If you're one of the millions of consumers who've caught the online auction bug, you already know that you can make - or save - some serious coin on the Web, simply by knowing your way around the online auction community. And as a secured lender, you've also probably realized that such auctions offer you the opportunity to promote your assets in a new venue, and market to an entirely different customer base.

Granted, you're probably not going to shuffle off to eBay or some other auction site to try and market deals that are easy enough to close in the brick-and-mortar world. But such sites do offer you a perfect opportunity to unload slower-moving, slim-margin products and services while simultaneously gaining exposure for your Web site in the process.

AllieMae Capital (www.alliemac.com), for example, uses online auction site eBay (www.ebay.com), to market real estate loans, as does LandGoal.com (www.landgoal.com).

Moreover, a number of secured lenders have turned to the same auction site to unload merchandise tied to foreclosed loans. A recent search with the keyword "foreclosure" on eBay, for example, yielded 378 items mostly foreclosed real estate. And a similar search for "repos" turned up 153 items, the higher end of which were mostly cars and motorcycles that had been funded by secured lenders.

Plus, you'll find auction sites to be a ready market to unload used office equipment and similar capital goods for much more than you may receive through other channels.

Fortunately, if you're looking to make a foray into online auctions for the first time, you'll find that all of the pioneering groundwork has already be done for you. According to Kevin Pursglove, an eBay spokesperson, on any given day there are more than 12 million items, in more than 18,000 categories, listed on eBay - the largest online auction site. all told, the eBay market site alone realized $14.87 billion in gross merchandise sales for 2002.

Moreover, you'll find that the concept of online auctions is still so new that novelty alone brings in traffic that otherwise would be nonexistent. "Online auctions are the hottest emerging trend in dynamic pricing," says Dennis L. Prince, author of Official Guide to Online Buying and Selling, published by Course Technology (www.course.com), and a well-established analyst of online auctioning. "People drop by to see what's happening, and bid, bid, bid."

Other than being pure tun for buyers - few activities beat the rush of besting a crush of competing bidders on a popular item with just seconds on the auction clock eBay and others continue to attract droves of buyers simply because of their reputation of being a magnet for great deals.

"Online auctions now offer millions of items - so many, in fact, that it's common to find overlooked (and therefore underpriced) items," says Mr. Prince.

Of course, as with most business transactions, things can get ugly fairly quickly if you happen to run into an unscrupulous buyer or seller. Ditto for buyers and sellers who don't understand the game, or don't communicate well in an online environment. So if you're looking to make the plunge into online auctioning, you'll want to know your way around before you get in too deep.

As an established lender, you'll quickly find that offering your own items and services for auction online requires all of the same best practices that any decent lender cultivates in the brick-and-mortar world. First and foremost: be sure to turn around a response to every e-mail within 24 hours. "Remember, sometimes bidders who ask questions are testing the water," says Mr. Prince. "Your responses beckon: "Come on in, the water's fine."

If you're offering a high-ticket item - whether it be loan services, or simply some old capital equipment you're looking to unload - you may want to include a direct link to the item's product page on your own site, or on the site of the original manufacturer. Such links save you from having to reinvent the wheel, or create separate advertising copy to close a deal.

As in the brick-and-mortar world, you'll want to clearly state the terms of the sale, including your policy regarding return of the item if it's a capital good, and the rate you'll charge for shipping. (Hint: you can save yourself a number of superfluous e-mails about shipping costs by posting the shipping dimensions and weight of your item, and then offering links to the shippers available, such as United Parcel Service (www.ups.com) and the U.S. Postal Service (www.usps.com). Potential buyers can calculate the exact shipping costs by entering in your zip code and theirs.)

If you're trying to unload an aging vehicle or similar motorized item on eBay, you also may want to advise potential buyers of eBay's Pep Boys 25-point check inspection. Essentially, for $25 (paid by a potential buyer), Pep Boys will send a representative on a potential buyer's behalf to check out your vehicle, and give it a thumbs-up if they feel it's mechanically up-to-snuff. Such a service should help reassure skittish buyers who've never bid on a vehicle on an auction site before. (For more information on this service, go to eBay and click "eBay Motors," then "Services," then "Vehicle Inspection.")

Of course, if you'd rather not sweat any of the cyber-details (hey, not everyone is comfortable wearing a propeller), some online auction sites - including eBay - offer the services of independent agents who will handle all the particulars for you. For models of such personal assistant services, check out eBay's Trading Assistants Program at http://pages.ebay.com/ tradingassistants.html.

Once you've gotten the hang of online auctioning, you also may want to use such services to source incredible bargains for your own firm. As a buyer, you'll often find astounding deals because some sellers simply do not know the value of the items they're offering, Mr. Prince says.

In addition, because many auction sites keep an easily accessible record of buyer comments for all to see, you'll often find sellers are more eager to please in the online auction world.

As a business buyer, probably the easiest way to introduce yourself to online auctions is to engage in a few inconsequential auctions on eBay. Participating is a snap, really: you enter the amount you want to pay, monitor the auction, and wait for an e-mail alert from the auction site informing you if you've won or lost the auction.

Once you're ready to move into higher-ticket items, you'll of course want to focus a little more closely on the purchase. Mr. Prince suggests asking the seller for additional images of higher-end products, taken from varying angles. You will also want a guarantee of a documented history of ownership for the merchandise.

If there's any negative feedback posted against the seller on the site, ask for an explanation, Mr. Prince says. Inevitably, highvolume sellers will most likely encounter a tiny percentage of negative feedback - a crank or two who cannot be pleased, no matter what - and probably should be given the benefit of the doubt in those circumstances. But you'll want to be wary of any seller that generates a pattern of negative feedback overtime.

Meanwhile, stay on the lookout for "bid shilling," or the placement of bogus bids by the seller in an effort to drive up an item's price. "With this scam, a dishonest seller will make use of multiple user IDs, or will enlist associates to place bogus bids," according to Mr. Prince.

You can minimize your exposure to such ne'er-do-wells by watching for recurring user IDs that are used to place bids on several auctions run by the same seller, Mr. Prince says. Also monitor recurring patterns in which the same bidder or bidders place last-minute bids with auctions run by the same seller. "You should also watch for bidders and sellers who regularly bid on one another's auctions - especially if they never appear to win," he says.

Either way as a seller or buyer - you'll find that online auctions are a tool of competitive advantage that are well worth the time and effort to add to your Web arsenal.