LEARNING CURVES AND GOING BIG<\/p>\n
Until I found DealDash<\/a>, my learning curve for penny auctions had become a costly, brutal and unforgiving ride. People call penny bidding recreational shopping, but I wasn\u2019t having fun \u2013 yet.<\/p>\n I waited half a year before bidding on big ticket items, as most sites suggest. Then I decided the time had come for me to win a $2,000 Apple computer. I\u2019d won a mouse, several packs of 30 bids and a necklace worth $19.00. I felt ready to go big. So did one hundred other bidders.<\/p>\n The auction dragged on for a week. I saw the effects of not being allowed to place more than 25 bids in the automated bidder at any given time \u2013 you don\u2019t get to sleep. I fed the bidder religiously until day seven. My eyes closed for a second. That\u2019s when I lost.<\/p>\n Then I found a site that let me put as many bids as I wanted in the automated bidder. They also disqualified every auction where I didn\u2019t spend as much bidding as the item\u2019s retail cost. They especially put the kibosh on auctions I won with ten bids or less.<\/p>\n I took ten minutes worth of pictures of the web page, a frame every second, showing I won the auctions the site disqualified and how badly the site\u2019s timer fails. It would go once, twice and then go on indefinite hold but nobody at that site cares.<\/p>\n \u201cRead the Terms of Service,\u201d the people in power said responding to my complaints.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t find a magnifier strong enough to read the microscopic print. Plus I still haven\u2019t received the IPad and laptop that the site agreed that I won, if you count paying full price as a win.<\/p>\n That site claims to have a Buy It Now (BIN) option. I tried to BIN when I didn\u2019t win bit their idea of a BIN means letting me apply the cost of a fraction of the bids I lost on the item (usually 10 to 20 %) towards the item\u2019s retail price. Then I paid for the rest of the item, but they didn\u2019t return the other 80 to 90% of the bids that I lost.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not a good BIN.<\/p>\n A good BIN option means if you don\u2019t win an auction you can purchase the item you didn\u2019t win from the site at retail price. The site then returns to you 100% of the bids you lost at no extra cost. Good BINs take the sting out of penny auctions if you bid on items you want and can afford to buy.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve bid at almost every penny auction site on the web. No two are the same. Each has its own personality, usually dictated by the attitudes of the people in charge. My horror stories abound.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve run into bidders so hostile they don\u2019t care if they lose as long as nobody else wins. Not just a few \u2013 I\u2019m talking about all bidders on the site, an auction that looks inviting but if you get too close, stings.<\/p>\n At another site, I became the shame-faced owner of the world\u2019s most expensive set of plastic containers for leftovers. The site had no Buy It Now option, which made the bidders (including me), crazed. People couldn\u2019t<\/p>\n afford to stop bidding. I had to make myself remember my motto \u2013 take your losses and run. It helped me escape my first marriage and it pried me loose from that site\u2019s clutches now.<\/p>\n At the lowest point in my penny bidding, my CPA suggested that I go to the most expensive stores in Beverly Hills and pay full price for whatever I wanted because I\u2019d save more money doing that than I did at penny auctions.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease stop bidding,\u201d he begged.<\/p>\n Not a chance. Penny bidding had escalated from a hobby into an obsession \u2013 a challenge to master and research for a small book.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when I found DealDash — the only online alternative penny auction that has it all and shares their good fortune. Everyone wins or minimally has an excellent chance of it there.<\/p>\n DealDash lets me stuff as many bids as I want into the automated bidder, which means I get a full night\u2019s sleep when an auction runs longer than 16 hours, as big ticket items often do. DealDash celebrates imaginary holidays to give them a reason to sell bids discounted from $.60 to $.17 each, a quirky but endearing trait.<\/p>\n The first time I saw the prices of all items crossed out and the word \u201cFree\u201d superimposed next to all the items\u2019 pictures on the Auctions in Progress page, I contacted DealDash.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve been hacked,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n DealDash reassured me that wasn\u2019t the case. The winner of each auction would receive that item for free — not counting the cost of bids the person used to win.