Recently, a friend introduced me to a series of sites that claim to sell valuable items at extremely low prices. Since I had never heard of the Penny Auction and Reverse Auction sites, I was quite skeptical. The idea that someone is going to sell an Xbox 360, iPod Touch or PS3 slim, for change, is quite far-fetched. But after further investigation, I must say that his claims were largely true. There are sites, like Biddor and Swoopo, that will sell you items for pennies on the dollar. There are also sites like BidBlink, which runs reverse auctions, where you can not only win items, but also get paid to win them. However, there are some catches.
Penny Auctions have a built-in fee. Most auctions charge between 60 cents and a dollar per bid, selling bids in sets of twenty or more. That means that for every offer you make, you pay a small fee. Each offer increases the price by a certain amount. Sites like Biddor and Bidray increase the amount by a penny. Other sites, like Swoopo, increase by six or twelve cents, depending on the value of the item. On most of these sites there is also a timer, which increases with each launch of the offer. Generally this time is between ten and thirty seconds. So it’s not that they are selling a 720p LCD TV for $ 5.00 as much as the mass of people bidding, it means that the winner of the penny auction gets a discount of a few hundred dollars.
The other way these sites are run is the “reverse auction”, in this case each bid reduces the price. Again, you pay a flat rate per offer. With a reverse auction, such as those at Bidray, your account is credited for any sub-zero amount that the item may reach. If the item does not fall below zero, you pay the remaining amount. In most cases, it is still between 10% and 25% of the normal price. Other auction sites like Winnit pick a winner based on the lowest unique bid, giving you suggestions to help you guess the correct amount to win the item at that price.
All of these sites offer a fast-paced auction style and give participants the opportunity to win items for a price much lower than what they would pay at any store. The sites announce the winners that they have won new Wii, PS3, and Xbox games for less than $ 3.00, or LCD televisions for less than $ 50. While this is true for most of these sites, there are things to watch out for.
Now your limit: getting caught up in the auction can end up bidding more than you planned. Knowing how much you plan to spend in advance is a good system.
Reputable Sites – Deal sites like Swoopo, Biddor, Bidray, and Winnit are run by reputable companies that provide a fun and exciting entertainment shopping experience.
The last thing is to know what the site offers. Some sites offer Bid Butlers, which will allow you to set up automatic ranges where your computer should bid for you. This allows you to stay competitive and in the auction, without exceeding a certain price range. Also find out if the site covers shipping. Winning a 37 “LCD TV is nice, but paying $ 40 in shipping makes it a little less exciting (still a good deal, though).
