Penny Auction - Strategies

Penny auctions – What is a buy now option?

2010-10-10T18:17:00.000+01:00

Penny auctions are a fun, exhilarating and unique way to shop online and make savings. Penny auctions are pay-to-bid auction sites where users compete against each other to win the right to buy a top brand product for an amazing discount, usually pennies. Sites such as MadBid.com claim that the average saving is 80% and other sites like Flutteroo claim the same.

Whilst they are a great way to have fun, if you are the winner then great but if not you are likely to have lost some money with the bids you’ve placed. That’s why it’s better to use one of the better sites that offer a ‘Buy Now’ option on their auctions.

For example, MadBid.com offer a ‘Buy it Now’ option on the majority of their auctions and those that do not win the auction have the option to buy the product during the auction or for up to 24 hours after the auction has closed. The great thing about this option is that MadBid.com have ‘exclusive’ buy it now prices which are often less than the recommended retail price and the cost of the bids you have placed on that auction are discounted from the final price. So effectively you’re a winner too because you’ve still got your product and the cost of your bids back as they have been discounted from the final price.

Whilst sites like MadBid.com offer these great options, be wary of some other sites that have over inflated ‘Buy it now’ prices, so you end up paying more than what you would elsewhere and some sites only offer a percentage of the cost of bids placed as a discount, so you are not getting the full cost of your bids back and this could end up costing you even more.

Pay-to-bid auction sites...are they worth it?

2010-10-10T18:03:00.003+01:00

Thousands of people a day in the UK are registering with penny auction sites in the hope of making a huge saving on top brand products. However, unlike traditional auction sites such as eBay penny auction site use a pay-to-bid model where you will have to purchase your bids in advance in order to be able to bid in one of their online auctions.
The best penny auction sites in the UK have a wide range of products available each day from electronics, kitchenware, jewellery, cars and much more. However the question is once you have purchased the bids placed them on the auctions and pay the final closing price is it worth it? Well with some site yes it is.

Sites such as the UK’s leading penny auction site MadBid.com has over 100 different products a day up for auction and charge only £0.50 per bid. In fact on average users save up to 80% on RRP, this fact was even backed up by The Sunday Times.

The best way to ensure you make a saving is to focus on the product you want to win. Firstly do a bit of research, look in the closed auction section of the site and see how much the product you want has sold for previously, this will help you get an idea of how much it could potentially go for. Then purchase your bids, only buy as many bids as you are prepared to use and set yourself a limit and stick to it.

How do they work? Penny auctions are a form of auction which are designed to be fun and entertaining. Basically an auction will start at £0.00 and will only increase in penny increments every time someone places a bid, each auction will have a timer which can range anywhere from 2 minutes to 30 seconds. When the first bid is place the timer will count down and when another user places a bid the timer will re-set to its original time and start counting down again. This process will continue until no-one else places a bid within the time and the auction will then close. The highest (last bidder) will win the right to purchase the product for the final closing price of an auction.

Simplifying Penny Auction Sites

2010-09-13T10:52:00.000+01:00

Bidding on sites such as eBay can be long, drawn out and potentially a waste of time, plus a lot of the products are second hand. The revolutionary new concept of penny auction sites brings a new definition of online auctions. The unique auction platform allows users to bid on top brand products and purchase the goods for unbelievably low prices.

Penny auction sites can be confusing as it every site varies and there are a lot of sites. The first thing to do is find the right site for you. The best way to do this is to search on Google with terms like ‘online auctions’ or ‘penny auction’ and make sure you choose a site that is at the top of the results but are no paid for links as a lot of fake sites pay to be in the ‘sponsored links’ section.

When you have chosen your site for example MadBid.com, Google the company and see what results come up and look for external references such as Wikipedia, Forums and articles about the site. See what other users are saying and make sure the site is legitimate.
When you first go on a penny auction site you will have to register, this is free and you usually get between 2-5 free bids when you sign up. Penny auction site are Pay-to-Bid auctions and as such you will have to purchase bids in advance to be able to bid. These prices can vary between £0.50 an £1.50 per bid. Good sites will often run promotions on a weekly or monthly basis.

So when you have signed up to a penny auction website, you’re ready to bid. Firstly take a look around the site and make sure you know how it works exactly. Look out for tutorials such as a ‘How it works video’ or look in the FAQ section of the site. The thing about penny auction sites is that it is all about strategy and skill not luck, there will be regular bidders to avoid as well as times when the site is extremely busy and you should avoid these times. Take your time and just watch and see what you can discover.

When you feel you are ready...start bidding, make sure you have enough bids in your account so that you don’t get caught out but make sure that you set a limit and stick to it!! As a beginner you should bid on products such as perfumes, jewellery, DVD’s etc as these sorts of products tend to have less competition and as such tend to go for a very small amount...normally pennies!

