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‘Penny Auction’ Sites Offer Big Bargains
At a time when we’re all looking for bargains, is there a catch to buying a $150 Nikon Coolpix digital camera for 34 cents? Or nabbing a $699 Apple 16GB iPhone for $8.06?
There is: While you stand to get a great bargain, you could be bidding against several thousand others in an online auction for one item, and each time you place a bid, it will cost anywhere from 60 cents to $1.
E-commerce is taking on a different spin with sites such as Swoopo and GoBid that appeal to the bargain hunter with a competitive drive. The giveaway prices on name-brand products, the limited and timed offerings, strategy play and fast pace attract shoppers willing to bid money for the chance to buy something at a fraction of its retail cost.
How do these auctions differ from those on eBay? The sites are selling the merchandise, whereas eBay is a place where sellers and buyers meet — it holds no inventory.
But the biggest difference is that to participate in a penny auction, shoppers must buy a bundle of bids and use one every time they raise their virtual paddle. Bids cost 60 cents to $1 each and are bought in packs of 10 to 700, depending on the site.
The auction companies make much of their money not from sales of merchandise but from the purchase of these bids.
While critics have questioned this form of e-commerce as a blink away from gambling, others have called it a smart business model for the Web at a time when new moneymaking ideas are scarce.
Photo by Swoopo.
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Jeff Schwandt on June 16th, 2009 12:41 pm
See these blog posts from Jeff Atwood at CodingHorror.com
Profitable Until Deemed Illegal
(http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001196.html)
Penny Auctions: They’re Gambling
(http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001261.html)
Jaclyn on June 16th, 2009 5:37 pm
I think these sites are a great idea. Many people look for bargains even when times in the economy are good little own when they are bad like now. Why pay top dollar for something when you can get the same thing for a fraction of the cost?
RedHotFranchises on June 17th, 2009 2:20 am
Wow! It’s a Great Idea, imagine being able to buy a Samsung LN40A750 40″ LCD TV for LCD then reselling it on eBay for $1,000. This is grooving opportunity!
Mark on June 23rd, 2009 4:52 pm
Good luck getting a deal on Swoopo, there are too many bidders there. Zoozle.com is the best upcoming penny auction site, they have good stuff and are very honest and fair too.
Scott on June 30th, 2009 9:44 am
The basic idea for reverse auctions or penny auctions are great, however the execution is flawed, especially with some of the bigger sites that now have too much competition on them.
Bidso.com will be launching on August 1st, 2009 with a brand new reverse auction format with FREE BIDS. Pre-register at http://www.bidso.com to stay notified!
Danny on July 2nd, 2009 1:03 am
Hello. Also a cheap website are http://www.luckyprice.net Good Luck
Tanya on July 4th, 2009 3:29 pm
check out http://www.pennyauctionwatch.com it’s a really good site with a penny auction directory for more sites with less bidders than swoopo
Penny Auction Site Zoozle on July 4th, 2009 7:00 pm
As part owner of the penny auction site Zoozle.com, I can say running a site of this nature is a lot easier said than done! The accounting, shipping, customer support, marketing, software development, server maintenance, auction scheduling, etc is much more than I originally anticipated. Not to mention the risk involved, we end up losing on most of our auctions. Customer attrition is another shortfall since many bidders walk away unhappy because they did not win. Just a heads up for anyone who thinks this is an easy buck!
Swipe It Up on July 5th, 2009 10:46 am
I have to agree with you zoozle. As part owner of the penny auctions site http://www.swipeitup.com, the challenge to handle all of the accounting, customer support, marketing, etc is a great task. We’ve actually created 5 different departments to handle all these things and have tripled our workforce since inception. People think that sites like ours are making money hand over fist but we actually lose a lot of money on many auctions. It seems like the auctions that are making the good money are using bots, shills, and other methods to defraud their customers. For those interested in penny auctions feel free to visit our site and try it out. We give away 5 free bids upon registration and 5 free bids at the beginning of every month. Happy Bidding!
