Everything You Need to Know About Penny Auctions
Everything You Need to Know About Penny Auctions
By now I am sure you have heard about the latest online craze known as Penny Auctions that allows regular people to buy high quality products at prices way below retail. These people are involved in a new way of shopping called Penny Auctions, where bidders place bids to get amazing deals and save thousands of dollars off the standard retail price of high quality items.
So how do Penny Auctions work?
A prospective bidder signs up and purchases bids to use in the auctions. The cost of bids differs on each Penny Auction site, and is also different for each country. For example, in the US, a bid on a particular Penny Auction site might cost 60 cents, whereas visitors from New Zealand may pay 90 cents per bid. This is due to currency exchange rates. In the end, all visitors pay approximately the same amount for each bid. For the purpose of simplicity, all figures used in this article will be in US dollars.
How much does it cost?
Penny Auctions are different from standard auctions in that you do not necessarily bid what you think you want to pay for the item. There are several auction formats, but basically you try to bid as late as you can in order to lead the bidding when the countdown timer runs out. The winning bidder is then able to buy the product for the Final Price of the auction, which is often hundreds or even thousands of dollars below the retail price. Now and then the winning bidder might win a product simply by placing the last bid, and have nothing else to pay to get the product, not even shipping!
Auctions start at $0.00, and each bid increases the final price by 1 cent. So an auction that gets 50 bids will have a final price of 50 cents.
Auctions have a countdown timer, that is usually set to start at 10 or 20 seconds, depending on the auction format. The timer is bumped up by 10 or 20 seconds respectively each time a bid is placed. So that on an auction that begins with 10 seconds on the clock, if that timer has run down to 4 seconds and a bid is placed, the timer will be bumped back up to 14 seconds, and the countdown immediately resumes from there.
The auction is done when the countdown reaches zero seconds and there are no more bids.
What happens at the close of a Penny Auction?
If you are the leading bidder at the end of a Penny Auction, you generally have two options.
1. You can go ahead and pay the Final Price of the item, as determined by the auction, at which point the item you bought will be shipped direct to you. In some cases, you do not need to pay anything, and your item will be shipped to you automatically;
2. OR, you can sell back the item for more bids, and then go ahead and bid on another product.
Who can participate in Penny Auctions?
The specific terms and conditions of each Penny Auction site vary, but overall the criteria on each site are pretty much the same. Here are some general guidelines.
You need to be at least 18 years old and able to legally enter a contract. This is a standard rule for any online auction site. What this means is that if you are 17 years old you may not join, but once you turn 18 you may.
Only people living in approved countries may bid. Most Penny Auction websites are only viewable in the counties where participation is allowed, i.e. The USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand plus others. For various reasons, some countries are currently excluded from most Penny Auction sites.
Every Penny Auction site has their own terms and conditions, so make sure you read them before signing up.
How to Keep Safe When Using Penny Auction Sites.
As with any type of internet shopping, it is important to keep safe when joining Penny Auction sites. Choose sites that specifically guarantee that they do not use any automated bidders to swing the outcomes of auctions, and also those that do not permit their own employees and their families from bidding in auctions. It is crucial to protect yourself from scams. Sticking to the larger sites is the best way to do that.
So, next time you are thinking of buying some top brand goods online but want to avoid eBay, consider the benefits of using Penny Auction sites, and have some fun while you save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on great products.
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