<\/p>\n The term \u201cpenny bidding\u201d refers to the amount the price of an item increases whenever someone bids. The cost<\/p>\n of the bids themselves can range from $ .60 to a dollar each, depending on the site.<\/p>\n By having all the sales DealDash<\/a> holds for the (sometimes) imaginary holidays they celebrate, they consistently sell the cheapest bids of any site I\u2019ve found. Take it from my jnana, a Buddhist and Hindu word meaning knowledge gained directly from Life, wise bidders buy as many bids as they responsibly can when bids are on sale.<\/p>\n Bids win auctions for people. Selling bids keeps penny auction sites alive. In other words, Get \u2018em while the getting\u2019s cheap.<\/p>\n DealDash turned my learning curve turned into a fun ride. They\u2019re number one in my book and now they\u2019re the only site where I bid.<\/p>\n If I lose an auction, I buy the item at a competitive price and DealDash return all the bids I lost. (I know their prices are competitive because I checked.)<\/p>\n DealDash likes it when customers win something for one, two, or three bids. When DealDash customers are happy, DealDash feels happy too. Whether I win or BIN, DealDash ships all merchandise right away for free, no matter how much that item weighs.<\/p>\n I could rave on about DealDash\u2019s virtues endlessly. Take Kim in Support. No, don\u2019t take her. Leave her there. She knows what customer service means. She doesn\u2019t always give me what I want but she always gives me what\u2019s ethical, honest and fair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n DealDash<\/a> responds to problems in a timely, appropriate manner. For instance, when they needed to expand their servers, they did.<\/p>\n They cracked down on \u201cStopBiddingAgainstMeNow&ForfeitThis1\u201d and \u201cWillSpend2MillToWinThisItemWillU?\u201d — (fictional screen names). But DealDash embarked on a non-fiction anti-intimidation policy. They don\u2019t condone bullying, threats or intimidation.<\/p>\n Recently they clamped down on jumpers too. Jumping describes the behavior when after the same bidders have bid on an item for a while and the auction\u2019s winding down, suddenly a new bidder jumps into the middle of that auction. Often, this jumper will win the item for a few bids when the original bidders have spent many more. It\u2019s a strategy but it\u2019s not good manners. The jumper knows the other bidders will probably stop bidding because if they don\u2019t, they\u2019ll pay more than the item is worth.<\/p>\n \u201cNo Jumping\u201d prohibits people from bidding on an item after the price reaches $5.00 if they haven\u2019t bid on it before then. Be certain you understand what the different penny auction terms mean. If you don\u2019t understand after perusing the site, ask. Read more about No Jumper\u2122 auctions.<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s not just putting these new policies in place that makes DealDash number one. Instituting these new rules shows that DealDash listens to their customers. They care about the people they serve.<\/p>\n My CPA\u2019s scolding turned into as much awe as I\u2019ve seen or heard an accountant express when he ran my latest DealDash numbers. The spread sheet shows my purchases:<\/p>\n Now that\u2019s recreational shopping that\u2019s fun and no, I didn\u2019t make a typo on the cost of the television set. The above wins represent only a smidgeon of my DealDash successes. All merchandise auctioned is new.<\/p>\n But why would you read about the good deals and fun I\u2019m having when you could enjoy getting some great deals for yourself? That\u2019s like looking at a map instead of taking a trip.<\/p>\n Study the info on the site. Remember to start small before going big. Listen to your intuition and logic, not your fear, ego and greed.<\/p>\n Thanks DealDash<\/a> for a penny auction site we can trust and for giving a happy ending to this story. You\u2019re the best.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Notes from writer:<\/p>\nWHY A GOOD BIN MATTERS<\/h3>\n
WHAT\u2019S IN IT FOR YOU AT DEALDASH<\/a><\/h3>\n
WHAT PENNY BIDDING MEANS<\/h3>\n
RECENT CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS<\/h3>\n
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Video: DealDash: The fair & honest, risk-free alternative to penny auctions<\/a><\/h4>\n
Video: Dealdash.com Review Deal Dash is a great Penny-auction alternative<\/a><\/h4>\n
Video: DealDash Customer Support Team<\/a><\/h4>\n
Video: DealDash Review on How to Create a Free Account & Buy Bids<\/a><\/h4>\n
Video: DealDash Review on How to Bid and Win<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"