Auctions Archives - Page 11 of 22

Exploring Birthstones with DealDash

Are you interested in jewelry, or have a family member who is? Most women (and some men!) enjoy getting jewelry with their birthstones incorporated into the designs.

However, as someone who likes jewelry but doesn’t know a while lot about it, whenever I decide to give someone a gift of birthstone I either have to look up a chart to see which stone goes with which month, or I just ask the jeweler when I’m shopping. I find it very interesting that each month’s stones are so different from each other, and in my experience each person’s stone seems to complement them. For example, I am a February birthday, and my stone is amethyst, which is great for me, because purple is my second favorite color. If you look below, there is a simple chart of birth months and the birthstones that go with them.

You might be interested to know that the basic birthstone list that we currently use today was established in 1912 by the National Association of Jewelers to promote the sale of gemstones. Not all months had just one birthstone, either. For example, the March birthstone was bloodstone with an alternate listed as aquamarine. June had both pearl and moonstone listed; August named sardonyx and peridot; October had opal and tourmaline; and December was turquoise with the alternate being lapis. However, not all months have an alternate stone – as with February, why mess with perfection?!

Since we’re in the month of March, though, let’s talk about March’s birthstone, the aquamarine. Aquamarine has a rich color and has long been a symbol of youth, health and hope. Its mesmerizing color ranges from pale to deep blue and are reminiscent of the sea. A perfect birthstone for March, the Aquamarine creates a beautiful accent to spring and summer wardrobes. In ancient times, the aquamarine was thought to cure heart, liver, and stomach diseases—all one had to do was drink the water in which the gem had been soaking. Early sailors believed that aquamarine talismans, etched with the likeness of the sea god Neptune, protected them against ocean dangers. Nowadays most people would think that’s silly, of course, but no matter how silly it is, it doesn’t take away from the beauty of March’s birthstone, the aquamarine.

If you’re in the market to do a little jewelry shopping, why not see what DealDash has to offer? DealDash often has ear rings, necklaces, bracelets, and jewelry boxes available for auction. And don’t forget, if you are bidding on an item and you don’t end up winning, you can always Buy It Now (BIN) and get all of your bids back. This is especially useful in the case of gift cards, since DealDash even provides free shipping! Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

Ahhh Spring! Baby Kittens, Baby Puppies, and Baby DealDashers!

Spring is right around the corner, flowers will be in bloom, baby animals everywhere will be born, and DealDash will be getting more Newbies.

DealDash loves their Newbies! As an older and more seasoned DealDasher, I personally like all of the Newbies, as long as they follow the rules – the official rules as well as the rules of courtesy in the Land of DealDash. If you’re one of DealDash’s Newbies, please read on so you can educate yourself on the official rules as well as the “unofficial” rules that most of us older DealDashers try to follow to keep everything fun and friendly.

There is a full and complete list of the official rules on DealDash, if you would like to read them on the official site, then please follow this link here. However, here are the most common rules that I feel that Newbies should familiarize themselves with so they don’t accidentally get into trouble with DealDash and lose their bidding privileges:

Each person can only have 1 account, no exceptions.
You can win up to 9 auctions per week. The system will not allow you to bid after you have reached your limit. All remaining BidBuddies will be automatically cancelled and your bids will be returned to your account.

As I said, there are a few other official rules, but I feel that these two rules that I have listed above are the most common things that new bidders might have questions about.

Now, let’s talk about “unofficial rules.” The rules that I am going to list next are NOT official DealDash rules, you will NOT lose your bidding privileges if you don’t follow them – they are just a few suggestions that you might want to follow so you don’t upset a fellow DealDasher without realizing it! However, if you want to ignore these suggestions as part of your bidding strategy, that’s fine as well. Just remember – some older and more seasoned DealDashers with tons of wins under their belts will sometimes “throw a win” to a Newbie if they have only invested a few bids. However, if you do something to annoy them then I have seen people purposefully overbid to prove a point.

