Month: July 2017

I was once a DealDash newbie too and made all the common mistakes that newbies tend to make. While I do believe there is a learning curve to getting your groove on DealDash, learning these top 3 dos and don’ts of DealDash bidding may very well be critical to your bidding success.

 

Do #1: Do Educate Yourself

There are several places on DealDash where you can get the inside scoop on how to increase your chances of winning. In fact, you’re in such a place right now if you are reading this—our blogs! The DealDash blogs are a great place to get exclusive tips written and shared by actual DealDash bidders. Another great place to gain insider knowledge is by clicking on Tips & tricks on the main page. Don’t forget to connect with others on the official DealDash Facebook and Twitter pages too!

 

Do #2: Do Use Tools for Success

DealDash wants you to win! It’s true! Some of the tools you can use to your bidding advantage include:

The Winners tab which allows you to see who has won over the past 24 hours and what ending auction prices were on those auctions. This can be valuable information if you’re keeping track of trends on particular items, bidders or the best days and times to bid.

Bookmark auctions by clicking on the star at the top right hand side of any individual auction. The star will turn a yellow-orange color and will be moved to the top of your page for easy viewing.

Email alerts can be activated by going into any individual auction and clicking on the blue Alert Me button in the lower left hand corner. Once activated, it will turn red (changing to Remove Alert, allowing you to deactivate the email alert at any time) and you will be sent an email alerting you that auction within 8 hours of the auction start time.

 

Do #3: Do Use Bid Buddy

Bid Buddy does the work for you. All you do is set the number of bids you want to place in any particular auction and once the auction starts, Bid Buddy will apply one bid each 10 seconds until you win or your pre-set number of bids run out. You can set just one bid or thousands. You’ll never have to worry about getting distracted and forgetting to keep up with the bidding. Bid Buddy really is a bidder’s best friend.

 

Don’t #1 – Don’t Jump or Stomp

Jumping is when you “jump” in on an auction after many others have placed their bids. While it’s often thought of as strategic and sometimes works, in many cases the most wins are attained by those who bid early and stick with it over time using Bid Buddy. Stomping, however, is considered just plain rude. Stomping is when you bid after each bidder without letting the timer run its course, which helps everyone earn time toward free bids. There’s really no good reason to stomp other than to annoy bidders and any experienced bidder will tell you that stompers rarely change their course for staying focused on the auction and the only thing that happens is the stomper uses many, many times more bids than the person who sticks with the auction using Bid Buddy.

 

Don’t #2 – Don’t Spread Your Bids too Thin

One thing I learned after making the mistake several times is that I get far better results if I put several bids into a few auctions rather than putting a handful of bids in several. It’s also important when starting out, to choose smaller auctions to gain practice and success rather than going for big-ticket items right out of the gate.

 

Don’t #3 – Don’t Pay Too Much

Set limits and know that one of the greatest pieces of advice I’ve ever received regarding DealDash is that “there is always another one of the items you want up for bid just around the corner.” You are rarely, if ever, going to be bidding on an item you will never see again. If you’re over your limit and still want to win the item, bookmark the next one and try again.

Every day DealDash gives you the tools to the trade so to speak. With time, patience, practice and success, you can learn to be a winning DealDash bidder too! Good luck and happy bidding!

 

This sponsored blog post was written by Theresa B., proud American, MMA fan, grandmother and ardent practitioner of sarcastic wit. Theresa was compensated by DealDash for this blog post.

Even though I’ve been bidding and successfully winning on DealDash for two years, sometimes I get an unexpected lesson that helps me up my bidding game. Today was such a day. Today I learned that sometimes you need to go with your gut and not your brain.

This morning I was bidding on an auction that I really, really want. It was one of those items that usually runs higher on the ending price, but I have seen others get for a real steal from time to time. Today my gut intuition told me that today was the day I was going to win it and as a result, I got in on the bidding.

Somewhere at about the fifty cents mark, I was one of three bidders left in the auction and was feeling pretty good about my chances of winning. The first bidder was a name that was familiar on the boards but based on past trends and wins within the last 24 hours (keeping an eye on the Winners tab), I felt confident this bidder would back out before me.