Making Penny Auctions Simple to work

2010-07-01T15:10:00.000+01:00

A penny auction site is a great way to get your hands on a top brand product for just pennies. Those who have worked to understand how these sites truly work and have developed their own strategy have been lucky enough to use penny auctions sites to buy all sorts of desirable top brand products for just pennies.

Penny auctions sites often have ‘Big Users’ who can sometimes dominate an auction site. Below we have listed the top 5 tips to take on these ‘Big Bidders’ and be successful.

1)Don’t believe that it’s all about luck! You will need skill, judgement and strategy if you want to win consistently and not blow your bids on something you’ll never win!

2)Watch and learn – Every penny auction site will work differently as will other bidders. Make sure you take the time to fully understand how the site works and how its users work. Watch how the auctions work, watch other users and try to identify any patterns or prolific bidders. Do your homework and look for what recently closed auctions have gone for so you can get an ideal price point to start bidding.

3)Bid when others are not – If you can place your bids when other people are at work, on the school run, asleep or elsewhere. On every site there will be regular times and days when the site is much quieter which will dramatically increase your chances of winning and the price will often be lower than at other times on the site.

4)Set your limits and start small – Start by setting yourself a limit and sticking to it. So buy a bids package and don’t buy anymore that day. Then start small, bid on auctions that are less popular and the smaller ticket items. This is a great way to gain experience and grab yourself a few small bargains in the process.

5)Take advantage of special offers – Good sites often have special offers or promotions on such as 50% extra or Bids Back offers. These are a great way to stock up on bids and will give you more firepower at no extra cost so it means you have more chance of winning without spending more money.

How to get Apple product cheaply

2010-07-01T14:29:00.002+01:00

Apple have dominated the ‘Must Have’ list for many years now across the world. A huge array of shiny, fun and practical gadgets have made Apple one of the most desirable brands. The only problem with these fantastic products is the cost. The iPhone & iTouch can cost you in excess of £500 and as for Macs you can pay £1,000 upwards.

However now anyone can get their hands on the latest products from Apple for a snip of the RRP. Penny auction sites are now offering these great products that can go for up to 98% off the retail price. iPod’s can go for just pennies and iPad’s & iPhone’s can go for just pounds. A great example of this recently was a brand new iPad 16GB sold for just £42.97 on penny auction site MadBid.com.

The great thing about Penny auction sites is that all of the products are brand new and they come with full warranties and guarantees. It’s a great way to grab the latest gadgets for less.

You must make sure you choose a good penny auction website in the UK as some are scams. You can make sure you have chosen a good one by searching the website name on Google and see what comes up... Keep an eye out for any external sources such as Wikipedia, Forums and any other social networks such as Facebook where you can ask other users about their thoughts and experiences.

4 and You’ve Found a Good Penny Auction Site

2010-06-07T13:56:00.000+01:00

1) Plenty of closed auctions – A sure way to know how good a penny auction site is or if it is even real, is how many closed auctions they display. A good site will have a list of both the best deals grabbed by users as well as the most recently closed auctions. Look out for when an auction closed if a site has auctions closing regularly (at least 20 a day) then you know you’ve found a good site!
2) A great range of products – Another way to tell if I site is any good is the sort of products they offer. A good site will offer auctions such as Electricals, Vouchers for high street brands and bid packages. An auction site that offers mainly bid packages should be treated suspiciously.
3) A lot of results – Search the name of the website you have found in Google and see what results come up. Look out for links for forums, reviews, Wikipedia and social network sites such as Facebook. Read the reviews of others and join a forum or social networking site and see what other users think of the site.
4) Good press – Any established penny auction site will have good coverage from external sources. Look out on the company’s website for coverage from National Newspapers, TV Channels and Magazines.

How to win online penny auctions

2010-06-01T10:35:00.000+01:00

Penny auction sites are a great way to grab a bargain on top brand products. Unlike traditional auction sites such as ebay, penny auction sites are pay-to-bid but the savings you can make are fantastic. Here we lay out the top 5 tips on how to win on penny auction sites.
1. Learn about the site and its users
Take a look around the site and get a feel for the layout, take advantage of FAQ’s and watch how other users bid. You are most likely to win when you know who you are up against.
2. Get the right time and right product
There are often quieter times on penny auction sites such as breakfast time when many people are getting ready for work or the school run. Also at first bid on smaller products such as bid packages and vouchers to get a feel for the bidding process and you have a much greater chance of winning.
3. Get Free Bids
Some penny auction sites give users free bids upon registration and sites like MadBid.com reward users with loyalty schemes such as ‘claim your daily free bid’ where you can claim a free bid daily for up to 15 days when you purchase a bid package.
4. Make sure the site is genuine and secure
Sometimes penny auction sites can seem too good to be true and in some cases they are. Look out for sites that have secure payment systems such as C.O.M.O.D.O Authentic Secure. Also look out for sites that offer a ‘Buy Now’ feature on selected auctions as this reduces risks when bidding and gives you a back up plan.
5. Research the site
Search the site name on Google and look for articles about the company from trusted sources such as national newspaper, tv channels and user forums.

