It’s not a penny auction! So why are we reviewing it? Well, we think that TopHatter is a good penny auction alternative. TopHatter is a free to bid auction website (you never pay for bids as you would on a penny auction). Who cares! There are some things about TopHatter that we really like, and a few things which we do not. So sit back class and prepare to be schooled about TopHatter Auctions.
Disclaimer: This review was written by an independent third party. For any comments or factual corrections, please email info@bestpennyauctionsites.org.
About TopHatter
Website: www.tophatter.com
Competition: Low-Medium (we easily win auctions)
TopHatter Coupon Codes: None needed, bids are free
Free bids at sign-up: N/a, bids are free
Other ways to get free bids: N/a, bids are free
- TopHatter Address: 185 Berry St., Suite 2400, San Francisco CA 94107
- Phone number: (405) 242-5339
- Facebook: facebook.com/tophatter/
- Twitter: twitter.com/tophatter
BBB Rating: A+
Editor’s TopHatter Reviews
TopHatter takes the term Entertainment Shopping to the next level. Tophatter is a high-paced free to be auction website which operates hundreds of closing auctions at all times. In our observations, the volume of auctions offered here seems to outpace some of the largest penny auction websites such as DealDash.
TopHatter is a bidding website which is similar to eBay in that 1) the items auctioned are done so by sellers, not TopHatter and 2) placing a bid is free. However, we think that this auction site is a lot more fun than eBay!
One important note is that TopHatter is NOT a penny auction. That’s right, NOT a penny auction. Bids are free, always. If you want to check out a penny auction, turn your eyes towards DealDash.
TopHatter Auction Features
Top Hatter is unique from other online bidding websites in a few different ways:
- Free-to-Bid Auctions: All auctions are free to bid. You only pay when you win plus a shipping fee.
- Many Sellers: Items auctioned on Top Hatter are done so by other vendors. So there are basically thousands of vendors auctioning products at all times. Similar to ebay, but much more fun and fast-paced.
- High Auction Volume: The volume is really hard to quantify as a user. It’s huge, visit the site and you’ll see.
Common TopHatter Auctions
- Jewelry
- Watches
- Home goods
- Cloths
- Gift cards of all shapes and sizes
- Laptops and tablet computers
- Video games and video game consoles
- Headphones, MP3 players
- Digital cameras including SLRs
- Purses, Jewelry, Art
- Tons of other stuff
Bidding Tips
- Shipping price: Check the shipping price before bidding, some sellers
- Shipping time: Watch the estimated shipping time. In some cases, it can take a couple weeks for shipping
- Plan to win: In our experience, we won a good majority of auctions leading us to believe that vendors are willing to sell product at a low cost
- Cancel if you need to: If you win an auction and don’t want the item, you need to cancel it within your account. Easy to do and avoids your account from being cancelled.
TopHatter.com shipping and fees
As a bidder, Top Hatter does not charge any fees. However, when you win an auction, the seller will charge a shipping fee which in some cases can be more than the price of the item. Just keep an eye on it before bidding.
Is TopHatter a scam?
We don’t think so. TopHatter has a great BBB rating, lots of auctions, and is free to bid. Nothing we see causes concern. Scroll to the bottom of the page to read reviews from other Tophatter customers who also weigh in on whether or not Tophatter is a scam.
Some reviewers have lately been reporting low quality merchandise as sellers on Tophatter are plentiful. Online auction sites such as DealDash only sell factory sealed, unused products and dealing with customer service is easy should you have the need to do so.
TopHatter Alternatives (websites similar to TopHatter)
Websites such as eBid, Bonanaza, and eBay all offer free to participate shopping.
TopHatter Pros and Cons
- TopHatter Pros: Free bids, countless auctions, fast paced and fun, easy to win auctions
- TopHatter Cons: Some products have long shipping times, quality of products is dependant on seller
TopHatter FAQs
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about the auction website, TopHatter.com.
Tophatter merchants auction thousands of electronic devices daily (based on our best estimates). We see a lot of off-brand electronics of all types- TV’s, gaming systems, drones, MP3 players, cameras, and much more. Based on Tophatter reviews submitted on this website, many of the electronics come from overseas and the quality varies. Always review the seller ratings on Tophatter before participating in auctions. Not all electronics sellers are equal!
