Bidding Tips Archives - Page 18 of 21

Thinking About Internet Safety for Your Kids

Do you have a child above the age of 5 or so? If you do, then I am going to assume that they either beg to use your laptop and iPad or maybe even have one of their own.

If that is the case, then you are probably worried about your kids accidentally coming across something that is way too “adult” for them online, or even more seriously, possibly running into an internet predator. In this blog we are going to go over some simple ways that you can help protect your kids online, because let’s face it, you can’t watch them every single second – especially if you have more than one child.

First off, one of the easiest things that you can do for your kids to keep them safe is to turn on Google’s SafeSearch. SafeSearch is a Google search feature that surprisingly, many parents don’t know about. Google created the filter for parents to exclude adult websites and content from Google Search results. This feature helps to remove potentially harmful material appearing when searching the web. Google does state however, that no filter is 100% accurate, and they provide an online form to submit any websites that may get past their filter. This simple tool can prevent kids from trying to do an image search for “Lego” and end up getting the many results for “Legs”, some of which can be on the racy side. Here’s how to turn on the Google SafeSearch, it only takes a second!

1. Visit the Google Search Settings page at http://www.google.com/preferences.
2. In the “SafeSearch filters” section, check the “Filter explicit results” box.
3. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

Unfortunately, sometimes kids run into trouble online that have nothing to do with accidentally running across adult-themed websites. Next up are some tips to help keep your kids from running into any “bad apples” online that spoil the internet fun for everyone.

Keep computers in a central place. It makes it easier to keep an eye on kid’s online activities. In addition to being able to make sure that your kids aren’t going onto any adult websites, it can help foster bonding as well, because if your computer is in a centrally located position such as the kitchen it’s easy to check in on your kids and see what they are up to, and possibly join them in their fun.

Monitor your children’s online activities. If you have young children, we recommend browsing the internet with them. For older children you could talk about what kinds of websites they can visit and what isn’t appropriate for them to view. You can also check the browser history to find out where your kids have been. If you are worried that your kids might not obey your wishes and go onto adult websites on purpose you can always install a computer monitoring program such as “Net Nanny”.

Teach Internet safety. Children need to know how to use the Internet safely and responsibly when they’re on their own. If you start when they are very young, and enforce safety rules every single time they use the computer it will become just a part of their daily life and not a “punishment”.

Protect your passwords. Teach children never to give out their passwords and to make a habit of unclicking “remember me” settings on public computers. Also, even though it might make life a little more difficult, try and use different passwords for different websites instead of re-using passwords.

Beware of online communication to strangers. Teach your children not to arrange face to face meetings with people they meet online, and not to share personal information with anyone online. Also, take the following as a good rule of thumb: if you wouldn’t say it to someone in person, don’t text it, email it, message it, or post it as a comment on someone’s webpage. Please also tell pre-teens and teens that even if someone says that they are another kid just like them, it doesn’t make it true.

I hope this article has given you some ideas about how to keep your kids safe when they are online. And remember – the part about not revealing personal information online applies to everyone, not just kids!

If you are in the market to get your child (or yourself) a new computer or iPad, check out DealDash. They have all types of items in many different categories there, check out the Electronics & Computer section. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

Using the Tactics & Tips to Help You Win on DealDash

Sometimes starting a new hobby can be hard. Why not use the free Tactics and Tips section that DealDash offers to help you win?

Hello fellow DealDashers! This blog is mainly aimed at the newbies, but some more seasoned DealDash players might even learn a thing or two. Can we all really say that we read all of the instructions when we started? Here’s a refresher course.

DealDash offers a Tactics & Tips section available here for anyone who would like to read the original text. In this blog I am going to go through all of the tips and try to give a little insight on how they can help you.

