what happens to see if you need to bid more or if you win.
Once you win, you need to pay for the item quickly as you may not be able to bid on more items until you pay for items you’ve won.
Things to Consider Before Bidding
- Read up on the specs and descriptions of the items before you bid.
- Since the auctions end fast, it can be hard to do a lot of research on the items before you bid. Try to look for items that are coming up for sale instead of already on sale.
- If you cancel too many bids after you win, you may not be able to use Tophatter anymore, but if you get an item that isn’t as described you can return it within 30days of delivery.
- If you are having bidding difficulties or you see an error code, you can copy it and contact Tophatter support.
