Pros and Cons of Global Penny Auctions

As global penny auctions gain in popularity, one cannot but stop and think - is it good for me, as a bidder? Sure, it seems it is a great idea for the site because it can now reach out to bidders all over the world without having a critical mass of bidders in each country. But what about bidders? How good is it?

Here, by global penny auctions, I mean those sites where people from all over the world compete on the same auctions. This means if there is a gift card that I am bidding on, chances are, the other bidder I am competing against is from a different country and time zone as me.

Pros The biggest advantage of global penny auctions is that it helps you with variety of products. This is accomplished in two distinct ways. One, there are certain products that are popular in the US and not the UK or Australia and vice versa. This means you get to pick and bid on auctions that you wouldn't normally see in your country. This sure is exciting.

Secondly, bidders get to see more auctions throughout the day because now people from different time-zones are competing. This is actually a good deal for many bidders who don't get to bid during the peak product times, like afternoon (because you are working) and instead want to bid at night when there are not enough products. Yes, it is true, almost all penny auctions have fewer auctions during the night.

Cons Of course it is not all a bed of roses. There are times when you don't want to be bidding globally. One immediate concern is to do with competition. Will the penny auction scale up the number of auctions in proportion to the number of bidders who have now increased? The answer of course depends on the site but the usual answer is no. This means more competition because of increased bidders on same number of slightly increased number of auctions.

Global bidding may also render some bidding strategies obsolete. This would mean bidders need to reevaluate everything, especially strategies based on best bidding times.

It is definitely exciting to be bidding against people from all over the world, but at the same time you should remember why you are on the site - to win! Some penny auctions can pull it off well and others cannot. BidRivals, the most popular site at one point of time throughout Europe is struggling today with significantly fewer auctions and bidders than at its peak.

How to Avoid Untrustworthy Penny Auction Sites

Participating in penny auction sites is a popular pastime because not only is it fun, but it can also be lucrative when you know how to do it right. Who can resist the idea of owning items at a much lower price with the thrill of winning the bids over your competitors? But in order to win bids successfully, you should learn how to avoid being tricked with online penny auctions. Unfortunately, while there are reliable and trustworthy websites, there are also many of those that take advantage of people who are eager to win bids and end up getting fooled. Here are some ways you can learn how to avoid these unreliable sites.

Research on the website's age, because most of the reliable penny auction sites have been around since 2009. The general rule of thumb is the older the website, the more legitimate it is. Be wary of those that have been operating for just a few months because they don't provide much basis for legitimacy and you have higher chances of getting fooled. Popular and reliable penny auction sites are able to survive long enough because they run a good, honest business.

Reliable websites have high traffic statistics, because they are receiving more visitors. Popularity of a website is a stable indicator of whether or not it's legitimate, as you'll find that sites which receive low visitors have a tendency to be unreliable. You can also do extra research by joining chat forums as they can also provide good insight on which sites are reliable.

If the site features testimonials from participants and they can vouch for the site's reliability, it's an indicator that you can trust the website. People nowadays can be very picky about products and websites, and they are more than happy to share their experiences online to help others. It will be easy to spot a dishonest penny auction website if you find that people are complaining and writing negative reviews.

Scour the Internet for additional feedback on particular websites. Apart from joining chat forums as mentioned earlier, you can also find video discussions such as those found in YouTube and blogs of participants. Feedback from real people count the most so you know which sites to avoid.

Participating in penny auction sites are a lot of fun and can provide decent savings as long as you can avoid untrustworthy sites. All you need to do follow these tips to avoid being fooled in the future, and you'll find that joining trustworthy sites is a lot of fun and you can win items at a fraction of the price. There are few things that come close to winning bids over your competitors and enjoying savings at the same time.

Should You Give A Penny About Penny Auctions?

You see the ads on TV. You see stuff online about it. You hear co-workers, family members and friends talking about it. What is it? Penny Auctions. No doubt you, like most folks have asked questions like these: What in the world is a penny auction? How do they work? Are they legal? Are suckers just being scammed out of their hard-earned money or is it a legitimate enterprise?

Well, to start, auctions have been around since people have had stuff to sell away to other people. Rather than just selling something for a set price, an auction lets everyone who wants something determine how much it is really worth by individually bidding up the price. It's very competitive and a lot of fun to watch. Auctions are even used for some types of assets bought and sold on Wall Street!

The use of the internet has fueled the boom in penny auctions because it allows people all over the world to participate and remain anonymous. The other bidders could be your next door neighbor, someone in a neighboring state or completely on the other side of the world. With the click of a button they can be bidding on cash, jewelry, TV's, and even iPads. Just about anything legal is usually put up for bid..

Penny auctions function pretty much like any other type of auction. You have an item for sale and everyone bidding wants to get that item. Some more than others. Bids are usually purchased ahead of time so that the auction runs smoothly. People use up their bids by simply clicking on the bid button with their mouse. Each time someone bids, the price on the item goes up by, you guessed it, one penny. Thus the name, penny auctions. A timer is running on each auction and every time someone bids the timer resets another 15-20 seconds or so. The last person to bid before the timer hits zero wins the auction.

Now why would anyone want to bid online for something that they can simply drive down to their local retail store and get it with no fuss no muss? Two words: Price and Fun. Auction winners usually pay around 50% to 90% less than what they would pay at a retail store. Plus the competitive nature of it is a lot more fun than taking a drive down to your crowded local retail shop and standing in line for checkout. If what you wanted is even in stock when you get there.

Is it gambling? Some think so, but the government has ruled that it is not. The illegal ones are quickly shut down by Uncle Sam. Usually they have something else going on with theirs, totally unrelated to a real penny auction. Because a bidder's skill is usually a key factor in them winning and most penny auctions place limits on the number of times any one person can win in any one month, that's enough to keep the government happy.

So as you can see, penny auctions are here to stay. As Martha Stewart famously said: "And that's a good thing".