Tip 1 – Conserve your bids. Bidding rapidly will only waste your bids and inflate the auction price. Bid strategically, or book a BidBuddy to do it for you. It makes absolutely no sense to hit your bid button rapidly and without thought when you are in an auction. Most people have their bids booked through the BidBuddy anyway, so it’s very unlikely you will win this way.
Tip 2 – Book a BidBuddy. The majority of auctions on DealDash are won by using the BidBuddy. The BidBuddy strategically places bids for you. It waits until the last second to bid. You can put a limit on how many bids will be used. And you can cancel it at any time. Basically, you put the number of bids that you are willing to spend into your BidBuddy and it will bid for you against other people’s BidBuddies that have been set. They take turns with each other, and this way you don’t waste any bids by accidentally (or on purpose!) stomping on people’s bids.
Tip 3- Earn FREE bids. When you are the Highest Bidder, you will earn time towards your next level. When you reach a new level, you receive free bids. There is a meter at the bottom of your bidding screen that will show you how far you are from getting free bids. Once the meter is filled up you just click the “claim bids” button and they are automatically credited to your account and you can use them immediately.
Tip 4- Study the competition. Who else is bidding on the item? Watch and learn. Some people keep a notepad to track bidders and what type of bidding strategies they are using. I personally keep an Excel spreadsheet on bidders that I frequently run into on the particular auctions that I enjoy. If you find yourself bidding on the same genre of item often, such as video game systems, you will probably run into the same bidders pretty often. If you keep track of their names and at what auction price they stop bidding then you have a pretty good idea of how they might bid the next time you run into them.
Tip 5- Buy It Now (BIN) and get your bids back. If you do not win an auction, you can get your bids back, by taking advantage of the Buy It Now option. If you bid 100 times on a $50 Walmart Gift Card and don’t win, you can just buy the item for $50 and get all your bids back for free. You can now re-use your bids to try to win another auction! The bids are automatically credited to your account and you can use them immediately.
Tip 6- Check out the winners. The winners page reveals recently won items and the final auction prices. I love to look at the “Winner’s Page”. You can see the link to it up at the top of the DealDash screen. It shows all of the recently won auctions, who won them, where they are from, and what the final auction price was. I love to see who got an awesome deal like a video game for .10, and I also admit that I have to chuckle a little when I see someone WAY overpay such as “winning” a $25 gift card for $27. When you see someone overbid like that you know that either they weren’t paying attention or that their competitive “gotta win” attitude cost them money.
Tip 7- Try different times. Auctions might be easier to win at different times of the day. Auctions are only open to the US. I agree that this can sometimes be helpful, however in my experience it seems that the “ultimate prime time” to bid can vary from week to week. Study the auctions and see if you can find yourself a sweet spot to bid in.
Tip 8- Mind your budget. Try bidding on less-expensive, less-popular items. There will likely be less competition. If you stick with items that are $20 or less it’s easy to just BIN them (see tip 5) and get all of your bids back to try again.
Tip 9- Buy bids on sale. Make sure to visit DealDash regularly so you can keep up to date on promotions and save on bids! Bid prices change every single day, but generally fluctuate between .12-.18 per bid. If you go “Like” the DealDash Secrets page on Facebook here you can check back daily and it will tell you the price the bids will be the following day. And if that’s not an awesome tip I don’t know what is!

So my fellow DealDashers, those are just a few helpful tactics & tips for playing on DealDash. Remember to pay attention to the tips, check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on, and try your luck! See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

Holiday Trips with Children and DealDash

Here it is, the end of October! Does your family travel in November and December to visit relatives? If you have small kids even a small weekend trip requires preparation.

November is just a day away, and with November we have Thanksgiving, then of course December is right behind it with all of the holidays that come with it. My family makes at least 3 or 4 small trips in the winter season to visit various relatives, and let me tell you, travelling with small kids can be awful if you aren’t prepared.

Coleman Cooler Combo, Red

First and foremost, you should acquire a cooler that fits comfortably in your car, and fill it with all sorts of snacks and drinks. Even if the trip you’re taking to Grandma’s or Auntie’s is only a couple of hours, the kids will be whining “I’m hunnnnggrrryyy!” at the first fast food place they see. Save your money and your time by preempting the hungries with kid friendly snacks such as grapes, goldfish crackers, pretzels, and juice boxes in your cooler. You can find some nice travel coolers on DealDash in the Hobbies, Toys, Outdoors, and Games section.

RCA 7-Inch Dual Screen DVD Player Apple iPod Classic 160GB MP3 Player Apple iPad mini with Retina display Wi-Fi 32GB, Space Gray

Next up in saving your sanity, entertainment! There there are some great products out there such as portable DVD players for the car, and of course MP3 players and tablets. Just make sure that you get some headphones for the kids from DealDash. That way the kids will be occupied with their devices and you can have some peace and quiet. Check the Electronics & Computer section for a variety of headphones and other electronic devices. A word of advice, though – if you have small kids under the age of 12 or so, please don’t let them use earbuds. Earbuds aren’t safe for younger kids who don’t realize that it will hurt their ears to turn up the volume too loud. Please choose over-the-ear styles for younger kids. A lot of the headphones meant for children have a built in volume regulator so the kids can’t turn them up too loudly and damage their hearing. Please check the headphones carefully before you let your kids use them to be sure they are at a safe volume.

Disney Frozen Cool Tunes Headphones Amazing Spider-Man Headphones

Hopefully you and your kids will have a great holiday season visiting your family this year. Check out DealDash and I’m sure you’ll find something to entertain even the most difficult child. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

Baby Talk: How to Encourage a Reluctant Older Sibling

Having a new baby is always so exciting, especially for the parents and grandparents. However, some kids are not quite as eager to meet their new tiny sibling.

