Penny Auction Sites

Bidding online is a fun, yet very addictive means of entertainment. You are actually spending money on something you may not win, but the thrill of winning that item at a much lower price than retail is enough to keep you in your chair for hours.

It could be that need an extra blender for the kitchen, or a new flat-screen television may just be what your living room is missing. Bidding on Penny Auction sites are almost a sure-fire way of getting what you want, without actually spending too much on it. Of course, you are bidding against people who want the same items, and that is where bidding becomes a challenge –turned habit.

To avoid getting caught up in the mishaps of bidding woes and failures, one of our Featured Penny Auction sites, GoBid, has some tips for you when you are sitting down to place that very important bid.

Set Limits

Before entering the auction, you should set a limit on how much you’re willing to spend on a particular item. This amount should include the final amount and any shipping costs as well. Even an online auction has to be approached with a solid plan ahead of time so you don’t spend more than you expected. In some cases, you might continue to bid on an item before you actually realize that you’ve won it and are spending more money than its retail cost.

Check the Item

Continue to check the item, and make sure you keep track of how many times you’ve actually bid on it. There is normally an Auction Price calculator you can use to tally up the total cost of bids plus the auction price. This will help you compare it to the retail price and keep you from going over.

Walk Away

If all else fails, just walk away. Don’t let ‘auction fever’ get the best of you. If you start to go over your limited budget, or you become too competitive with another bidder, it’s never a bad idea to just leave the bid all together. Most items will be offered again, so just keep that in mind. Never worry about losing an auction. It’s not like a game and people are keeping score of your wins and losses. If you do happen to lose, just try to improve your strategy for the next time around.

When it comes to Penny Auctions, the question of their safety has been at the forefront of most conversations amongst internet users. Because they are relatively new to the online bidding community, you have to wonder if they are legal, or just another scammer trying to pocket your money and run with it. In the last few years, they have come and gone, (most of them being scamming and shill sites), and it leaves us wondering if any Penny Auction websites intend to sell you what you bid on. A few auction sites like RockyBirds, Bidrodeo and Zoozle that have continued to deliver honest bidding, helps us keep the faith when it comes to this type of online auctioning.

The real answer lies in the very fabric of what a Penny Auction truly is, and how it plans to profit as a business selling products well under suggested retail prices. It is this that raises the legitimacy of the auction. What a participant is actually doing is bidding a small amount for an opening bid. After that, the amount and time for the item increases slightly. So your next bid will end up being a little more than the opening bid for the item. Understand? So the auctioneer can actually profit from selling an item lower than normal because of the increases in bids overtime.

Bidrodeo, one of the longest running Penny Auction websites available, is known for dealing in honest and reliable auctions. However, this isn’t the case with some. Scamming sites have popped up around the clock, trying to trick participants out of their money. They will set up a website, get your bids, and once time expires, take your money and you will never receive the item you thought you were bidding on. The only thing you can do is email them, but you will never get a reply. The best thing to do if this happens, is alert people of the scamming site, and report it to the webhost.

Some scamming websites are known as ‘shill’ sites. These sites are trickier to spot, because the auctioneer actually takes an active role as a participant in their own auction. So as you casually bid on an item, the auctioneer comes in and bids on it as well, hoping to raise the price more. After all, higher price equals more profit for them. The best way to avoid from making the mistake of bidding against the owner is to check the bids often, and see how many times a certain individual is bidding.

While there are risks with everything you do online, there are a few Penny Auctions out there that are still in business. It is relatively new, having only been started in Europe in 2009. Once you know what to look for, and how to go about it, you will find yourself right at home in one of these addictive auction sites. Just remember, even if it is a legal penny auction site, there are still chances you will lose some of the bids. Nothing is guaranteed. Happy bidding!