Tag: DealDash

How To Conserve Your Bids

The next best thing to buying cheap bids on sale is conserving the ones you already have!

You might ask “How am I supposed to win if I am being thrifty with my bids?” Well, there are a few different ways to try and conserve your bids for another day, and I will try to teach you about some of the easiest ways to save your bids for later.

The first way is pretty obvious – only bid on items that you are willing to “go all the way” on, do your math so you know when to stop bidding to break even with your bids + final auction cost, then stop bidding! Remember, if you do your math calculations and you have reached the BIN price, use the “Buy it Now” option and pay retail price for the item. DealDash will when refund all of the bids you used on that item, and you can try again another day.

 

The next way to conserve bids is to enter the auction late. On most days at DealDash you have to get at least 1 bid in before the auction price has hit $5. These are called “No Jumper” auctions, and it basically means that DealDash doesn’t want someone who has no bids invested in an item to get to win it with just a few when other bidders have been trying hard (for hours sometimes) to win the item. However, DealDash has decided that $5 is the magic price, and as long as you get your first bid in before then you are good to sit back and wait until the competition is less fierce, say when there are only 3 or 4 people left in the auction. Some days the No Jumper auctions start at $3 instead of $5, but it’s always marked very clearly at the top of the homepage, so there’s no confusion.

The last way to conserve bids that I would like to talk about today is a little bit on the risky side – Going Mobile!! Sometimes there’s a particular auction that I am interested in that I won’t be at home to catch, so normally I would just load up my BidBuddy with the appropriate number of bids to break even if I win, and hope for the best. However, now that DealDash has made a great mobile site it’s easy to bid “on the go.” This way I can monitor the auction from my phone and step in at just the right moment instead of bidding from the beginning and probably losing to someone who started at the $3 or $4 mark. I say that this is a “risky” way to try and conserve bids because there have been MANY times that I have planned on monitoring an auction from my phone, but by the time that I remember to check it’s already passed the $5 No Jumper limit. So if it’s something that you are extremely interested in I would suggest setting an alarm on your phone to remind you to check the auction.

That’s it! Those are just a few simple ways to save your bids and get the most out of your bid pack purchases. Pay attention to what you’re doing, check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on, and try my tips to save bids. See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

How I Got My Biggest Win

Neato on DealDash

What’s your biggest win on DealDash? My biggest (and favorite) win is my Neato Robotics XV Signature Robotic Vacuum.

 

There is honestly no big secret of how I got my biggest win on DealDash. It was just a combination of different factors – Having enough bids saved up to go the distance to BIN (Buy It Now) if I needed to, doing research on the item and my competitors, using my BidBuddy, and having a little luck on my side!

I have written many blogs before on some of the best ways to win items on DealDash, and it really usually comes down to those simple factors that I listed above. Broken down, here are my DealDash “Best Practices” suggestions that I used to win my Neato Robotic Vacuum.

  • Have enough bids to BIN the item if you need to. The BIN price on the Neato Robotic Vacuum is $381. That means that if this happens to be a free auction weekend I could bid approximately 2,381 – 3,175  times, depending on what price I paid for the bids, and still come out even with the BIN price. However, if it’s a half-price auction or a full-priced auction then you need to be careful that you don’t accidentally bid too many times if you are factoring in bid cost + final auction cost. In this particular situation my Neato’s final auction cost was $53.11, so that means that I could bid a maximum of  2,050 – 2,733 times (depending on bid price .12 – .16) and still come out even with the BIN price. Yes, it’s a lot of math, but it’s worth it to do the calculations to make sure that you don’t accidentally overbid and win. Of course, if you “win” and you paid more in bid cost + final auction cost than the BIN price, it’s not really a win, now is it? Be smart, do your math!

 

 

  • The next thing that I always mention when giving tips to people is to make sure that you do your research on the item and your competitors. When you have found something that you would really like to win and you feel like you can commit yourself to going all the way to the BIN price if you have to, then start checking out every auction for the item you want, as well as similar items. Just put them on your watch list by clicking the little star in the upper right corner, and DealDash will save the auction for you so you can come back later and check it out. While you are doing your research on the item, pay attention to who is bidding on the item you want as well as similar items. That way you can get a feel if they are the sort of person that just tosses in 100 bids and walks away, or if they are in it for the long haul.

  • When you have finally decided on the best auction for yourself, checked out the other items and competition, then it’s time for the best tool that DealDash could ever offer – the BidBuddy! When you have decided that it’s time to stop watching and really get into the auction, then do your math that we talked about earlier, put your bids into your BidBuddy, and hope for the best! Remember, if you do your math calculations and you have reached the BIN price and still haven’t won, use the “Buy it Now” option and pay retail price for the item. DealDash will when refund all of the bids you used on that item, and you can try again another day.