Do not “stomp”. Stomping is when you bid immediately after someone else without letting the clock timer run down to 2 or 3 seconds. Every second that a bidder is listed as the “highest bidder” they get “clock time” which adds up and can eventually be traded for free bids from DealDash. When you stomp on another bidder’s bid and cheat them out of their clock time people tend to get aggravated.
Do not “jump.” Being a Jumper means that you don’t put your first bid in until the auction is moments away from being closed to new bidders. For example, the limit is almost always $5, and then after that the auction is closed to anyone who hasn’t yet put in at least one bid. If you wait until $4.97, $4.98, $4.99, etc before you put in your first bid people might consider you a Jumper and be annoyed. However, I think most bidders also realize sometimes you didn’t decide to bid on the auction before the limit was almost up, or you didn’t see the auction until it was almost too late – but if you jump in at $4.99 every single time you bid in an auction then you might get a reputation as a Jumper, and that’s not really a title that most people want!
Don’t write rude things in your bio. Your bio is a sentence that you can write about yourself that will pop up with your avatar every time that you bid. Most people write fairly innocuous things like “I love to bid!” or “Bidding for my Grandkids!” but I have seen some people write things that border on being rude, such as “Don’t bother bidding, I’m going to crush your bids.” or “I’m going to bid until I win, I don’t care how much it costs, so give up now.” Those examples that I gave are fictional, but I have seen similar things, and I always wonder why people purposely try to make enemies, this is supposed to be a fun website – entertainment shopping!

Those are the important things to think about when you are just starting to bid on DealDash, but also helpful to remember, if you have over-bid and reached the BIN price, use the “Buy it Now” option and pay retail price for the item. DealDash will then refund all of the bids you used on that item, and you can try again another day. This is really a great win-win situation for everyone.

So newbie DealDashers, those are just a few helpful rules and suggestions for your first few times playing on DealDash. Remember to pay attention to the rules, check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on, and try some easier auctions to start! See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

Living Healthy: Do You Even Lift, DealDash?

Welcome back to DealDash Blog’s Living Healthy series. Today’s blog is all about weightlifting for beginners.

Are you ready to start your journey into weightlifting or weight training? If you’re a total beginner, then this article is for you! If you have already started your training regimen this might be a little too simple for you, but keep reading you never know when you might pick up a tip or two. I am going to tell you the simple and basic guidelines and rules for starting out in a weightlifting program; no matter if it’s for strength, weight loss, or just overall fitness this article can help you figure things out and really make the most of your new journey into being fit and healthy.

First, let’s talk about some things that you don’t want to do:

Using too much weight, too soon – this is a great way to injure yourself and ruin your fitness plan before you even get started. Pick a reasonable weight to start with, but if you can perform 30 reps with a certain weight, you probably should bump up the weight a little bit at a time.
Moving through repetitions too quickly, going too fast; because remember, there is nothing gained by lifting weights too fast. You should always lift weights in a slow and controlled manner. It’s better for the muscles, it increases tension and lessens the likely hood of having an accident and injuring yourself.

Now that we have a couple of the “don’ts” out of the way, let’s get to the “do’s”:

You don’t need to weight train every day to get healthy. Significant strength and fitness progress can be obtained obtained with only two workouts per week. Of course, it would be a great idea to get in some cardio exercises a couple of days per week, also. Don’t forget to also take a couple of days per week to rest, as well.
Take one day off from weight training between each workout. The days in between are the days that you should be getting in your cardio workouts.
For the best results, at least one set of 8-12 repetitions should be performed
It should take four to five seconds to complete one repetition through a complete range of motion; in a slow and very controlled manner.
Rest at least 30 seconds and no more than 90 seconds between sets of each exercise; and 1 to 2 minutes between each exercise.
Stay hydrated! There’s nothing worse than getting dehydrated and having to stop training for the day. Be sure to drink at least the minimum recommended 8-10 glasses of water each and every day; dehydration can make you weak, have headaches, and if it’s an ongoing problem it can even make you sick.

Now that you have some work out tips, how about checking out DealDash to see what kinds of weight training equipment they have for auction? They have weight benches, dumbbell sets, fitness mats, kettleballs, and so much more! Just click on this link and it will take you to some of the great fitness products that DealDash offers.