Penny auctions – Is it a scam?

2010-06-01T10:31:00.000+01:00

Penny auction websites have recently grown in popularity and number and like many phenomenon’s for every good site there are 10 bad ones. Below we have listed the three things to watch out for when looking at penny auction sites and choosing a site to bid on.

Get in touch...

• First of all find out if and where the company is registered in the UK. If not steer well clear, look for a company registration number.
• Look for contact details such as phone numbers, e-mail addresses and a postal address. If a site does not have all of these then you could face problems in the near future. Not only does this show that it could be difficult to get hold of anyone but it raises questions as to where they are based.

Be Smart...

• Look for a bidding history on the site... If there isn’t one don’t sign up. A bidding history shows that others are using the site and allows you to figure out your competitors.
• Look for latest winners... Make sure there is a list of recent winners as this indicates that other people are winning auctions and helps give you an idea of what price a product tends to go for.
• Sign-up to a site which offers at least one free bid so that you can try before you buy and find out if penny auctions are for you.

Be Safe...

• As when you are shopping online it is important that you shop safely on penny auction sites.
• Look out for sites that accept payment via multiple methods such as PayPal, Debit Card, Credit Card and uKash.
• Look out for sites with accreditation such as Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode as well as McAfee Security. These logo’s are a sign of safety.

ONLINE AUCTIONS MORE GENEROUS THAN ALISTAIR DARLING

2010-02-04T15:04:00.000Z

Online auctions continue to dish out top-of-the-range goodies while the chancellor tightens our belts for us.

After giving billions of pounds of our money to the country's top banks so they can lend it back to us at a massive profit, Alistair Darling had some more good news for us all this week. Bingo executives planning to upgrade their boilers would have been yelling "jackpot" at the top of their voices when the chancellor presented us with his practice budget on Wednesday. For the rest of us, everything in the shops is going to be more expensive and whatever it is that the government does that you like is probably going to stop because there's no money left.

Britain is in worst financial shape than Leeds United on the day the fish tank bill arrived. We owe money from Sheerness to Shanghai – and I do mean 'we'. The only reason the government can borrow £170 billion this year is because the investors and pension funds buying the debt know us taxpayers are good for it.

With this big black cloud hanging over us all, it would have been nice of Mr Darling to spread some seasonal cheer beyond Bingo bosses with crummy boilers. Free back rubs perhaps? Tax breaks on World Cup tickets? Or how about a week-long Christmas bank holiday?

The truth is, if you want to feel good, don't leave it to the politicians. They're too busy buying giant TVs, duck spas and porn with your money. If you want to get your hands on some seriously cool stuff in time for Christmas you're going to have to go out and get it for yourself.

Get signed up to an online auction site and test your wits against the experienced punters who regularly take home new cars, piles of cash, PS3s, DVD box sets and bottles of designer perfume for a fraction of their retail value. Unlike bingo – a poor man's online auction – sites like MadBid require skill, guile and bravado. You need a quick mind and a steady finger rather than a pair of fat ladies to outthink the competition and land the biggest bargains.

Credit crunch or fruit punch, when it comes to online auctions it's your bottle and your brains that matter, not your country's debt rating. If you've got what it takes to be a successful MadBid bidder you can have Christmas fit for a king and not even worry about what VAT stands for.

How will a Trader in Stock Exchange Bid on Penny Auctions

2010-01-02T18:29:00.000Z

Game theory is “the mathematics of strategy”, it assumes that if all players in a game play the most rational strategy the result of the game is predictable. “Successful bidding isn’t just what you bid on, it is also the way you bid.”

Just as with a good strategy, “knowledge and information are two critical success factors in bidding for the best approach to winning, you want to build your knowledge and find quality information first. The way in which the different types of bidders utilise knowledge and information to build their bidding strategies gives rise to different types of bidding techniques and winning trends.

Bidders’ Strategies and Bidding Trends

The identification of bidding trends is essential to determining a bidder’s strategy. Penny auction bidding strategies are based on the identification of the bidding trends.

