Penny Auction Sites

[efolgate]

Just wanted to know your thoughts on penny auction sites like Swoopo and Bid Cactus? I know that there is some controversy behind them, but they seem like a pretty cool way to get stuff for really cheap if you know what you're doing.

It's definitely a game, and you can lose a bunch of money if you're not careful. I also know there are some scam penny auction sites out there. Anyone gotten involved with these sites and come out ahead?

[trustno1]

That is one area where you must pay close attention to "semantics". Words and concepts like "cheap" and "cheat" comes to mind when talking about "interchangeable" terms...lol

Common sense is a required "tool of the trade" that many people do not seem to carry in their tool box.

I have been involved with auctioning for many years, both as a seller and buyer. (primarily antiques and fine artwork).

As is typical of any venture where value is not a fixed issue, but one of appraisal and market knowledge, personal experience and knowledge of the specific product at hand, will determine the profit and loss associated with your transactions.

I try to avoid using the words "always" and "never" when discussing the future, which is generally predictably unpredictable...lol

But as a general rule, I play to win, and usually do. Basically do to the planning and research I invest before I make any decisions and take action.

This area happens to be one of the exceptions to the age-old quote...
"You usually get what you pay for" (as far as "quality" being dependent upon the price you pay).

[trustno1]

Oops, I just realized I did not actually answer your question...lol

I do not purchase anything of "real" value on internet sites, (unless it is Christie's Auction House), without physically inspecting the item myself.

It is not because I do not trust people, it is just because many people are not honest...hehehe

[BuildMyBudget]

How do these websites work?

[codeyeti]

This is a cool concept. It seems like if you do get scammed though you won't be out more than $5 or so anyway. About your site, wink, I haven't used it yet but on first impression your logo is pixelled which makes it look less professional and the flashing "register now!" tag is pretty annoying. Otherwise it looks like a well-made auction site!

Regardless, your main problem is that you have 0 pagerank and your business model requires you to have a massive userbase to be successful. Can you market this effectively? I guess that's what you're trying to do by posting on this topic . Marketing a website like this isn't easy. The real value of your site comes from the size of your userbase.

[efolgate]

Here's a new site I found the other day: http://www.biddango.com

not too many people bidding on it yet so there are really good deals on hit cards. www.pennyauctionwatch.com has given it good reviews and said it looks legit

[dime-diva]

Hi:
I am the proud owner of a unique penny auction site. Dime-divas.com offers designer accessories for women (mostly), men, and children. We just launched our site on October 26, so we are very new and there are some great steals right now. So far, we've basically given away Coach, Kate Spade, Cole Haan, Juicy, and Marni handbags, wallets, and jewelry. And, we offer spafinder.com gift certificate rewards for those who bid regularly!

If anyone is really interested in learning more about penny auctions, I suggest you check out pennyauctionwatch.com. This forum prides itself on being a watchdog and sniffs out the scams for you so you don't lose money. We have a very long thread there and you will see some very happy winners. We are committed to doing the right thing.

You asked about advertising, building up user base, etc. Unfortunately, we don't have investors to help us out w/advertising so we are relying on word of mouth, forums like this and pennyauctionwatch, and some smaller advertising.

I hope you will check us out. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to email me at traci@dime-divas.com or customerservice@dime-divas.com

Glam On!
Traci

[flipchick1127]

I've been wondering about this too! I mainly wonder how difficult it is to win an auction. It seems that if you can manage to win, you can do pretty well, but I don't know how "manageable" winning is.

[dime-diva]

Originally Posted by flipchick1127

I've been wondering about this too! I mainly wonder how difficult it is to win an auction. It seems that if you can manage to win, you can do pretty well, but I don't know how "manageable" winning is.

flipchick -- I can tell you that it is very easy to win at our site right now. We are still building our user base, so items are selling for very few bids. We start every item at $.10. Some have sold for $.13, $.16, $.19, $.24. Our highest went for under $2.50 and that was for a $1600 purse! Please take some time to visit us -- the deals are steals right now!!