I am currently pregnant with baby number 3, and I certainly remember how my oldest first reacted to the fact that we were going to have a new baby in the house – Let’s just say it didn’t go well. Since I have already lived through that experience, I am hoping that this one will be more smooth. Some new baby anger is inevitable, though the degree depends on the ages of the two (or three!) children, whether or not their personalities are similar, and quite a few other factors that may or may not apply in your own personal case.

Children over age three or four usually welcome a new baby into the home, and sometimes these children, at least on the surface, don’t seem to be jealous. For instance, my daughter just turned four, and she is very excited to meet the new baby, and she even said that she would change diapers! Being verbal helps them deal with the changes. However, it’s not unusual for kids younger than three to be upset for a while.

One of the best ways that I have found to “soften” the blow of having a new baby intruding into the household is to give both of my older kids more responsibilities and freedom. One of my daughter’s favorite things is jewelry, and I decided that it was about time she had a grown-up jewelry box. I was actually lucky enough to win a beautiful jewelry armoire on DealDash. They have them up for auction every so often, and I was very happy to win the one in the white finish to match her bedroom furniture. If you’re interested in furniture of any type check out the Home, Garden, & Tools section on DealDash.

Acme Didi Jewelry Armoire, White Finish Linon Grace 4-Drawer Jewelry Armoire

My son will be 8 when my new baby is born, and I have already started giving him extra chores as an opportunity to prove how “grown up” he is, and he loves being able to earn extra ipad time in exchange for loading laundry or bringing in the garbage bins for me. If you’re looking for an ipad, try DealDash. They seem to have them up for auction almost daily.

Apple iPad mini 4 64GB Wi-Fi, Space Gray

Besides these small suggestions, the biggest one that I have is to try and spend the most time with your older kids as possible, before and after the baby arrives. Before the newbie is born tell your kids about when they were a baby. Even if they have heard the stories a million times before they still enjoy them. Look through old baby pictures, and if you have any of their old favorite outfits or toys bring them out and exclaim about how tiny and cute they were when they were babies…And how they are still cute, but so grown up now! When the baby is napping or with another family member try and take that time to spend some 1-on-1 time with your other children. Kids thrive on attention, so try to give them as much positive attention as you can on your limited time schedule.

After reading this article I hope that you have a better idea of how to deal with sibling rivalry with a new baby. If you’re looking for any baby or kid supplies check out the Toys, Kids, & Baby section to find some awesome products. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

Baby Talk: What Should Parents Have Waiting for the New Baby?

Having a baby is such a joyous occasion, sometimes new parents (or parents of older kids) forget what they should have waiting for the new baby when they come home from the hospital.

There are many things that you are going to need to make a new baby feel comfortable when they get home from the hospital. I’ve compiled a list of some of the things that I have found essential when I’ve brought my babies home. You might not need or want all of these items, but I found each and every one useful.

The very first thing you are going to need is non-negotiable. If you live in America and you are going to be driving your new baby home you absolutely need an infant car seat. There are some car seats made for just infants, and there are “convertible” car seats that can go from infant to baby to big kid. It just depends what you prefer. Be sure that you are buying a NEW car seat, used car seats are just not safe, especially if they have ever been in any kind of car crash. Also, car seats have expiration dates on them that you really need to pay attention and heed the warning sticker. When you are picking out your car seat make sure that you also pay attention to the weight limits on the seat. Make sure that you get a seat that will keep a baby as small as 6 pounds safe, you never know what the weight of your baby will be!

I’m sure that if you are expecting a baby you are probably well stocked with baby clothes, baby blankets, diapers, wipes, and bottles, and a crib, but have you picked up a bassinet or play yard that has a bassinet attachment yet? These items are extremely handy when the baby is 0-3 months, especially if the new Mommy plans on breast feeding. My daughter slept next to me in the bassinet for the first 3 months of her life, and it made it so much easier to tend to her needs during the night rather than have to go into her room down the hall. It might sound lazy to you, but she was a very bad sleeper, waking up 9+ times every night. As with the weight of your baby, you never know if you will have a good or bad sleeper, and it’s better to be prepared. If you choose the play yard with bassinet attachment then when the baby has outgrown sleeping in the attachment then you can take it off and you have a great playpen to stick the baby in while you are showering or cooking.

Another item that I found very useful was a baby swing. My kids only liked it up until about 6 months or so, but it was really very handy for calming them down when they were upset, or entertaining them for a bit so I could eat or get housework done. There are a few different styles, but they all have the same basic functions of swinging as well as playing music. Some are battery powered and others use a wall cord. If possible I would go with the wall cord option, my old swing took 4 D batteries at a time, and they really didn’t last very long when powering the swing, especially as my kids gained weight.

After reading this article I hope that you have a better idea of what types of things that new parents should have waiting at home for their newborn. How about getting some of these essentials on DealDash? They have all types of items in many different categories there, check out the Toys, Kids, & Baby section to find some awesome products. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!