Bidding on News

Another important technique is News Playing. The basic strategy is to avoid bidding if the website you are bidding on is in the news or bid when there is no news about the site. Typical events that can cause lot of people coming on the website which inflates the cost of products are positive news reports about the website, News on Penny Auction or large advertising, marketing or PR stunt. Example Swoopo was in news when it got a large VC funding in the US. Two impact, immediate impact of news was high growth in traffic and long-term impact Swoopo will do much bigger advertisement campaigns and hence more competition.

Suggestion – Follow your auction site on Twitter, Facebook etc and setup a Google news alert for your company

Guessing the Players

The whole system is highly dynamic. Big movements in a small time are possible. The penny auction bidder has to guess the action of the major actors on the auction market. The interpretation of the signals of the big players is crucial. Most big players will enter a penny auction early in the game if they smell quick win. Understanding the actions of big players can give a good insight into how the future of that auction will pan out.

Suggestion – Keep a record on big players and possibly their winnings

Bubbles

Price of a stock is much higher than the value of a product. The Bubble comes into existence due to high speculations and is by far the most dangerous to short term speculations. It is easy to predict by comparing the price and average closing price of all the products.

A Bubble comes into being when unsophisticated/new players get pulled into an auction where they hope to make big returns. More they get into that auction more they get a feeling of being invested. An unsophisticated player doesn’t think in terms of sunk cost and doesn’t set a limit beyond which he/she will stop the bidding. Sophisticated or long-term player can still profit during these bubbles by understanding and following the unsophisticated players quite closely. Once the unsophisticated players move out the more patient players dive in for a kill.

But bubble remains the most dangerous and unpredictable auction and even sophisticated players stay out.

Suggestion – Avoid bubbles like plague

Briatore turns to online auction for next manager

2010-01-01T15:11:00.001Z

QPR's playboy owner Flavio Briatore plans to bid for his next manager on an online auction site.

Flavio Briatore, QPR's gregarious owner, parted ways with his sixth manager in two-and-a-half years this week with Paul Hart the latest coach to join the dole queue. The playboy Italian, who recently overturned a lifetime ban from the Formula 1 authorities, will now scour online auction sites in search of a replacement.

A source close to the former Renault F1 boss said he had commandeered the QPR youth team, who are now manning PCs in the basement of his mansion, monitoring online auction sites and waiting for someone with top level coaching experience to be auctioned off.

Briatore has heard that online auctions are offering all kinds of top prizes these days from DVD players to dates with underwear models and he is confident that it will only be a matter of time before bids open on the right candidate.

One lucky punter on the online auction site MadBid picked up a brand new Mini for £6.83 recently, which has convinced Briatore that he can avoid expensive compensation payments and agent fees by putting his steely nerve to the test against the online auction community.

The next time an out-of-work football manager is up for grabs, Briatore plans to get bidding. He is confident that he has the staying power, the patience and the bravado it takes to win even the most competitive online auction.

There's no sign of QPR's next manager among the live auctions currently running on MadBid. However, if Briatore fancies flexing his bidding muscles he could land himself a Phillips Wake Up Light, a Nintendo Wii or a Samsung 46" Ultra Slim TV for up to 90 per cent off their retail value. Briatore isn't short a bob or two, but you don't get rich by spending all your money so some of these treats might just tempt him and will provide some useful bidding practice.

Patience - Strategy to win on Penny auction

2009-12-21T18:30:00.000Z

Penny auction sites are more than just gambling. Winning is very likely in Penny Auctions with the right choice of site and strategy. Penny auction sites generally put up items for auction for zero pound/dollar and every time a bidder bids the price goes up by one penny. So you end up getting things which are above $500 also for few dollars!! A Penny Auction is where an auction item's bid price goes up by one penny each time someone bids. So for example, if a big screen T.V. is up for auction, it starts at $0.00. The first person to bid makes the bid price $0.01. The next person to bid can only raise the price by one cent so it goes up to $0.02, and so on...

So how does this work? How can we really buy items for pennies? Well, if you are aware of Penny auction sites you need to own a bid first to place a bid! That's right...you buy bids and then place bids on the item of your choice. Like any auction penny auctions are also time-bound. But the duration for Penny auction is in minutes unlike the normal auctions. It would generally be five minutes or so. Once a bid is placed the countdown begins and the clock is reset for every new bid. That way the newcomer has a chance to bid. But if none bids then the bid is won at a good deal!!

So now, here comes the strategy. In penny auction if you would like to win instead of placing a bid, waiting is the best strategy is Patience!! Yes, you need to first monitor the items you like. After sometime you will be able to judge the dynamic on the sites. For e.g.: if the site is having less interest on your favourite item then you should bid. Then you have a high chance of winning a great deal. On the contrary if you see more activity then it maybe difficult to win unless you want to end up spending more money.

