So you've seen a lovely holiday or vacation villa or apartment for auction on ebay... The price is low, and there is not much time remaining.

Could be the ideal way to grab a last minute holiday break....

Just make sure you read ALL of the auction before bidding.

There are an increasing number of "auctions" being listed on ebay that aren't actually auctions at all. As you look around the auctions listed you will begin to spot some of the standard phrases and techniques.

On some auctions you are only bidding for your deposit - the full price you are actually expected to pay is usually listed in the description. In this case you may see a phrase like:

• PLEASE NOTE YOU ARE ONLY BIDDING TO RESERVE YOUR BOOKING.

At other times you are bidding for a period of less than a week. The remaining days (and usually the weekends) are at a fixed and higher rate. In these cases you may see something like:

• This auction is for a stay of 3 nights, (extendable for as many nights as you wish, at the price of £65 per additional night)

You might not even be bidding on the accommodation, sometimes you aren't even bidding on anything at all:

• You are bidding on one of our Free pens!

• Please DO NOT BID as you will not win anything

• YOU ARE BIDDING FOR FOR OUR BROCHURE  SENT TO YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.

• You are bidding to check availability for your preferred dates and receive further information via email.

• Please do not bid!

These are all actually phrases I have picked out from a random selection of auctions in the past 10 minutes.

Please be careful out there and be sure that if you think you are bidding for a stay in a beautiful location, that you are, in fact, bidding on that - and not a FREE pen.

As a last piece of self-publicity, all of our auctions are for 7 nights in our accommodation. If you would like a free pen, then please ask and we'll be happy to send one along to you ;)