Recently, I surfed various online auction forums on the lookout for some top tips from successful players. I was hoping for an insight into what makes the best bidders tick. What are their secrets? What I can learn to improve my chances of winning online auctions and taking home an iPhone or a home cinema system for a fraction of its value?
What I found instead was that online auction regulars prefer a spot of verbal jousting to talking tactics. Players boasted about the number of bids they had stored up and how they were ready to crush the opposition and land the most sought-after items.
"You were doomed from the start," one confident MadBid winner gloated to his unsuccessful peers.
Like Aussie fielders sledging a lone English batsman, the online auction community likes a bit of banter, as players try to fray the nerves of opposing bidders. For some online auction fans, this is no doubt part of the fun.
But others prefer to keep their eyes on the prize. These online auction punters are of the ilk that believes ignoring the digs and focussing on improving your own game hold the key to success. These cooler customers choose to devote their full attention to what really matters - live online auctions – rather than the background noise.
Instead of slamming their opponents with their chat room wit, I recommend online auction fans let their bids do the talking. Building a reputation as a high roller – a player who sticks with the bidding as the price continues to rise – can often be enough to influence the outcome of a popular auction.
Online auction success is about timing and nerve. Some of the most successful players at MadBid, for example, put the huge savings they’ve made on everything from cash to cars down to picking the right moment to bid. To claim the most hotly-contested online auctions, they also need to be bold, and hold their nerve as the price tag goes up. Each bid on a MadBid auction may only increase the selling price by a penny, but it will keep going until a winner emerges.
If you think you’ve got what it takes, leave the banter to the amateurs and get bidding!!
On a separate note I think online auction sites like Swoopo, MadBid and BidandClick should allow its users to interact in a community. Customer churn rate reduces when customers interact at a social level and they are more loyal towards sites. Only MadBid has commentary from customers but most of the information I found was from forums.
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