Strategies to win on Penny Auction

2009-12-21T18:27:00.001Z

Self help

Penny auction is a new concept which has intrigued me for a while now, I have followed this concept quite closely and I want to be one of the thought leader in this business.

This was my first post I want to think of Penny Auctions akin Stock Trading -

Penny auction is in many ways similar to say trading on stocks:

- You need to take the risks to earn the return - Users who buy more bids have the staying power. They wear out the competitors and win the product. You have to be very lucky to win a product with your first 5-10 bids.

- It pays to adopt a different strategy - You can fairly guess at what points during the day the traffic on the website will be high or which products are more likely to attract more bidders. Not following crowd always helps.

- You should know when to hold and when to fold - Cutting your losses is the key to trading on stocks. Same applies here, if you see that you are being carried away by a strong bidder, you can't let your emotions get in the way. You have to be aware of your exit points. You obviously don't want to spend 100 pounds on bids to secure an ipod worth the same price!

In the next post I will be talking about various Penny auction websites in the UK.

ONLINE AUCTIONS FEED WORLD CUP FEVER

2009-12-21T18:02:00.000Z

As the countdown to South Africa enters the final 6 months, online auction fans are getting football fever.

David Beckham was hobnobbing with football's fat cats in Cape Town this week to promote England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup. At a media event, a group of children were left wondering why they were being asked to play keepy-ups with a hillbilly, only to realise that it was in fact their beloved Becks, sporting a Brokeback Mountain shirt and his latest in a long line of absurd haircuts. Let's hope he tidied himself up before he met Sepp Blater, the Fifa president.

But while Becks was dressing up as an extra from Grant Theft Auto: The Milan Years, the main order of business was the draw for next summer's tournament. This is when serious football fans really start getting excited about the prospect of a solid month of football. The colour, the passion, the atmosphere, all the best players in the world in the one tournament money can't buy. Add to that a stubborn refusal to acknowledge that World Cups are always a massive disappointment and will never, ever be as good as the one you watched when you were 11 and you have everything you need.

Well, almost everything. How about a Samsung 42" plasma TV to bring the big match atmosphere right into your living room? Or Fifa 10 on the PS3 to show them how it's done afterwards? If you sign up to an online auction website like MadBid now you could win yourself a World Cup cornucopia of goodies (look it up, it means lots) before the big kick-off.

MadBid also auctions off piles of cash, which will help pay for a few afternoons in the pub watching the action and a few evenings in the pub debating endlessly where it all went wrong. Auctions have also been running for a DVD box set containing the complete collection of Lost, which will provide a bit of respite when you're all footballed out. Or how about a brand new car? That's got to beat most pick-me-ups for when the tournament comes to a close.

ONLINE AUCTION SITES ARE LIKE DIGITAL SANTAS

2009-12-21T17:59:00.000Z

How online auction sites like Madbid.com could make your Christmas dreams come true

It is very nearly that time of year again when we all forget how much we earn and how much we already owe. The recession is for wimps. Downturn, upturn or about turn, when it comes to Christmas we'll be spending money like drunken sailors. Lavish gifts for relatives we won't see again for a year, new outfits for each one of the many parties we'll be attending and food fit for a medieval court – Christmas is no time to be frugal.

Of course, there will be some who decide to boycott the festive gluttony, drunkenness and inappropriate dancing. Plenty of people don't celebrate Christmas on religious grounds, while others will be busy working while the rest of us are arguing about the best way to cook the turkey. You also get the odd killjoy who thinks Christmas is too commercial these days – an opinion arrived at shortly after deciding they're too tight to buy presents.

But this year a fair few of us are likely to fall somewhere between the modern-day Mr Scrooge and the office moron who's been wearing a tie made from tinsel since late November. We want to be merry, we want to celebrate, we want to take a break from our worldly woes, but we're also looking for opportunities to save a bit of cash.

One potential means of cutting the cloth this Christmas is to hit the online auction circuit. Sites like Madbid.com give you a chance to get your hands on the kind of Christmas presents that get you a "wow, that's worth much more than I spent on you, just wait until your birthday" instead of a "I hope this smile looks genuine, let's see if mum still thinks he's marriage material after this debacle". What's more, you can pick up these festive nuggets of gold for a fraction of their retail value.

A flatscreen television and home cinema system is just what you need to do justice to Zulu or Escape to Victory. Not a fan of the Queen's speech? Well, you're a traitor and you should be ashamed of yourself, but once her Majesty has said her piece how about 4-player Mario Kart on your new Nintendo Wii? You can even win a pile of cash to blow on whatever manner of festive tat takes your fancy or Tesco vouchers to take the edge of that eye-watering big Christmas shop.