When I checked on the second bidder using the Winners tab, I discovered this bidder had won one item within the past 24 hours but had paid a rather high price for the item, which in my mind indicated to me that this bidder would go higher in the bidding than I wanted to go.

I weighed my options to stay in the auction or to back out. My gut had originally told me to hang in there—that this was the day for me to win this item. And based on past trends, the first bidder wasn’t my competition here. It was the new and unfamiliar bidder who was messing with my mind. Reluctantly, I backed out of the auction, paving the way for the second bidder to win…or so I thought!

Ten bids after I dropped out of the auction, the second bidder (the one I thought would end up winning) backed out of the auction too and the first bidder (the one I knew I could win against) won the auction for 70 cents! It was a heartbreaking lesson in patience, persistence and going with your gut.

Lesson learned. Sometimes listening to your gut intuition gives you more bidding confidence than all the statistics and trends you can follow. Next time I’m in an auction and have a good feeling, no matter what the statistics say, I’m going with my gut…and I encourage you to do the same!

Happy bidding and get a great win today!

This sponsored blog post was written by Theresa B., proud American, MMA fan, grandmother and ardent practitioner of sarcastic wit. Theresa was compensated by DealDash for this blog post.

 

At DealDash, we appreciate the job of all police officers in the United States. A police officer’s job can be thankless and is certainly never done. Police officers dedicate themselves to rigorous training and life-threatening situations on a daily basis, adhering to a commitment and oath to serve and protect the citizens of the United States.

Among this nation’s police force are committed men and women who serve in local, state and branches of government as well as in specialized fields such as the U.S. parks, Sheriffs, Marshalls and in the Secret Service.

Special skill divisions within departments can include:  bomb squads, computer crimes, underwater search teams, homicide, fraud, traffic enforcement, K-9, drugs and crash investigations, to name just a few.

Police officers can serve in small ways from traffic and desk duty to undercover units that put themselves in the line of serious danger on every assignment. Domestic disputes occupy a majority of some local officers’ time with the goal of but no guarantee for peaceful resolutions.

We had a chance to interview our great customer Dana, a retired police officer who has been on DealDash since 2014. We know that Dana loves bidding on DealDash, but we wanted to learn more about his experience as a police officer. We hope you enjoy the interview!

When did you decide to become a Police Officer?

I became a Police Officer at 21 years of age. I wanted to help make a change. I devoted my life to this belief that I could. Two weeks later my first son was born. I was on top of the world!  I had a new career and and a new way of life. I was a proud father and provider.

 

How did your first years as a Police Officer go?

I was not prepared for what laid in store. I learned quickly though and in less than 5 years went from Rookie to Sgt. Not bad I thought! Now I held the responsibility of my life and that of several other women and men. I learned as much as I could as fast as I could. I wanted to be the best.

 

What was your best experience as a Police Officer?

As I focused on being the best, I had a lot of experiences getting there. I want to share my first and scariest experience I encountered, as stupid as it turns out to be. Here it goes: A silent alarm at a Tiffany Lamp Factory. I entered the building from one side and my partner entered the other as it was a long and straight building.  As I was shining my flash light, carefully, I saw a shadow and at the same time I heard a noise. I immediately withdrew my gun. I walked a little further and all of a sudden a box was knocked over and a shadow appeared well in front of me, very large. I pointed my weapon, only to find out that it was a cat!  I cannot explain the fear and anxiety factor even though it turned out to be a cat.

 

Thanks for your time Dana, we really enjoyed chatting with you. Anything else you’d like to add?

I am thankful that I never had to fire my weapon in the line of duty and never took a life and I am still alive and kicking. During my career, I received four commendations for disarming an armed subject without anybody getting hurt. For me this was an accomplishment. I am now retired and I LOVE to play on DealDash!!  Live Life, Enjoy Family and Have Fun!!

To the men and women in blue—DealDash thanks you for putting yourselves in harm’s way and for living to protect and serve this great nation and its citizens every day.