Six Tips to Win Online Auctions

Online auctions are a great way to score name-brand merchandise at flea-market prices or lower, but you have to know how to play the game. Because make no mistake, online auctions are a game and if you don’t know the rules, you can lose a lot of money chasing after the wrong deals and bidding against the wrong people. Whether you like penny auctions or other types of online auctions, knowing and understanding the rules can help you score big and avoid losses. Try these tips to increase your chances at winning the deals you most want to win.

Pick Your Online Auction Sites Carefully

Penny auctions are popping up like mushrooms after the rain. There’s a lot of money to be made running penny auctions, and a lot of folks are trying to skim out of that pot. That means that there are a lot of scam sites out there. Read websites that give unbiased reviews of auction websites and only bid on auction sites that you can trust.

Read the Rules

Every auction site has its own rules. Understanding those rules is vital – if you don’t you could end up paying a lot of money without much reward, or you could end up bounced out of a profitable site because you inadvertently broke the rules.

Understand How Bidding Works

Before you jump in to start bidding on auction websites, learn how the bidding works. Generally on penny auctions, you pay for a pack of bids. Each bid increases the price of the item on which you’re bidding by one penny – but you’re paying for the privilege of placing the bid. If you win the item, you’ll pay the final winning bid price plus shipping and handling on top of the money you’ve already spent to place your bids. Obviously, the fewer bids you place, the less money you’ll spend on each item. That’s why it’s also important to…

Watch the Bidding Before Jumping In

The biggest mistake new bidders make is jumping in feet first and starting to bid on the big-ticket items. It almost always results in the newbie burning through his initial bid pack and spending more money to buy more bids. Instead, pick a few auctions and watch the rhythm of the bidding to get a feel for how things work. Get to know the heavy hitters on each of the auction websites you frequent so you can devise a bidding strategy that will win more often than you lose.

Start Small

That MacBook Pro going for $16.87? You’ll be facing stiff competition – and a lot of it – if you decide to bid on it. Start out by bidding on smaller items that don’t attract as much interest and you’ll build up a winning profile on most online auction sites. That winning profile won’t go unnoticed – you’ll start scaring off bidders and facing less competition when you’re ready to go for bigger ticket items.

Bid During Off Hours

Watch the online auctions to see when they’re busiest and when there are fewer people bidding. Bidding during the off hours reduces your competition and increases your odds of winning the items you bid on.

Online auctions are a lot of fun when you’re winning. These tips can help you win at penny auctions and other online auction sites for more fun and more profit.