Now, online auctions are not a license to print money. You must be sharp of wit and steely-eyed, with patience, focus, determination and expert timing to boot. But if you have what it takes to succeed on sites like Madbid.com you could have a very merry Christmas and an overdraft free New Year.

ONLINE AUCTIONS – A CURE FOR CHRISTMAS STRESS

2009-12-15T15:09:00.000Z

Christmas can be a stressful time but online auctions can take the fuss out of the festivities.

Christmas is just a few days away and with snow on the ground and a nice little four-day break coming up, many of us will be full of festive cheer. But Christmas can also be a stressful time of year – and not just for SC and his over-worked midgets. Trekking across the country for family gatherings, elbowing your way through the crowds to buy the last of your gifts, deciding which celebrity chef really knows how to cook the turkey – it's enough to knock the stuffing out of you.

But of course, online auctions have the answer. You can land all manner of festive goodies for a tiny fraction of their retail value. From home entertainment systems to piles of cash, online auctions provide the ideal light relief to the Christmas headache. Here's our top five online auction Yule tide treats:

Tom Tom Go Live 950
Sat-navs are must-haves when it comes to visiting relatives for the big family Christmas. Nobody wants to get lost, especially when it's snowing and there's a massive feast and loads of presents waiting for you at the other end. Win yourself one of these bad boys on an online auction site like MadBid and you need not worry about swallowing your pride and for asking directions or arguing with your co-driver over how to read a map ever again.

iPhone 3Gs 32GB
Christmas stress? There's an app for that. Well, probably. You can find out for yourself if you pick up the best phone on the market for a fraction of its not-so-insignificant price tag. After spending all that money on presents for other people you deserve a treat. Don't leave it to Santa – reindeer sweaters can't find your nearest Indian restaurant or tell you if your shelves are level.

Nintendo Wii Bundle
After two weeks of eating for England, many of us will be looking down at a spare tyre come the start of January. Online auctions can help with that too. Online auction sites like MadBid regularly auction off Nintendo Wiis – the ultimate fitness gadget. Unlike other games consoles, you can't play Nintendo Wii sitting in a bean bag surrounded by food wrappers and empty cans of Red Bull. You've got to get out of your PJs and get moving. By the time you've smashed home a few winning forehands and beaten some cartoon bad guys to death with your bare hands it'll be like all that turkey and cake never happened.

Ultimate photography kit
Digital cameras are the perfect way to remember great Christmases - or at least provide a few laughs if Uncle Ted has too much eggnog. Don't be one of those tiresome cretins who know the pixel quality of their camera phones – do it like the professionals, with an actual camera. If you bid well, you could get one for literally pennies on an online auction site like MadBid.

Panasonic Microwave Oven
Once the big day is over, you'll be left with all manner of food and just a few days to get it eaten before you have to go back to work. From cold turkey to Christmas cake there'll be more grub than fridge space. A brand new microwave oven for a fraction of its retail value is just what you need to take the edge of a stale mince pie or warm up some leftover veg.

HOW TO BEAT ONLINE AUCTIONS – THE DANGERS OF BINGE BIDDING

2009-10-16T14:02:00.001+01:00

Online auctions like MadBid.com and Swoopo.com require nerves of steel and a clear head. So be smart, don’t mix bidding and boozing.

There was a time when coming home late from the pub meant a slice of cheese on toast and the last 20 minutes of a black and white horror film. A weekly ritual that had us waking up on the sofa at 4am with ITV’s nightscreen, half a cup of cold tea and a crick in the neck for company.

Nowadays, post pub entertainment is significantly more sophisticated. We can terrorise the neighbours with a quick blast of Guitar Hero or get online and test our Pro Evo skills against a kid in China. Digital TV means no more nightscreen. Even in the wee hours there will be something still showing – and not just a 40-year-old offering starring Christopher Lee.

And of course, there’s the internet. Information, entertainment and stimulation the likes of which our parents could only dream of. There’s something on the worldwide web to cater for every taste. No matter how eclectic you think you are, there is probably already a Facebook group for your chosen passion.

But beware. The internet can be an expensive place when whiskey and beer – not to mention shooters of brightly-coloured goo – are clouding your judgment. Take online auctions for example. To pick up a brand new iPhone, a home entertainment system, a bundle of cash or even a car for a fraction of the ticket price, you need to have your wits about you.

If you were fighting in the trenches, you would have got a shot of rum to calm your nerves before charging a line of machine gun positions armed with a rifle and a big coat. And if you hit the rum before a late night online auction session you too could become cannon fodder – albeit metaphorically rather than literally.