Tophatter in an online auction website which offers a wide variety of Jewelry. Categorized as “Bling” on the Tophatter website, common jewelry items include necklaces, bracelets, lot of rings, watches and much more. Is Tophatter jewelry real? It’s real, just pay attention to what you’re bidding. Tophatter customers who have written reviews on this website often seem confused about what they were bidding on. Have you won jewelry on Tophatter? Please write a review below.
Are Tophatter auctions live? Yep, Tophatter runs thousands of live auctions each day, in many countries around the World.
We’re not sure if the Reddit community likes anything all about Capitalism but if it’s important to you, here are links to a few subreddit topics on the Tophatter auction website.
We generally see pretty positive reviews for Tophatter. For unhappy reviewers post here, many concede that Tophatter refunds their money in situations where they asked. We generally feel that it is safe to bid and shop on Tophatter.
TopHatter offers a mobile application for both Androis and IOS. According to both networks, the app receives high reviews in terms of stability and usability. Typically, reviews of the mobile tophatter apps are 4/5 stars+.
At the time of this post, Tophatter has a BBB (Better Business Bureau) rating of A+. About 60% of BBB reviews were positive and about 30% negative according to the BBB Tophatter profile.
At this time, we do not have record of promo codes or coupon codes for Tophatter or Tophatter.com.
Bidding on Tophatter is free. The only costs which consumers incur are when they win an auction. In this case, the consumer is responsible for the auction closing price plus any applicable shipping charges.
Customers can reach TopHatter’s customer service department through the support email address. Similar to many other auction websites, they do not currently offer phone support.
TopHatter offers auction-style where, similar to Ebay, sellers put products up for auction. Bidders/consumers 1) Create and account 2) place free bids on any item they like and 3) If they win the auction, they pay and auction items are shipped directly from the sellers. All auctions on TopHatter.com are free to participate in, the only costs occur when an auction is won.
FREE AUCTIONS COMPARISON GUIDE
| Website | Editor's Rating | Type | Best Features | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  Read Review | Penny Auction | Many auctions available from TV's to home appliances, featuring beginner auctions, free shipping, great reputation. | @dealdash | |
 |  Review Coming Soon | E-commerce | Huge online marketplace, many perks with prime membership including 2-day free shipping | @amazon | |
 | Read Review | Free Auction | Largest marketplace to find online auctions, with many categories, offers buy it now and promotions | @ebay | |
 | Read Review | Free Auction, E-commerce | Offers products across all categories, similar to eBay, less expensive for sellers so slightly lower prices. | @bonanza | |
 |  Read Review | Penny Auction | Always free shipping. You can earn free bids by referring friends and family. | @centbids | |
 |  Read Review | Free Auction | Many auctions are available in all categories, unique product offering. | @ebid | |
 | Read Review | Free Auction, E-commerce | Offers vacation & travel auctions, excellent Deal of the Day section with unique buy it now offers. | @ubid | |
 | Read Review | Free Auction | Steal of the Day section, various categories with authentic police seized, stolen, abandoned and surplus goods. | @propertyroom | |
 | Read Review | Penny Auction | Special events to win extra bids, prizes, or other incentives, shipping is free, refer-a-friend program to earn free bids. | @orangebidz | |
 | Read Review | Penny Auction, E-commerce | Free shipping on almost everything, auctions available in many categories laptops and tablets to purses and jewelry. | @quibids | |
 | Read Review | Free Auction, E-commerce | Various product categories from jewelry to electronics featuring high paced auctions, with Buy It Now options. | @tophatter | |
 | Read Review | Penny Auction, E-commerce | Primabids store where you can buy it now, winners can re-sell products which they’ve won, gift cards, games, and many other products. | @primabids | |
 | Read Review | Penny Auction | Beginner Auctions, buy it auctions, offers auctions in many categories and discounts for new bidders. | @wellbid | |
 | Read Review | Free Auction | Offers government Auction information for thousands of yearly government auctions, bank foreclosure, car, truck, and other automobile auctions | @policeauctions |
TopHatter Bidder Ratings and Reviews
The reviews below were submitted by users, and solely reflect the views of the individuals who submitted them. Users were not compensated for leaving a review.