Penny Auction Watch on July 29th, 2009 7:52 pm
Hey guys if you like Penny Auctions check out http://www.pennyauctionwatch.com, it’s a penny auction watchdog site complete with a penny auction forum.
Thanks!
MadBid on August 11th, 2009 2:18 am
a lot of people have their reservations with the new concept of “penny auction” web sites..
i hope this blog sets them to rest for the better..
if not.. this is another blog link that may help
http://hubpages.com/hub/penny-auctions
Krystian on September 17th, 2009 8:14 pm
As an operator of a penny auction site, I can attest that it is not easy to make the model work profitably while running an honest penny auction site. There are many costs, but outsiders only see the auctions which did yield good profit. They quickly glance over the larger number of auctions which were sold well below cost (even when figuring the bid count).
Also, scam sites pose a major credibility problem. PennyAuctionWatch.com is a great service to the community. There are many people out there running scam penny auction sites. People need to have a place where they can turn to find out whether a penny auction site is legitimate or not.
At BidRodeo we fully support the effort of Penny Auction Watch and encourage others to form forums, blogs, and use social media to out the scam sites.
jlardie on December 1st, 2009 8:03 pm
Just wanted to let everyone know cdspennybids.com is up and running now and no we are definitely not a scam. I’ve worked hard to bring this site to life and I have to agree with others it has been no easy task. But we look forward to tackling it for the long hall. Good Luck to all.
Adam on December 3rd, 2009 8:38 am
Hi to all! Check this website http://www.pennyauctioninfo.com which provides useful infos about the Penny Auction sites like
swoopo, bidray, etc Also, providing various bidding strategies that are needed once you buy bids to bid on Penny Auctions.
Got useful information from there. :)
jboggs on December 3rd, 2009 9:18 pm
The key is to do your research at pennyauctionwatch.com about which sites are legit and find the new ones! Once too many know about them, you won’t ever win. The best sites I have found are auctionsquirrel.com and dibzees.com… I have won gift cards from both and arrived promptly. I also hear bidrodeo.com is good but have not won yet (but i am not a big spender).
Peter on December 31st, 2009 2:42 pm
As with all new services, educating consumers and arming them with appropriate expectations is key. Much of the criticism penny auctions receive stems from the fact that few people win and everyone expects to get a great deal without much effort. Noone can fault the auction sites for channeling these human needs. It’s called business. It is up to consumers to educate themselves by doing their homework, such as checking out review sites like http://www.pennyauctionguide.com. It’s just like everything in life: luck favors the prepared.
Nik on January 13th, 2010 10:18 am
Penny Auctions can get you great deals as a buyer but @ http://nikbid.com you can sell your own items too.
Benjamin Dori on February 14th, 2010 12:31 am
There’s more than 100 different penny auctions now and it’s almost impossible to know which ones offer the best deals and don’t cheat the users. The key to success in these penny auction sites is to know which ones give you credit for lost bids that way even if you don’t win the auction you still get to use those lost bids towards the purchase of the item at a great price. There are a couple of reviews that have done a good job of differentiating the penny auctions. This entertainment auction chart is pretty helpful at identifying the major differences between all the auction sites:
http://tomuse.com/penny-auctions-entertainment-sites-review-compare
Mark on March 10th, 2010 11:38 am
Hey i have been using these sites for almost a year! I love the competition and the feeling of scoring a great deal! Lately i have been using http://www.myezbids.com they are fairly young yet so there is fewer users bidding most of the time. I’m sure i’ll find a new one once this one gets bigger but it is great for now!
Henry Lowden on March 15th, 2010 3:24 am
The trick is to find a penny auction site with few bidders, not using bots.
I believe that https://www.BidOnCash.com is the best bet right now.