Boozed-up post-pub amateurs are like the lame wildebeests of the online auction world. They thrash about in a haze of liquor-induced bravado, blowing their precious bids and missing out on the biggest savings.

Our lions – the practised, experienced bidders - are biding their time. Calm, collected – and sober – they pick off their drunken rivals, landing the top prizes and laughing all the way to the front page of the MadBid website. Our wildebeests wake up – prizeless and penniless - wishing they had passed out on the sofa.

HOW TO WIN ONLINE AUCTIONS – BID MORE, TALK LESS

2009-10-03T13:29:00.000+01:00

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.

PENNY TRADES AND ONLINE AUCTIONS: IT’S ALL ABOUT TACTICS

2009-09-25T13:03:00.005+01:00

Timothy Sykes Timothy Sykes is someone I have been watching for a little while now.

Timothy trades stocks, but not any that you've heard of. He trades Penny Stocks to the tune of triple-digit returns.

Penny Stocks have traditionally been considered a risky investment because their low, low price means they’re prone to sharp swings in value. That’s “risky” before credit default swaps, collatorised debt obligations and mortgage backed securities gave new meaning to the word. While the world’s bankers have been licking their wounds, Timothy has been using Penny Stocks, his razor sharp wits and his Bar Mitzvah money to make himself a millionaire.

The concentration, attention to detail and guile required to make money from Penny Stocks should not be underestimated. Prices move fast and if you don’t know what you’re doing you can lose your stake quicker than you can say “taxpayer-funded stimulus package”. Timothy, though, does know what he’s doing - having turned $12,000 into a whopping $2,000,000 before he’d even graduated from university.

This kind of savvy reminds us of successful online auction punters like those over at MadBid who were so good the site’s boss had to introduce limits on the amount of times users could win: they were too good for the market.

Fortunately for Timothy, there are no limits to what he can make, and since November 2007 he is up 475 per cent. We’re yet to find our first online auction millionaire, but some of the more skilful players have picked up must-have gadgets, cars and cash for a fraction of their retail value.

Briefly, Timothy ran his own hedge fund, and from that experience he wrote a tell-all book – An American Hedge Fund - about the world of fast-paced trading. In it he has a cutting message for the financial establishment: "I would like to thank the thousands of inept corporate management teams … pump-and-dumpers, market manipulators...for your endless scheming and undying greed, without which my fortune would never have been possible."

So, what can online auction fans learn from Timothy, the Penny Stocks Millionaire? I think it’s to keep your eyes on the prize and to perfect your tactics. Who knows, perhaps you’ll be the next online auction aficionado to get a call from MadBid’s boss wanting to know your secret - it's happened before.

Times - Got it wrong - Again!!

2009-07-14T09:19:00.009+01:00

A quick note on how 'The Times Newspaper' has made a habit of getting it wrong. It didn't expose the MP's fraud that has marred the UK politics recently and it has always got it wrong about Penny auction concept.

A times article - Save Thousands on Auction Sites talks about new breed of sites where one can save up to 90%. It sent hundreds and thousands of unsuspecting customers to a game strategy site www.MadBid.com. I am sure many customers loved the concept (ones who were quick learners) but many were disappointed.
MadBid even though got a great coverage couldn't have benefited much because of high customer attrition rate, as most people who went to the website failed to win a bargain.

After BBC coverage on Penny Auction sites I thought 'The Times' would keep away from writing about Penny Auction concept and will leave this to bloggers and smart press. But NO ... like Brittney 'they did it again'. They wrote another article Ten Best Auction Websites and I quote an excerpt "MadBid may be better known, but at just 50p per bid Swoopo is more than twice as cheap." They got it wrong again!!

Funny enough Swoopo has at least 10 times* more customers than MadBid, mainly through Swoopo's mega online PR reach. MadBid is David in the David and Goliath battle for supremacy in the Penny auction arena. It’s not MadBid but Swoopo that is better known.

As for 50p one of my very learned German lawyer friends informed me the Swoopo is forced to keep the price at 50p because they are a German company and by law in Germany you cannot have a bid priced more than 50p in games which involve bidding or participation.

Also because of the liquidity on Swoopo it is very difficult to win on Swoopo. With millions of customers and thousands of them bidding at any one time on the 8-10 auctions running on Swoopo at anytime it’s very difficult to win. So I would say the 50p which seems so cheap in real terms is very costly when compared to the ease with which one can win auction on MadBid.

Note - Since I have no access to Swoopo and MadBid data I used Alexa ranking for MadBid.com and compared it with Alexa ranking for Swoopo.com, Swoopo.de, Swoopo.co.uk etc.

