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.

Online Entertainment Auction Sites - How Do They Work?

So you need a certain product, but don't want to pay full price? Are you looking for something new to do online? Online entertainment auction sites may become your new hobby. Getting started can be exciting because there are so many things you can bid on and score awesome deals with! Finding those holiday gifts will become so easy, you'll never stress out about it again. So how do you start, how does it work, and what do you need? Read on to find out!

The first step to becoming a bidder on any online auction site is to sign up and follow the confirmation email link to activate your account. Once in, you are ready to buy your bids. Bids will usually be around the price range of $0.60 per bid, and sometimes come in big packages for greater discounts. Now that you are signed up and have buckets full of bids, you're all ready to go!

Next, you will choose the products that you wish to bid on. Online auction sites organize their products in categories, and pretty much have almost anything you are looking for. Browse through the list of products available for auctions ranging from electronics to gift cards, and start to plan your bidding strategy. The amount of times you can bid depends on the amount of bids you bought and have left in your account. Every time you press the "bid" button, 1 bid will be deducted from your bundle and time will be added to the clock. This allows other users to bid and keep the auction going until the very last bid is sent and the time runs out. To increase your chances of becoming a winner, watch the actions of the other bidders and find patterns you can break in their bidding strategy.

The next step? Well you win, walk away, or buy now! If you are the last bidder when the timer has reached zero, you are the winner! If someone has outbid your last bid, and you don't wish to go any higher before the timer is out, you lose. However, you can still walk away with the product. If you wish to buy the product for its original value, you have the option to "buy now" anytime after you have placed your first bid on the product. The dollar amount of your bids is added up, and subtracted from the original product price to give you a buy now value. You will never pay higher than the market value price for a product on an online auction site.

Online auction sites can be a lot of fun and really exciting when you score those awesome deals! If you are busy and don't have time to sit at the computer all day, there are various tools that are designed to help you. They act as an autopilot and place bids for you when you are away from the computer. You can set certain customization to the tool to bid the exact way you would be if you were sitting there. This allows you to go about your daily chores, and still score amazing deals with barely any work put into it! Who would of thought?

There have been many successful bidders that are determined to keep going. One enthusiastic bidder says, "By bidding on items that my family picks out ahead of time I am able to get big ticket items for them and be a hero to my grandsons. It is so easy to win the best items and it is very invigorating. I have won 3 TVs, coffee/espresso machines, gift cards, jewelry, watches, sunglasses, and many other items." Another bidder says, "Not only have I provided electronics for my family, we also are enjoying updated appliances that we would never had otherwise! I can't wait to prepare holiday meals this year." As we can see, many people enjoy the activity of online auction sites. So if you have some free time, and want to try holiday gift shopping, or just regular shopping online in your cozy pajamas without leaving the house, give online auction sites a try.

Top Tips For Happy Bidding

When it comes to using online auction sites, many first time bidders can find it difficult to make sure that they structure their bids in order for them to win the auction successfully. All of us here, whether you are a first time bidder or an experienced and highly seasoned pro, will testify to the buzz you get from taking part in an online auction. As we sit by out computer screens and watch that clock counting down to the close of our auctions, we feel an adrenalin rush feeling inside of us that only comes from the excitement of securing yourself a bargain.

But the fun and enjoyment of taking part in the online bidding process can only carry us so far. The auction is fun and we are excited, but we are excited at the prospect of winning the auction, not at the joys of taking part in it. So if we continue to lose out on our prized lots when we visit these online auctions, we will soon lose interest in taking part in them.

For this exact reason, we here have put together a short guide which consists of some top tips for happy bidders. By the time you have read to the end of this article, we hope that you will have a much clearer understanding of how to go about winning your next auction, and making your experience with the online auction sites that little bit more worthwhile.

The biggest tip we can give to people who are serious about wanting to win their next online auction, is that you need to keep on top of your bids. This is a vital part of the auction process. We encourage you to check back regularly on our lots to see how the bidding process is coming along. By regularly checking back - and by regularly we mean a couple of times a day ideally - this will allow you to make any necessary changes to your bid quickly. Remember, you need to be proactive, not reactive! We cannot stress enough how important this is to securing a win at your next auction. Those bidders who find a lot they are interested in, set their maximum bid, and then sit back and wait to see what happens, are the very people who end up being upset and disenfranchised from the auction process. The key aspect in making sure you come away from these online auction sites a winner, is making sure you are an active part of the auction in the first place.