Submit your review | |
The items that receive is so cheap, the ads for the items are misleading claiming 14 K gold when it is ABSOLUTELY FAKE. Large items you never receive, routing app is fake but UPS claims delivery. BUYERS BEWARE
you have to pay in advance half the stuff y dont get and thw ones y get dont work. you cannot contact the in nay way the phone listed in the web is phony if y dont have an extension it hangs up y cnnot contact the seller dont use it is total scam foe the items i received i paid way above what it should have been including item s i did not get and tthose that did not work cheap? in the long rum way more pricy SCAMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!
I just recently won a bid and purchased the item using my bank card. the next day there were over 30 transactions from my bank account that were from the same creditor with purchases I did not make and over $ 450.00 has gone missing from my account. I have the bank looking into the fraudulent activities, PLEASE BE AWARE card details can be hacked.... I use Wish quite frequently and this has never happened on their website
I went on top hatter and at first you think it's good and before receiving your item you order more, only to find out that your lucky if you get 6 out of 10 items you buy,half the time they don't send the correct item and they don't like refunding, so in probly 3 months I was on I must have lost about £100
Also there tablets are realy crap the phones are the same and extreamly slow and that's if you can get on anything, I brought illuminous stones Yes STONES to put in my water fall and plastic crap comes through, so not everything you read on a listing is true, you realy carnt belive them,
Well I've deleted the app and marked there emails as spam and I'll never go back to using this sly cheating deceiving dishonest site again,
As a new user in Tophatter I figured I would give it a chance. I was SO WRONG. Most of the stuff I received was WELL below standards - cheap - broken - damaged - SO tiny compared to what they tell you.
Example: Women Oversize Plain Hooded Dress Long Sleeve Casual Winter Hoodies Pullover - you can see through it and a 5XL is too small to fit a person that usually takes a Large in shirts.
Example: Soft Rubber Cartoon Bee Hand Knocking Rattle Dumbbell Baby Early Educational Toys Kids Preschool Tools - picture shows a young child playing with it. describes a pleasant ringing... the item was 4 inches across and metal bell on hard plastic - no it is not pleasant.
Example: High quality off-road vehicle toy 1:64 toy alloy Suv high-speed truck off-road truck kids toy gifts - it was a jeep and a little bigger than a matchbox car... no high speed - no rc - no high quality...
Thankfully everything was refunded... just wasted my time looking, paying, waiting, and returning.
This is not a bad site 4 some of the items but i aint buying anything else as they are con artists. I have sent 3 items back with tracking and they got there within the time slot they gave me.now they are saying they did not recieve them in time frame but my tracking says they did .so they wont pay my money back for these items
Only good thing about this site, is they refund you your money. So far it’s been simple, see what you like, bid and win, wait for the refund, because the items never come!!
Don't bother. There is no point bidding on an auction site if your items never ship. I have been on Tophatter since '17 and I am done. I bid a lot this time of year and it used to be good. First you need to understand that these sellers stretch the truth in their descriptions, lately though they flat out lie. Shipping has become a joke. At least a month unless it's from the U.S. That is IF you get your item. I am getting over 70% of my items refunded for non-delivery. It's good they refund but really, what is the point of bidding just to get your money back two months later? DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.
When I first joined top hatter I was pleased with my purchases and now it’s taking longer and loner to get items. Recently more items are showing as delivered to Florida, Utah, Ohio and yesterday 11/16/2020- I had some nice items delivered to Grenada California but I live in Texas. I’m thinking this is Fraudulent activity, I have requested refunds on all merchandise possible, and I’m waiting for pending orders and I’m getting off the site. I think something that I can’t prove is going on. All 3 WiFi routers, 1 to Florida, 2 to Utah, all sports wear to California. I’ve even complained to the BBB. They gave my money back, but what’s really going on and it does not seem that they care to check. I’m advising people to stay away from the site and if not, you’ve been warned. Either a thief is working there and diverting merchandise or the sellers have gotten GREEDY.
Bought 4 items , 3 i received were junk if ask , me . The 4th never received wont answer why and no refund . Going luck with them .
