| Have you ever seen some ads on Google saying that | | | | unique bid. Another positive: This same website has a |
| you can get 95% off on electronics, laptops and | | | | policy that once the clock goes below 10 seconds, no |
| HDTV's? After you click on them, you will find that it is | | | | matter how many people bid, the timer will only reset |
| a penny auction site. 95% off?! Is it too good to be | | | | at 15 seconds. This makes for extremely fast and |
| true? You may be wondering if this is another type of | | | | productive auctions. |
| scam. | | | | On the darker side of things, a common illegal business |
| I have been researching and bidding on some penny | | | | practice I would find is the use of robots, called, "bots." |
| auction sites. Penny auctions are not a scam. | | | | Bots are used to secretly outbid bidders, so the |
| However, there are illegitimate penny auction websites. | | | | bidders still have to pay for bids, but they never win, |
| You have to carefully choose one before you start | | | | meaning it is impossible for them to receive the |
| bidding. | | | | products they have paid for. |
| I have been researching which penny auctions give the | | | | Another common but unfortunate business practice is |
| best bargains. I've learned that finding the right site can | | | | the allowing of company employees and family |
| mean the difference between saving $10, saving $100 | | | | members to bid against consumers. Not only is this |
| at best, or at worst, getting scammed out of all your | | | | immoral and illegal, but company insiders are more likely |
| hard-earned dough. During my research, sometimes a | | | | just to outbid you and raise the price of that item, |
| site would appear legit, but after careful investigation I | | | | creating an extremely unfair advantage for the honest |
| would discover the site wasn't very efficient for | | | | bidder. |
| consumers or, at worst, they conducted illegal business | | | | The above-mentioned illegal practices are all designed |
| practices. | | | | to steal money from honest bidders. So bidders spend |
| I like to use websites that offer the Buy-it-Now option. | | | | a lot of honest money on bids but the company never |
| This option allows you to buy the product for retail | | | | sends bidders the products they've won. |
| price, even if you do not win the auction. Whatever | | | | One tip I have for new bidders out there is to find the |
| you already spent on the auction is subtracted from | | | | newest legit websites, because their auctions will be |
| the retail price and you simply cover whatever is left. | | | | the easiest to win since there will be less competition, |
| Also, auctions go faster and are more exciting when | | | | since less people know that the site exists. Also, check |
| the countdown timer does not reset too high or add | | | | out their "Terms of Services" and their "Internet |
| too much time to the clock for each new bid. Some | | | | Privacy Policy" to make sure they're legit. Remember |
| sites I saw added 2 minutes for every unique bid, | | | | to find websites that sell bids for a low price and have |
| which could make an auction last hundreds of hours! A | | | | countdown timers that never go too high. |
| fantastic website I saw only adds 15 seconds for each | | | | |