  • The last component of how I got my biggest win was just a little bit of luck on my side. I was able to get my Neato by placing about 800 bids, which is around $96 since I typically only buy bids when they are .12. So $96 + $53 = $149 for an item that has a BIN price of $381 is a profit of $232, and I think that’s quite lucky, indeed!

So, my fellow bidders, that is the story of how I got my biggest win on DealDash. Go ahead and check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on and WIN! See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

Newbies Make Mistakes – Here are the Top Three

Let’s face it, everyone makes mistakes. However, if you’re a newbie to DealDash maybe I can help you avoid the top three mistakes that beginners tend to make.

Mistake 1 – Not having a plan. Okay, so you found a great item on DealDash that you would like to bid on and win. Excellent! There are many different bidding strategies that you might like to try, but the absolute worst bidding strategy that I can think of is to put every single bid you have into your BidBuddy and walk away. Of course, some people do win and get great deals this way, it’s also possible to spend a lot of money (in bids) on a particular item and still not win. Or, even worse, “win” the item but overbid by more than the BIN (Buy It Now) price. The best thing to do is to calculate how many bids will equal the BIN price, and put that amount into your BidBuddy. Of course, this only works on a day when they are having free auctions, if it’s a regular day and you have to pay the final auction price, then you must also calculate that in with the price of bids. It’s a little difficult to calculate what the final auction price will be, so in my experience it’s smart to check back on the auction occasionally to make sure that if you win the auction you don’t end up paying more in bids + final fee than it would be to just BIN the item when you reach your budget limit.

Mistake 2 – Going for a big ticket item before you’re ready. Most people who are reading this blog have probably seen the DealDash commercial where the ladies show you what awesome items that they won for amazing prices. And yes, those ladies really and truly did win those items, however they are seasoned bidders who have a lot of experience bidding on DealDash and had hundreds of smaller wins under their wings before they tried for “the big score.” Winning anything like a laptop or a big TV takes practice and smart-bidding skills, which need to be honed over time. Start honing your skills by bidding on smaller auctions and especially bidding on items you would buy anyway such as gift cards for Target and Wal-Mart, household items that you use on a regular basis such as laundry detergent, or presents for your kids to hide away for a birthday or holiday. Remember, if you do your math calculations and you have reached the BIN price, use the “Buy it Now” option and pay retail price for the item. DealDash will when refund all of the bids you used on that item, and you can try again another day.

Mistake 3 – Being rude or disrespectful to other bidders. This is a bit of a tricky subject, but I feel that a lot of newbies seem to make the mistake of “jumping” on other people’s bids. Jumping on someone’s bid basically means to bid immediately after someone without letting the first persons “time clock” run down to a couple of seconds. You see, not all newbies know this, but DealDash does a wonderful thing for their bidders – for every second that someone is the highest bidder in an auction they earn “free time” that is shown at a bar on the bottom of the screen. When the bar is filled up then DealDash will give you however many free bids that you are eligible to “claim.” When a bidder “jumps the clock” and bids right away after someone else does it usually makes the other person very annoyed, and depending on the person they may overbid on the auction just to win to spite you. Of course, mistakes happen and sometimes you might accidentally jump someone elses’ bid, but in my experience if you only do it once most people know that it was just an accident. It’s when you do it multiple times in the same auction that makes people upset. Of course, you are free to bid however you like, but in life as in DealDash I personally don’t try to annoy people on purpose, especially if it might cause me to lose money!

highestBidder

So my dear DealDashers, those are just a few mistakes that beginners tend to make. Pay attention to what you’re doing, check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on, try some easier auctions to build up knowledge, and you’ll be winning awesome stuff before you know it! See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

Basketball Fans! The Season is Ready to Start

It’s October now and the 2015-2016 NBA season is about to begin! Let’s learn a little about basketball, then I’ll show you how you can get your own equipment to play at home on DealDash.

This upcoming 2015–16 NBA season is the 70th season of the National Basketball Association, isn’t that amazing? This year’s regular season will begin on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at the United Center, which is the home of the Chicago Bulls, who will be hosting a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the early game. Later on in the night game the 2015 NBA champions Golden State Warriors will be hosting the New Orleans Pelicans. Who’s your favorite team? I live in Boston, so everyone here is wild about the Celtics, but in my heart I will always be a North Carolina girl, so the Charlotte Hornets are my top pick. Speaking of North Carolina and basketball, my fun trivia question for you is: What high school did Michael Jordan attend? If you answered Emsley A. Laney High you would be correct! I also attended Laney, but quite a few years after Michael.

