{"id":1788,"date":"2013-06-02T16:44:07","date_gmt":"2013-06-02T20:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dealdashblog.com\/?p=1788"},"modified":"2013-06-02T16:44:07","modified_gmt":"2013-06-02T20:44:07","slug":"a-power-bidders-secret-to-winning-at-dealdash-com-by-an-anonymous-satisfied-bidder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dealdash.com\/blog\/a-power-bidders-secret-to-winning-at-dealdash-com-by-an-anonymous-satisfied-bidder\/","title":{"rendered":"A POWER BIDDER\u2019S SECRET TO WINNING AT DEALDASH.COM – By An Anonymous Satisfied Bidder"},"content":{"rendered":"

This isn\u2019t a blog on how to dominate the competition, crush other bidders or score a new iPad for thirty-eight cents. It\u2019s not about what we can get<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a story about giving<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

One morning while I sat at my computer scanning upcoming DealDash auctions searching for the next treasure to bid on, I realized there wasn\u2019t one single thing I needed<\/i>. That awareness created a dilemma. Two of my most important bidding codes are: only bid on items I really want and only bid on items I can afford to BIN on (Buy It Now) if I don\u2019t win the auction. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been at the online\u00a0auction game for a while and in all humility, I\u2019m good at it \u2013 from lessons learned the hard way. (Is there any other way to learn?) But on this particular day, aside from a gas card or more coffee for my Keurig coffee-maker (won at a 90 percent discount), I couldn\u2019t find anything that met my criteria. <\/span><\/p>\n

My home was beginning to resemble a retail store with TVs, tablets, coffee makers and other electronics piled next to the closet. Like I said, I\u2019m good at online\u00a0auctions. But I had accumulated enough good stuff<\/i> to see me through all upcoming birthdays, two Christmases, and several other holidays. <\/span><\/p>\n

Was it time to back off retail therapy? Where\u2019s the thrill in winning a new television when I have nowhere to use the five new ones still packed in their boxes? Do I want to risk being forced to BIN on a two-thousand dollar item because some jumper snipes me in what\u2019s meant to be a \u201cNo-Jump\u201d Auction? <\/span><\/p>\n

Frustrated, I shut down my computer, distracting myself with other tasks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later that day, a friend called and mentioned a local charity that helped her family \u2013 a privately-funded drug and alcohol program for people of all ages with one thing in common: addiction to alcohol or drugs has made their lives unmanageable. The more my friend talked, the more I liked this program.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a time when other programs charge outrageous fees for an addicted loved one to stay at what\u2019s supposed to be a treatment center but in reality can barely make time for therapy groups between scheduling massages, manicures and private jet trips to China. The place my friend described sounded both affordable and effective. <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of sending our addicted loved ones home labeled \u201ccured\u201d 28 days, four pedicures and $60,000 later and then watching him or her start drinking that night or even worse, discover she used drugs the entire time she was in treatment, this center offers long-term treatment (six months or more) for $2,000 a month. For those without any resources but strongly motivated to stay straight, the program also offers scholarships.<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019ll save lives for free. <\/span><\/p>\n

My friend then mentioned that this program was now preparing for a silent auction to raise funds to continue offering scholarships and all the other quality services they\u2019ve offered since the seventies. I looked at all my DealDash winnings, many still in boxes. Maybe the program could use some of these treasures<\/i>, I thought. <\/span><\/p>\n

A few days later, I called the organization and told the nice but obviously busy woman who answered the telephone exactly what I had to offer, how I obtained these items (try convincing someone in three sentences or less you have thousands of dollars of new merchandise and electronics you won online by bidding) and I explained why I wanted to give these items to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, but we don\u2019t need any computers or TVs,\u201d the woman politely replied.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are brand new, still in their boxes. Under warranty \u2013\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll check with my manager and get back to you,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dial tone. <\/span><\/p>\n

A week later, I called the organization again and repeated my story. The nice lady who answers the phone repeated hers. After several rounds of calling and being rejected, I wore the nice lady down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, if these items are new, in the box and legally obtained, we can use them,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

I loaded two televisions, a two thousand dollar computer, and boxes of pricey gizmos into my Jeep and headed to their office. When staff saw my DealDash treasure, they were thrilled. Some items found their way to the silent auction. Others will be used around the facility, either in the offices or where the clients live. All donations were genuinely appreciated. <\/span><\/p>\n