Gold's Gym XR 5.9 Slant Bench Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells

I hope this article has started you on the road to fitness. If you’re interested in getting some items to help you on your journey head on over to DealDash. I’m sure that you’ll find something that you can use to help yourself get healthy. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

Let’s Look at the DealDash Categories

You might be surprised at what is hiding in the different DealDash categories. Let’s take a peek.

Bid Packs – Okay, there really is no hidden mystery about bid packs! They come in standard sized packs of 25, 40, 60, 80, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 400, 500, 800, 1000, 1500, 3000, and sometimes 5000.

Electronics and Computers – Computers and tablets rule this section, however there are also a lot of other awesome and surprising things to find here in this category. For instance, this is where you can find full sized keyboards! That would be a really fun thing to bid on. In this section is also where you can find cameras and camera accessories, phones, phone chargers, and phone cases, and let’s not forget video game systems and the games to go with them!

Fashion, Health, and Beauty – This particular category has always been one of my favorites! It’s actually gotten a major makeover recently, and not instead of just having the standard things that you might expect such as hair dryers, flat iron hair straighteners, and other “girly” type stuff now Fashion, Health and Beauty boasts some impressive massage chairs, foot massagers, jewelry, and designer bags. Those massage chairs are amazing, I have demoed similar ones in the store, and they practically had to kick me out for overstaying my welcome.

Gift Cards – Again, no real surprises in the Gift Card section. However, there are a lot of really useful and fun gift cards here. There are gift cards for the kids such as Toys R Us, gift cards for Mom and Grandma such as Bath and Body Works, gift cards for Dad and Grandpa such as Bass Pro Shops, and gift cards that the whole family can enjoy such as Target, Wal*Mart, CVS, and many more.

Hobbies, Toys, Outdoors, and Games – This section is another favorite of mine. I have gotten my kids so many fun things from this section. Here is where you will find classic favorites such as bikes, grills, luggage, baby items, and Lego – but you will also find new and interesting things such as the new wheeled “hoverboards” that are so popular right now.

Home, Garden, and Tools – This is another section that has gotten a major makeover recently. It used to offer mostly daily use items such as garden hoses, tool sets, and vacuum cleaners – but now it offers those items as well as high end designer furniture and accessories. If you haven’t been to the Home, Garden, and Tools section recently, go check it out.

Kitchen and Dining – I have gotten almost all of my kitchen items here, from my pots and pans to my bamboo spoon set. This is a great section to replace anything that you need in your kitchen, from the more expensive things like stand mixers, to the cheaper things like dish drainers. You might even want to treat yourself to a fancy knife set, because this section offers that, too!

I hope that this article has peaked your interest in exploring the different categories at DealDash. Go check them out! Good luck and happy bidding everyone.

Living Healthy: How to Pick the Best Fresh Produce

Welcome back to DealDash Blog’s Living Healthy series. Today’s blog is all about the tips and tricks to choosing the best produce items at the supermarket.

I don’t know how many times I have gone into the supermarket, and picked out some great looking produce, got it home, and it tastes…Not bad, but tastes like nothing, like cardboard. This was happening to me way too often, so I started doing a little research to figure out how to get the best produce at the supermarket that I was able to find.

Of course, the number one way to get the freshest and best tasting produce is to buy things when they are in season where you live. If you’re somewhere warm like California or Florida, you’re in luck! Not only are there some great things grown right in your own home state, the distance that other things have to travel up from Mexico or South America is considerably shorter than someone who lives in Maine or Montana.

Here are some quick and easy tips on picking great tasting produce at the supermarket even if the items are actually in season:

• Apples: Choose fruits that are deeply colored, firm, naturally shiny, and heavy for their size.

• Artichokes: Choose globes that have tight leaves and feel heavy for their size. The leaves should squeak when pressed against each other.

• Asparagus: Choose firm, smooth, and brightly-colored stalks with compact tips. Avoid limp stalks. Choose stalks of equal thickness to ensure even cooking times.

• Avocados: Choose avocados that feel slightly soft to the touch. Firmer avocados may be ripened at home, but avoid rock-hard ones. Also avoid avocados with cracks or dents.

• Bananas: Choose bright yellow bananas to eat right away or green bananas to ripen at home. Avoid fruits that are bruised or split.