Even though the NBA was established in 1946, the actual game of basketball was invented in 1891 in Springfield, Mass. The inventor of the game was a Phys Ed teacher named James Naismith, he invented basketball as a less injury-prone sport than football. After spreading around the fun of his new game, The first public basketball game was played in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1892.

If you enjoy watching basketball, then you might agree that playing basketball is even more fun! However, not everyone has easy access to a basketball court, so the next best thing is to set up your own basketball hoop in your driveway at home. DealDash has quite a few different basketball hoops that you can choose from, there are freestanding basketball hoops in both adult and youth sized, as well as stationary hoops that need to be mounted. Of course, if you’re setting up a basketball hoop you’re going to need a ball! DealDash has you covered on that one, too. They offer both official and youth sized basketballs.

Lifetime 90022 32-inch Youth/Indoor Portable Basketball SystemVoit Lite 80 Junior BasketballLifetime 44-Inch Court Height-Adjustable Basketball HoopOfficial NBA Zi/O Excel Basketball, Size 7

If the outdoors aren’t really your thing, I totally understand. Up here in New England it’s absolutely too cold to be hanging out outside anytime after November, but don’t worry. DealDash has a solution for that, too. They occasionally offer an arcade-style basketball game up for auction. It’s just like the kind you might find at a family fun center, and it’s a great edition for your basement or playroom. You can get your basketball fix no matter what the weather!

MD Sports Medal 2-Player Basketball Game

I hope this article has got you excited about basketball! If you’re interested in getting some items to get you started head on over to DealDash. DealDash has all of the pieces of equipment that we talked about, as well as water bottles, sports watches, and plenty of other items that you can use to start yourself off right. Check out the Hobbies, Toys, Outdoors, & Games category and I’m sure that you’ll find something that you just love. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

 

 

 

Lessons on Coffee With DealDash

 

Every age group from teens to seniors love coffee. However, a lot of people go through life not knowing much about it. Let’s change that.

Most people know that coffee is prepared from roasted coffee beans, but do you know how they get the beans in the first place? Coffee beans as you know them actually come from the seeds of berries from the Coffea plant. Coffee plants are cultivated (almost) all over the world, but primarily in the equatorial regions of the Americas, Southeast Asia, India and Africa. You won’t find any coffee plants growing in Antarctica, though,  they need a temperature of about 59 and 75 °F to grow and thrive. The two most commonly grown coffee plants are arabica, which coffee connoisseurs tend to love, and the slightly lower regarded but stronger robusta.

 

You might be wondering how you get the coffee beans from plant seeds. Well, it’s a long time-consuming process starting with the picking of the berries. After the berries have been picked (some places do it by HAND!) then they are sorted by ripeness and color and then the flesh of the berry is removed, usually by machine, then the seeds are fermented to remove the slimy layer of berry flesh still on the seed. After this process is finished, the seeds are washed with fresh water to remove the fermentation residue. Finally, the seeds are dried. After the drying is done the beans are called “green coffee.” The final step before being shipped off to your local supermarket or cafe is roasting the beans. After they have been roasted then they are the nice brown yummy-smelling beans that we are all used to.

There are many different ways to enjoy the coffee beans – espresso, cafe Americano, Turkish, cold brewed, or even the most humble instant coffee. When you think of having a coffee at home most people probably either think of the “regular” coffee maker that’s found in most homes or offices, and coming in a close second would probably be the newer “one cup” coffee makers that use the individually portioned “pods”. No matter which type you prefer you can get the machines themselves and also the re-fills from DealDash. Getting items such as coffee from DealDash makes so much sense – If you don’t win the item and end up having to Buy It Now (BIN), you will get all of your bids back, and a great product that you would have bought anyway.

Mr.Coffee 12-Cup Coffee Maker,Stainless Steel/BlackStarbucks Colombia Ground Coffee, 12 ozKeurig Platinum Mini BrewerKeurig Donut Shop Sweet & Creamy Iced Coffee K-Cups (16-Pack)

 

I hope this article has furthered your knowledge about coffee and how it goes from plant to your cup.  If you’re interested in getting some items to enjoy your coffee at home head on over to DealDash. DealDash has everything you need to have a nice hot cup of coffee at home. Check out the Kitchen & Dining category and I’m sure that you’ll find something that you can use to make your perfect cup of coffee. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!