But I wasn\u2019t done yet. As the staff unloaded my Jeep, I pulled the program director aside. \u201cWhy was it so hard for me to give all this to you?\u201d I asked her. \u201cWhy were you so hesitant to accept these things when I know you need them?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

She paused and then confessed. \u201cYou have no idea how much crap people try to pass off on us,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople re-do their houses and think that we\u2019ll haul their junk away for free. They want us to come and pick up nasty fifteen-year-old sofas that the dogs peed on, broken chairs, stinky mattresses \u2013 and worse. Some people want to give us twenty-year-old DOS computers that don\u2019t work at all, much less with any software programs and then use it as a tax deduction or to avoid paying toxic disposal fees,\u201d she said. \u201cWe see everything in the name of donations now. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t think you were for real,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back at home that night, I logged into my Deal Dash account and scanned upcoming auctions through new eyes. I bet local charities could use a new coffee machine, a microwave for their lunch room, or maybe a new computer for the office. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are limits to what I want for myself but what others need? Limitless. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to find others who truly need something that will make a difference in their lives if we look for them with have the vigor we bid to win. An elderly person confined to home can get so much joy from a new television. Or an aging parent can feel not so alone when he or she can Skype with \u2013 talk to and see — a grown child or grandchild every week on a new iPad.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next time you have a great win but you don\u2019t need that terrific item, consider giving it to someone who does need it \u2013 sometimes desperately. While there\u2019s a shortage of affordable long-term treatment centers, there are many good organizations and genuinely needy people in our communities and sometimes in our family.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is there an organization near you that could use office supplies? Maybe they could use a gift card to reward a hard-working volunteer or a gas card to keep their company van fueled. Many local charities struggle with daily operating expenses and even the smallest donation means a lot.<\/span><\/p>\n

My perspective changed. More than an online site where I can get more stuff<\/i> for me, Deal Dash multiplies my charitable giving. I still follow my rules: bid only on items that are needed and only on that which I can afford to BIN if I don\u2019t win. But my definition of \u201cwhat\u2019s needed\u201d expanded from what I need to what others need too. <\/span><\/p>\n

Years ago I learned I could move mountains if I had a valid reason. People can endure unbelievable pain if there\u2019s a valid purpose for their suffering. People need motivation to do what they do and to do it well. While greed has become enormously popular, charitable giving makes a much stronger motivation and it\u2019s a technique for winning too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now I don\u2019t mean you should write in your bio that you\u2019re trying to win a wine rack to help poor children in Third World Countries; that your sister is destitute and must have a new iPhone 5; or that you have no limbs, one year to live, and therefore need the latest Mac Power Book or you might die today. In some cases, the stories we read in bidder\u2019s bios are true. Even if they are, telling sob stories to help us win doesn\u2019t work. It annoys other bidders and demeans us.<\/span><\/p>\n

One bidder \u2018s bio said it best (I\u2019m paraphrasing): I\u2019m sorry your spouse died, you lost your job, your home was demolished and you\u2019re now living in a tent, suffering from an incurable disease and trying to care for fifteen homeless kittens and puppies. And as soon as I\u2019m done bidding in this auction, I\u2019ll start praying for you.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Somewhere I read that a loving person doesn\u2019t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing \u2013 which is how I believe we should give. Quietly. Anonymously. No fanfare. Writing in our bio that we need a new iPad for starving children in Africa doesn\u2019t make a good winning tactic. But using our motivation to help others and keeping that to ourselves can be one of the most powerful strategies for success that exist. <\/span><\/p>\n

But don\u2019t give to get; that\u2019s trying to control the outcome. Give to give because that\u2019s how we want to live. It\u2019s important to be good to ourselves. But if we want to keep it, we need to give it away<\/i> is more than a clich\u00e9. It\u2019s a way of life that works no matter what situation we face. <\/span><\/p>\n

Play fair. Bid hard. Enjoy your wins. And at the end (or beginning) of the day, remember to share your treasures. <\/span><\/p>\n

##<\/span><\/p>\n

Note to Readers: An old adage suggests keeping our good deeds private which is why I\u2019m not using the treatment center\u2019s or my name here. But if you need a referral to affordable and reliable treatment for a loved one, ask customer service and I\u2019ll supply it through them. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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