Month: February 2017

I’ve been active on DealDash for going on two years now and there has definitely been a learning curve to bidding and winning auctions.  While I always encourage fellow bidders to check out the Tips & Tricks tab on the site, today I’d like to talk about how to maximize the Winners tab in your bidding strategy.

The Winners tab is located on the site to the right of the Tips & Tricks tab and to the left of the Dashboard tab.

This tutorial will take you through the steps of using the Winners tab to your advantage while bidding and hopefully as a result you will waste less bids and win more auctions. Let’s get started!

 

1. Locate the Winners tab and click on it to open.

 

2. Click on the left or right hand side of the page in a section with no words and then use your End or scroll down button to go all the way to the end of the page. If you scroll to the end of the page, you will have anywhere from the last 19 to 21 hours of bidding history. Keep this tab open on your web browser for future use.

 

3. With my computer, I am unable to refresh the page (which would update your page with more recent auction winners) so I sometimes open a second tab and click on the Winners tab when I want to view the most recent winners.

 

If using Internet Explorer, you will go to the top left of your screen and click on Edit and drop down to Find on this page to search.  In Google Chrome, I go to the top right and drop down to the Find button to search.

 

Take Note of Winners of Big-Ticket Items

The first thing I do before I start bidding is do a quick run through and look for big-ticket items like paintings and sculptures and take note of the names who have won these items in the last several hours. It’s important to note that some of the names you see may already be those experienced bidders who you already have made a mental note to avoid.

With big ticket items, it’s possible that the winner has actually purchased the item to ship to their home but there are some who can’t resist the exchange to bids option and stack their bids in the bank. When you see someone who wins a big-ticket item several times a day, it’s safe to assume they might be exchanging to bids. After all, there are only so many paintings you can hang on a wall.

It is also important to note that if you see someone win a painting, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to avoid them forever. After all, their bids run out at some point too. Just take note and make an educated decision based on how long ago they won the big-ticket item as compared to when they are bidding on a current item.

 

Noting the Experienced Bidder

So now you’re in an auction and an experienced bidder—you know, the ones to seem to be in every auction you are in and seem to win a whole lot—pops in. Search your list to see how many times they have won in the past several hours. Maybe they are having an off day and only winning a few small items, possibly indicating you’ve got a shot at this one and can stay in a little longer and try your luck.

I have on more than a few occasions witnessed an experienced bidder pop in only to pop back out after a few bids, opening the auction up to others in the process. I have learned not to be immediately intimidated by all experienced bidders, but there are still a few who I will avoid at all costs.

 

Bidders Who Bid on Similar Items

Using the search function under the Winners tab, I have noticed the noteworthy trend of bidders who bid on similar items. I have taken note of bidders who tend to bid on a particular type of item (jewelry, backpacks, perfume) consistently and this type of bidder has usually seen some success in winning a particular type of time and stays with what they feel works.

 

Winning with the Winners Tab 

While the guidelines above do not guarantee a win, they can save you bids in the long run and allow you to make a strategic decision to place your bids on the item you’re currently bidding on or wait for the next auction to bid.

With time and practice, you can learn to utilize not only the Tips & Tricks tab, but also the Winners tab to win big at DealDash!

 

Happy bidding!

If you want less competition and have a better chance to win auctions on DealDash.com, it is important to choose the best times to bid.

Here are four things to consider when choosing the best times to bid:

1. Avoid weekends. Why would I choose to avoid playing on weekends? Customers who have jobs Monday through Friday are more likely to do more online shopping during their time off on weekends. Watch for a while and keep track of the numbers to see if there are more bidders on weekends than there are during the week days.

2. Consider Time Zones. If you want to bid in auctions while the majority of other shoppers are sleeping, remember to take time zones into consideration. Retirees might decide to shop at night and sleep in the morning, or they might shop early in the morning, while other people are busy getting ready for work. Remember, however, that if you are on Pacific Standard Time, while other shoppers are on Eastern Standard Time, they are three hours ahead of you. While it is still night time for you, it is already morning for them.

3. Shop when other customers are less likely to be online. For example, during the Super Bowl, many other shoppers might be busy watching the game instead.

4. Avoid shopping during the most popular specials. For example, we all love the “free to the winner” specials, but that might not be the best time to shop if we want less competition. Why? Everybody and their grandparents love the “free to the winner” specials, so a lot more customers tend to get online. Winning an auction for free is great, but not necessarily if it takes four or five times more bids to win. Remember bids cost money, too, so you might have less competition and win a better deal if you shop during a special that is less popular.

 

 

Submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers

Barbara has been a happy DealDash customer Feb. 8, 2012. Since then, she won 695 auctions and will soon be on Level 58.

Why can’t I win? Are you asking yourself this question?

If you are not able to win a DealDash.com auction, you might be doing something wrong. Here are four possible reasons why you might not be able to win:

1. You are placing single bids from the home page instead of putting your bids into the automated bidder, BidBuddy. Newbies might accidentally win an auction from the home page, but anyone who wants to continue winning must learn how to use the automated bidder. Just double-click on the auction you want to win. A new window will open and that’s where you will find your best friend, BidBuddy.

 

2. You are only bidding on high-dollar items that are a lot more difficult to win. Instead of bidding on a $50 or $100 gift card, it is usually easier to win a $10 or $25 gift card. However, gift cards are popular items that are not easy to win. Instead, look for an auction that has fewer bidders and consistently closes at a low cost. For example, the 6-piece bed sheet set that often goes up for auction on DealDash, valued at $100 consistently closes at a fairly low cost. I recently saw a king-size set of those linens close for only 8 cents and the highest closing price for the week was $15.60. I did the math and the average closing cost for the auction over the last seven days was only $6.01.

 

3. You do not yet know what players to avoid. When Newbies bid in the same auctions with experienced power bidders it’s like a Little League baseball team playing with a Big League baseball team and expecting to win. It just will not happen. It is very important to know who the experienced power bidders are so you can avoid getting into the same auctions. I am familiar with the screen names of filthy-rich bidders, who always have an endless supply of bids. Therefore, if they enter my auctions, I drop out and wait until that same item goes up for auction again.

4. You bid on too many auctions at the same time. It is usually easier to win if you focus on one auction at a time. If you play in too many auctions at the same time, chances are you will run out of bids before you win any of them.

Submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers