Sunday, July 31, 2011

Get the real about Penny auctions

With the recent emergence and popularity of penny auctions, by which bidders pay a small fee to participate in auction, online shoppers could possibly get great deals on expensive items such as high-definition televisions, designer handbags and accessories, laptops and iPods starting for under some money. However, based on what site a bidder uses, each bid may cost anywhere between $.50 and $1.00. These bid credits can accumulate quickly.

Penny auctions traditionally work in the next manner: every time a bid is positioned in an auction, the price of the item increases with a specific amount of cash, usually one or two cents, while a set period of time is automatically put into the timer (usually between 10 and 20 seconds). If a bidder may be the last person to bid right before the timer hits zero, she or he wins.

Unlike live sites for example eBay.com, third party sellers and resellers aren't a part of the company plan. Actually, most penny auctions have manufacturers or suppliers ship products directly to the winners. Because certain suppliers will discontinue certain items while others may have an excess flow of inventory, items are sold to penny auctions very inexpensively, and users could possibly get products for pennies about the dollar.

If users are lucky, they can win great offers; however, they ought to also consider the cost of bids spent to the win the item in addition to shipping and handling charges. Some cases it might be worth it, while other times users can overspend because the atmosphere is exciting and competitive; that is why it is important for users to construct a financial budget and stay with it.

Some penny auctions could use bots or shill bidding to place automatic bids to driving up prices. This is why you should conduct the right research. Browse the entire website over including the FAQ page, online privacy policy, and return/cancellation policy. When the site doesn't offer a return/cancellation policy, it may be time to research another site. Make sure the website accepts Visa and MasterCard and offers secure financial processing.

Read the site's ranking on Compete.com and Alexa.com - if the site has 200 bidders and very low traffic, which is a warning sign. These penny auctions ought to be avoided.