One final tip that we can offer for prospective bidders is a widely known and accepted strategy within online bidding circles. And the tip is a simple one... wait. Waiting until the closing minutes or even seconds of an auction before placing your bid, can help to make sure that yours is the last bid placed, and therefore deemed as being the winning bid in that auction.

Discovering How People Make Money On eBay

For those who want to learn how to make money on eBay it is important to note that there are a lot of areas to cover. Although getting started can be very easy, building a strong image as a reputable seller takes time. There are also many nuances to this process that can impact both your profits and your ability to make regular sales.

Great sellers always have feasible and affordable ways to maintain impressive inventories. The way in which you get your goods is one of the most important considerations that you will have to make. This is especially true when you will be primarily auctioning your products off rather than selling them at fixed prices. With this type of selling you have no real way of gauging or controlling how much you will get. Thus, the cheaper you can build your inventory, the more likely you are to maintain consistent profits rather than losses.

The best merchants on this auction site are the ones who stand behind what they have to offer. These are people who offer full money back guarantees to dissatisfied buyers without batting an eyelash. In order to do this, you must be sure to list only goods that you truly believe in, in terms of quality and value.

Maintaining a good seller rating is vital for having consistent sales. People rarely feel comfortable working with sellers who have consistently bad ratings. Each sale that you close will earn you a new rating from the respective buyers. This means that you must work consistently hard to impress the people who win your goods or who purchase them flat out.

Posting listings that are dense with the right keywords is vital for having your goods become visible. eBay searching systems, much like those of the typical search engine, base their results upon the keywords that are present in listings. If you use ambiguous wording or phrases that people are not likely to search for, your wares will probably not get a whole lot of attention.

Start participating in more shorter auctions. As you learn how to make money on eBay you will start to recognize the different patterns in how people search for and find specific types of auctions. Many buyers are eager to jump in at the last minute so that they can secure the most optimal price before the auction is driven up. Learning how to strategically influence short auctions will help you to start getting paid fast.

Common Misconceptions Of Auction Websites

Users new to online auction websites often require some time and help before they completely understand the auction platform and start winning auctions. It's not any fun for a new user to struggle on indefinitely. You should enjoy yourself while taking part in online auctions. It's natural to feel daunted going into your first couple of auctions, so here are some common misconceptions of auction websites, as well as some tactical advice for you beginners that you should consider when devising your plan of attack.

1. Setting unrealistic expectations

This can't be stressed enough, but users need to set realistic goals when participating in online entertainment auctions. If someone is new to an online auction, he or she shouldn't expect to win a laptop on the first try with only the cheapest bid pack available. Not saying it couldn't happen... it definitely could and it has happened. BUT, it is highly improbable. Know and expect that you'll be bidding against users with far more experience.

While everybody loves an underdog, we encourage new users to start using auction sites by participating in smaller auctions first. After all, you've gotta crawl before you can walk, right?

2. Going for the big catch

It's not wise to immediately go after the most popular item on an auction site. There are a lot more competitors vying for the popular products, and many of them are our highly skilled veterans. Once acquainted with the site, you'll then understand that going after popular products warrants certain measures to protect your bid investment. It is recommend that you commit to only one such auction at a time and that you don't get too involved without considering using the "Buy Now" feature (if you don't win, that is).

Don't spread yourself too thin when bidding on the big-ticket items. Be willing to devote more time and money to increase your winning. It's been found that any participant willing to spend about 1/3 of the value of the item in bids greatly increases his or her odds of winning the item.

3. Jumping right in

By limiting your understanding of the system, you are setting yourself up at a severe functional disadvantage. As with anything you invest your money in, do research before jumping into entertainment retail auctions. Each auction is going to be different from the others, so read and understand the Terms & Conditions on the site, familiarize yourself with the "Buy Now" option, the automatic bidding tool, and pricing structures. We also recommend carefully watching other auctions to see how they unfold. All this will help you to understand "the nature of the business" and to help build your overall bidding strategy.

Online auctions should be a fun and exciting experience for customers. A stronger grasp on the online auctioning system will help enrich your experience and facilitate a better, more fun shopping experience.