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EVERYONE GO TO THE BBB WEBSITE AND FILE A COMPLAINT ON WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU. I BIDDED ON A CBD CREAM THAT WORKS GOOD BUT SINCE I WON IT FOR A LOW COST THEY REFUNDED ME MY MONEY BACK ON TOPHATTER CREDIT INSTEAD OF MY BANK CARD. AND NOW THE SAME CREAM IS STARTING BID $7 INSTEAD OF $1. THEY ARE NOT MAKING THERE SELLERS HONOR THE PRICE THEY WON THE ACTION AT, SO GO TO BBB WEBSITE AND REPORTS THEM AND PUT UP A CLAIM AGAINST THEM,
TOPHATTER IS NOT A REPUTABLE SITE AT ALL. FIRST MOST OF THE STUFF IS CHEAP I MEAN REALLY CHEAP. YOU WAIT MONTHS FOR SHIPPING AND WHEN YOU CLICK ON “PREPARING TO SHIP” OR “IN TRANSIT” IT AUTOMATICALLY CHANGES TO “DELIVERED”. WHEN I CONTACTED THEM ABOUT THIS THEY SENT ME AN EMAIL ACTUALLY TELLING ME I SHOULD HAVE CONTACTED THEM WITHIN THEIR 30DAY PERIOD FROM WHEN IT IS RECEIVED FOR THEM TO GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT THEM IF YOU HAVE NEVER RECEIVED THE ITEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND WHEN YOU DO GET THEM TO BELIEVE THE ITEM WAS NOT DELIVERED THEY GIVE YOU A CREDIT ON TOPHATTER NOT ON YOUR BANK ACCOUNT!! I HAVE MISSED OUT ON NUMEROUS ITEMS AND CREDITS THAT THEY SAID HAVE BEEN DELIVERED. THEY PRETTY MUCH ARE CALLING ME A LIAR BUT WHY WOULD ANYONE LIE ABOUT SUCH CHEAP ITEMS? ALSO WHEN YOU DO HAPPEN ON A DECENT ITEM ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY DON’T HAVE THAT ITEM!!! WHAT A JOKE
There is a trick to TopHatter. Ofcourse we cannot expect really good deliverables that we think should be $30-$40 and we get for real cheap like $2-$4. TopHatter is a place where you try things out without wasting a lot of money (OR NO MONEY AT ALL!). Here’s how:
TopHatter gives you a Treasure wheel which you can spin every hour to collect points. But there’s a catch to it. When you first join TopHatter, every hour you can get like 50 points-100points which you can redeem for credit. But once you redeem the points for credits, the wheel gets NERFD. You only get 1-12 points and no more than that. I knew that this stuff was from China as most of things I saw on TopHatter, I also saw them on Wish. So I decided to wait patiently! Spin almost every hour during the day for a week and at the end of the week I had like 6000 points in the wheel which is like $35. FREE MONEY!! So I bought a couple of stuff, like 15 items from almost every section without spending a dime.
I have not received anything yet as I just did the purchases few days ago. But even when they come broken or defective, or if they are NEVER delivered, I would be upset a little but I would not feel robbed.
Whenever you want to try out a new shopping website, always make use of the credits they are offering. Never spend a dime without doing your research. Get few items using the credit first and then decide to take out your credit card. Be patient! Research the items. Once you heart an item, go to Reminders and look at the cost of the item the seller has posted. I have seen really dumb people paying $100 for a projector screen which was just $11. I have seen people getting the same item for $1-$2. NEVER BID FOR MORE THAN 50%-60% OF THE POSTED COST. Bidding is all about patience and research. No way you can get an authentic item for less than $10 in the whole world. It would NOT be authentic or one of a kind in that case. Don’t be dumb and desperate. The item you desperately want to buy pops up almost every 2 minutes and just wait for it. If your item is not premium, you have 3 days to pay for the item you won. Just spin the wheel for 3 days and get it for FREE!! Yes, FREE!!
I am in no way suggesting that what TopHatter is doing is good or legit. The company is still in its very early stages. I still remember when Ebay had no protection for the buyers, and the buyers were paying $100 for empty boxes sold by scammers. Every company goes through stages. Make sure you take advantage of the credit system of every new shopping website.
I PURCHASED MOSTLY LED LITE BARS FROM THEM ABOUT 40 THEY TELL ME IT WILL TAKE A MONTH TO RECIEVE ITEMS.GOT MY FINGERS CROSSED ALERTED CREDIT CARD COMPANY JUST IN CASE