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Holiday shoppers love a bargain and online auctions just might be the perfect place to find one.

Last year, the week of Thanksgiving opened the holiday shopping season with a big green bang. Guess where the online shoppers were clicking their orders away? Nielsen//NetRatings reported that the auction sites at eBay, Amazon and Yahoo Shopping lead the pack — eBay alone drew nearly 12 million unique visitors in that one week.

There's no reason to believe that the auction mania will die down anytime soon. True, there are some bad apples at every auction site, but they can't seem to spoil the fun of getting a bargain.

To make sure your holiday - or everyday - shopping at online auctions is safe and rewarding there are a few simple things to keep in mind.

Before you start bidding on any items, do a search online to find out what the prices are like in retail outlets.

• If the item is priced unbelievably low... be extremely careful. Unbelievable is probably exactly the right word to use.
• Many auction shoppers get carried away and wind up bidding more than the item is worth. If the bidding gets too high, drop out.

Make sure that the person selling the item has a good reputation. Most online auction sites will let you see the sellers history and any complaints that have been made about the merchandise they delivered - or failed to deliver.

Get familiar with the policies of the auction - Amazon has guarantees to make sure you get refunds for bad deals, but many other online auctions leave it up to you to take precautions.

There are some good articles and sites to check before you start bidding.

Ten tips to avoid being scammed offers some advice from an online law encyclopedia. The US Federal Trade Commission has a site to help you avoid problems - and to get help if something does go wrong.

Don't let the scary stories stop you from shopping at the auctions.

Millions of satisfied customers will tell you what a great experience it was. There are some incredible bargains and some collectibles that are impossible to find anywhere else. It can be fun and rewarding — as long as you know what to watch out for.