The players

2009-03-27T23:18:00.000Z

Penny auction or its hybrid models have been there for a while but credit crunch has made them an interesting proposition. So far I have seen these models in Germany, UK, Finland, Sweden, US, Korea, Israel, Spain and Austria but I am sure we will see many more of these cropping around all over the world.

Two things that are happening – few legit models and few get rich quick models. In this blog I will not mention any models which I believe are not legitimate.

I don't consider now or in future any site doing ghost bidding, reserve price, running sites across many countries but hiding from their customer the fact or any site that is not transparent.

The Incumbent – www.Swoopo.de also previously known as Telebid took this idea and brought it to the customers in Germany. It was founded in Germany in 2005, Swoopo launched their UK website in December 2007, followed by Spain in May 2008 and the US and Austria in September 2008.

Interesting point about Swoopo is that it runs across the globe same products and hence it’s quite difficult to win products on this platform unless one has a very good strategy and lots of patience. Though Swoopo provides a large variety of products it limits itself to most electronics consumer goods and a portfolio of products which heavily caters to the needs of online gamers.

The Follower – www.MadBid.com started this site in the UK serving only the UK citizens. They copied Swoopo but have tried to differentiate by offering a wide variety of products and high value of products. They are quite small when compared to Swoopo and they only cater to the British people hence its easier to win. It is still to be seen if they grow big enough and how they will be able to manage the growth.

What I like about this site is that they are very transparent and open. I haven’t seen any other site with customer service phone number. Also they are trying to innovate all the time, be it website or products. I love the Ducati that will be under hammer in April.

The Imposter - www.fiksuhuuto.com – It’s a Finnish site and claims to be number one but I think it is not by far (refer Alexa ranking). It has very few visitors. Though it runs auctions in a few countries they don’t seem to be transparent. They do not reveal themselves to the Customers. But its Finland’s biggest and is run on a model also copied from Swoopo.

I am sure there will be many sites to follow as this space is quite big, but there will have to manage between too few customers and too many and how avoid the temptation of self bidding.

Step back – What is Penny/cent Auction?

2009-03-07T15:48:00.000Z

Let us take a step back … in my eagerness to discuss the strategies on winning in a Penny Auctions I ignored the most important question, what is a Penny Auction?

Penny auction is not a ‘reverse auction’!! And if it is not that then what is it? Is it an auction?

Let me start with talking about different auction styles and highlight the difference before we dig more about Penny auction.

Reverse auction vs. Traditional auction

In traditional auctions you have one seller and many buyers. Buyers compete against each other and raise the bid price and hence generate high value for the seller.

Reverse auction you have one buyer and many sellers. Buyer quotes the maximum price he is ready to pay and then sellers compete against each other bringing down the price of product and hence generate value for buyer. Example priceline.com

Penny auction is a concept which is an evolution of traditional auction. Here both seller and buyers take risk and compete. Seller start the sale of process at a price mostly zero. So in the start the risk is for seller to sell the product at a loss. Buyers take risk by subsidising the cost of product they may not win in the end.

Every time a buyer places a bid on the product, the price of the product goes up by 1 unit (penny or cent) and for that they pay certain price to the seller. Each bid has a cost akin to an admission fee to participate in the auction.

Once the proceeds from the bid costs goes beyond the cost price of the product seller starts making profit. At this point sellers still can make large bargains as they still can win the product by placing a bid in the end.

Example:

Product – Laptop computer

RRP – £1000

Each bid costs £1

Auction starts at 0 pounds

Retailer profit depends on following equation =>

Participation bids*Participation bid + auction price of product = Cost of product

If X is number of bids then we can write the above equation as

x*£1+x/100=1000

101x=1000*100

x=990 bids

Seller will need 990 bids to make money

Buyer on the other hand has to buy the product below £1000 to make it worth while buying in a penny auction

X*£1+X/100<1000

Buyer and seller have same equation but with only difference being buyer has to bid less than 990 times.

Considering that their will be multiple buyers the buy side risk is shared by multiple users and buyers end up with.

But if it is so simple then why is called "eBay's (more) evil twin"?

Too make this model work there should be enough buyers and they should be drawn into competition to bid on the product. To make it interesting any company offering this auction has to create an auction cycle which is short enough and creates a sense of urgency.

This model cannot work with slow cycles as auctions will go for very long time and it becomes boring and time waste for participants. The urgency draws in people who may end-up spending a lot and hence its name the “Evil twin”

In my opinion it is another form of auction which uses a form of economic model where buyer and seller both share risk and can reap rewards if participate in a responsible and planned manner. Every market where one is looking for high returns will face risk, be it penny auction, stock market or even bond markets.

I have no intention of equating stock market to negligent size penny auction market, but believe me this market will be flooded with companies with similar or variants of this concept. And we will see few IPO's in this sector too.