Best Penny Auction on May 5th, 2010 9:50 pm
A online penny auction website bid here on a desire product and win your product and save 60 % cash up to. The reversed auction site where you are looking for the lowest unique bid to win the auction. So what are you waiting for?
Bud on May 20th, 2010 9:24 am
Another new site worth checking out is http://www.emaja.com. Their auction concept is based off a points system, where the bidder with the highest point total wins! You can use your points in any auction or buy products from their shop emaja store. Also, each member has the option of choosing their cash-out option on auctions won, which is 80% of the retail value of the product! That option to me is awesome!There is not too many members yet but they are growing fast!I signed up (maja4me36) and received 5 free bid credits! Check out the site!
Phil on June 2nd, 2010 9:20 am
Have anyone heard of MyBidShack penny auction ? Since penny auctions are so brand new and the website owners make such an obscene amount of profit, MyBidShack owners decided to start a network marketing company based on the penny auction idea. Bids are sold at $1.20 a peice, but $.60 goes to the auction and the other $.60 goes to its members. The payplan is a 5×8 unilevel. They are also awarding points for bids used, points that goes to the member infinity bonuses. The website is http://pab.mybidshack.com there are also 2 pre-recorded conference calls at http://bid4freedom.com
Samantha on July 6th, 2010 8:53 am
Which sites are the best for penny auctioning? I have visited a few but there are so many, I don’t know which are a scam and which are genuine. Any help!?
Curt Miller on July 25th, 2010 8:13 pm
MyBidShack is the ONLY penny auction to share its profits with the bidders – 50% of it. The company has a 10-year track record and is listed with the BBB with a great rating!
It is BRAND NEW so people are literally getting 99% OFF at this point in time.
Toni Kirchner on August 8th, 2010 5:24 pm
There are some pretty interesting comments here. We are opening a site Sept. 1st called Vacation4Pennies that we believe is a lot more fair to customer then most penny auction. websites. Every time you buy a bid package from us, we will give you redemption points which you can accumulate to get items for free. Not only is that one option but you also have the option of applying your bids to buy the item out right.
You can sign up now for FREE to become a beta-tester and have a chance to play on Sept 1 where will be auctioning off all sorts of items include an Ipad.
Let us know what you think of our new penny auction website.
TK on September 7th, 2010 8:37 pm
What people need to start understanding is that every penny auction website is different and that some offer you a lot more for your money then others. At most penny auction websites, you can spend your money on bids, not win anything and then be completely out for that money. However, there are other sites out there that will allow you to apply your bids to buy the item out right at its retail price – therefore you don’t get a great deal but you do get your moneys worth. There are also websites out there that have some sort of redemption. This means every time you spend money to buy bids, you accumulate some free bids that you can use to redeem an item. If you take a little time to look around, you should be able to find Penny auction website that fits your needs & can offer you the most for your money.
Anthony on October 20th, 2010 12:13 am
Hi,
I am glad that the blog owner has chosen a very interesting matter about penny auctions. Penny auctions a new method of purchasing products at a fraction of the price. The information on this blog is very helpful in that it helps by spreading a great deal of knowledge among people. I would like to congratulate for this hard work to the blog owner and would like to be part of this site by submitting comments.
BidRivals on November 2nd, 2010 1:23 am
Are all e-mail programs accepted?
Sarah on February 19th, 2011 10:08 am
I think the best way to learn about different penny auctions is through blogs. I use http://quibidsblog.blogspot.com for all the information about Quibids and plenty of Quibids strategies. I agree that all penny auctions are different and we should have more people writing about them. PennyAuctionWatch is a good forum to learn about the different penny auctions. I think in the end you should never bid on these sites without doing proper research on their strategies and also whether they are legit or scam.
Unique Penny Auction on June 8th, 2011 9:39 pm
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penny auction reviews on August 10th, 2011 10:22 pm
I enjoy your blog, I stumbled across penny auctions about a year ago and have been hooked ever since!
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