• Blueberries: Choose berries that are firm, dry, and blue (not red or green). A white sheen is natural. Also check the bottom of the basket to make sure there aren’t any crushed or spoiled berries.

• Broccoli: Choose broccoli with firm stalks, tight florets, and crisp green leaves. Avoid yellowed or flowering florets.

• Celery: Choose firm, unblemished stalks. The stalks and leaves should be green, not yellow.

• Corn: Choose corn with bright green husks and moist but not slimy silk. Peel back the husk to ensure the kernels are plump and not dry.

• Cucumbers: Choose cucumbers that are uniformly green (not yellow).

• Grapefruits: Choose fruits that have smooth, thin skins and are heaviest for their size. They should feel firm but slightly springy to the touch. Don’t worry about color.

• Grapes: Choose fruits that are firm, plump, and heavy for their size. They should be firmly attached to the stems without wrinkled or brown spots.

• Lemons and Limes: Choose fruits that are fragrant and heaviest for their size. Avoid fruits that are shriveled.

• Lettuce, Spinach, and Other Leafy Greens: Choose greens with fresh, crisp leaves. Avoid any that are wilted or slimy.

• Mangoes: Choose fruits that are slightly soft to the touch and fragrant near the stem end.

• Onions and Shallots: Choose dry, firm bulbs that feel heavy for their size. Avoid any with soft spots or green sprouts.

• Oranges: Choose fruits that heaviest for their size and have firm, smooth skins. Don’t worry about color. For Mandarin oranges, make sure skins are firm, not shriveled.

• Peaches: Choose fragrant, deeply colored (not green) fruits that are firm but slightly soft to the touch.

• Pears: Pears are usually picked before they are fully ripe, but choose fruits that are free of bruises and look for any that are getting soft just below the stem.

• Peas: Choose crisp, green pods. Avoid bulging, dried, yellow, or white pods.

• Peppers: Choose firm, naturally shiny peppers that feel heavy for their size.

• Pomegranates: Choose fruits that are heavy for their size. Cracks are a good sign that the fruits are bursting with plump seeds; just make sure there isn’t any mold in the cracks.

• Potatoes: Choose firm, smooth potatoes. Avoid those with bruises, green spots, or sprouts.

• Strawberries: Choose berries that are fragrant, uniformly red (not yellow or green), and shiny with fresh green tops. Also check the bottom of the basket to make sure there aren’t any crushed or spoiled berries.

• Summer Squash: Choose squash with naturally shiny, taught, unblemished skin. Avoid squash that appear dull or have soft spots.

• Sweet Potatoes and Yams: Choose potatoes with firm, unwrinkled skins and no bruises or cuts, as they are highly perishable.

• Tomatoes: Choose tomatoes that are fragrant, smell earthy at the stem end, and feel heavy for their size. Avoid tomatoes with wrinkled skins.

• Watermelons: Choose fruits that are firm and heavy and sound hollow when thumped. A properly ripened watermelon should have a yellow spot on one side where it sat on the ground

There we go! That’s the list! I personally made a copy of this list and keep it with my supermarket coupons so I know what I’m looking for when I am shopping for fruits and veggies.

Another way to be sure that you are getting great produce is to shop at the farmer’s market. The only downfall there is that you will probably only be able to find things that are in season. In my area, there is a farmer’s market going on in my town and every small town around me. When you go to the farmer’s market you are getting delicious fruits and veggies that are extremely fresh because they are grown locally. In addition to that, the prices are definitely better than any supermarket around, especially if there are multiple vendors selling the same fruits and veggies.

Hamilton Beach 70950 SaladXpress Counter-top Food Processor Electric w/Cones KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer, Apple Green T-Fal Initiatives 18-Piece Nonstick Inside and Out Cookware Set

I hope this article has helped you learn how to pick the best produce! If you’re interested in getting some items to help you with cooking at home head on over to DealDash. DealDash has food processors, stand mixers, cookware, and plenty of other items that you can use. Check out the Kitchen & Appliances category and I’m sure that you’ll find something that you can use to make delicious things from your fresh produce. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!