Tag: new bidders

Taking a Look at Different Bidding Styles

If you’re just getting started at DealDash you might be puzzled at all of the different ways that people use to bid on items. Be mystified no more, here is a handy guide to a few different bidding styles.

I know when I first got started with DealDash a few years ago I was seriously confused…When you think of bidding in an auction you might picture an auctioneer raising the price higher and higher as people commit to paying a certain amount of money. Well, online auctions are totally different. Not only do the customers dictate the price by raising the price of the item by 1 Penny every time they bid, bidding is not as straightforward as you might think. Here are a few different ways that people bid:

 

The Newbie: The Newbie tends to be overexcited about their first few times on DealDash, and they bid like crazy on every auction on the home page, without even opening up the item page or doing any research whatsoever. This bidding style very rarely wins anything, and just leaves the bidder frustrated.

The Stomper: Everyone hates The Stomper. The Stomper picks an auction, and rather than bidding politely and waiting for the timer to go down to 2 or 3 seconds they bid immediately after a person, therefore cheating the person out of their “clock time.” The Stomper is not the best way to bid, because it usually ends up making people angry and they will just keep bidding til the BIN (Buy It Now) price any possibly even beyond just to spite The Stomper. However, occasionally being The Stomper can win you an auction, especially if you are bidding against The Newbie, because as we talked about above The Newbie is easily frustrated and will move on pretty quickly.

The Bid it and Quit it: The person who uses “The Bid it and Quit it” style tends to spread out small amounts on bids on many different auctions in the hopes that they might get lucky and have one of the auctions that they picked to The Bid it and Quit it are one of those magical auctions that ends for just a few cents. This bidder tends to do some research on when is the best time to bid, as well as picking lower value auctions that might not be as popular. On first glance you might think that The Bid it and Quit it and The Newbie are the same, but they are really very different – The Newbie is surprised and frustrated when they don’t win, and The Bid it and Quit it doesn’t really expect to win, they just like the thrill of possibly winning something for pennies. The Bid it and Quit it treats DealDash as if it’s a virtual scratch ticket, tossing away $5-$10 in bids in hopes of a big payoff.

Those are just a few of the ways that people like to bid on DealDash. What’s your favorite way? Please stay tuned for future blogs where I will discuss more advanced ways to bid. For now, check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on, and try my tips to save bids. See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

More Suggestions on How To Conserve Your Bids

We’ve talked about conserving bids before, but here are some other ideas that can hopefully help you save bids and money.

Well, there are a few different ways to try and conserve your bids for another day, and I will try to teach you about some of the easiest ways to save your bids for later.

One of the best ways to conserve your bids is to use the BidBuddy! When I very first started using DealDash a few years ago I was so confused by the Bid Buddy. At first, I thought that the BidBuddy was some kind of trick or bid waster, but really, that thinking was all wrong. The Bid Buddy is the BEST way to save bids, because when you are putting in single bids it’s very easy to lose track of the order that people are bidding in, and therefore wasting a bid by bidding too early.

The BidBuddy is a wonderful tool that DealDash provides to every single bidder, free of charge, to help them win more auctions. We all know that the majority of auctions on DealDash are won by using the BidBuddy. The BidBuddy waits until the last second to bid. You can put in as few or as many bids as you like into the BidBuddy, and it will tirelessly bid for you until your bids have run out. The BidBuddy is an awesome tool to use to conserve bids, especially if you are bidding on an auction that seems like it’s going to last late into the night, long after you have gone to bed.

 

We’ve talked about this before, but I feel that being willing to BIN (Buy It Now) is such an important way to conserve bids that we need to talk about it again. If conserving bids is important to you and your family, then you should probably only bid on things that you need and can use in everyday life instead of “taking a chance” on something that’s completely out of your price range if you don’t win. If you want to conserve bids, practice your DealDash math so you know when to stop bidding to break even with your bids + final auction cost, then stop bidding! After you do your math calculations and realize that you have reached the BIN price, use the “Buy it Now” option and pay retail price for the item. DealDash will when refund all of the bids you used on that item, and you can try again another day.

 

 

I hope that these simple tricks help you to save your bids and get the most out of your bid pack purchases. Pay attention to what you’re doing, check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on, and try my tips to save bids. See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

It’s a DealDashingly Great Fall!

It’s a beautiful crisp fall day outside today, and I am grateful to be using all of the wonderful things that I have gotten on DealDash this year.

 

The leaves are everywhere, so of course I have been using my Flexrake that I won on DealDash this year. The Flexrake is awesome for picking up those troublesome leaves, and not only that it’s super sturdy and seems like it’s going to last for quite a few seasons. I am contemplating getting a few more of these great rakes so everyone in the family can come out and rake together. As it is, I am the one raking and the kids are the ones jumping into my piles and messing them up! Kids will be kids. If you would like to get your own rake from DealDash, there’s still time! Here is the link that will take you to the rakes on DealDash here.

Flexrake Classic Leaf Rake Flexrake 48-inch Handle with 19-inch Steel Head Lawn Rake

 

Another item that I think about in the fall is my hose reel. Now is about the time of year when we reel in our hoses, disconnect them from the house, and turn off the water supplies to the outdoor faucets. My Suncast resin wicker hose reel is a great sturdy box for my hose, weather proof (so far!), and looks great next to my house. These hose reels come in different capacities of 175 and 225, but if you aren’t crazy about a boxy-type hose reel DealDash also offers some more decorative options. You can check out the different types of hose reels that DealDash offers here in this link.

Suncast 175-foot Resin Wicker Hose ReelLiberty Wall Mount Decorative Hose Reel

The last item that I am so happy to have this season is my Pressure Joe pressure washer. It can do so many amazing cleaning jobs outside my home that need to be done before winter settles in and it’s too cold outside to do any home and yard work. Pressure washers can remove tar and grease from your concrete sidewalks or your driveway, heavy mildew stains from your siding, oil stains, rust from steel, caked mud on your lawn mower and weed wacker, and any other stubborn gunk and grime that you have hanging out on your deck or porch. DealDash has a few different types of pressure washers available, check them all out at this link.

Sun Joe Pressure Joe 2030 PSI Electric Pressure WasherAll Power America 1800 PSI Electric Pressure Washer

Well everyone, that just about summed up my weekend! Thanks for reading, and thanks to DealDash for supplying us with some great items to bid on. Check out the auctions and see if there’s anything that you need this season. See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

Hi Newbies, Welcome to DealDash!

Hi Newbies! I’m glad that you decided to join DealDash. Here are a few hints and tips to get you started.

Now that you have joined DealDash the first thing that you are going to want to do is check out the House Rules which are found here. There are really only a few basic rules, but they are really important to familiarize yourself with them so you don’t jeopardize losing your bidding account. These rules are in place to make things as fair as possible for everyone. Here’s a quick overview of the rules– but please check out the full version so you don’t accidentally get yourself into trouble.

  • 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.
  • You absolutely may not bid in the same auction with your family members, friends, or acquaintances.
  • You may not use any type of bidding software to automatically bid for you except the BidBuddy which is provided to everyone free of charge.
  • Your user name cannot be vulgar or obscene, and it also can’t mislead people into thinking that you are a DealDash employee, either.
  • DealDash employees and immediate family are not allowed to bid on auctions.

That’s basically it! As you can see there are really only a few rules, and they are really very easy to follow.

So you’ve bought your first bid pack and have brushed up on the rules, what’s next? Well, I would personally suggest that you don’t start bidding right away, but instead observe the auctions for a day or so to really see how things work. Once you have familiarized yourself with how the auctions work I would suggest you start with bidding on smaller auctions and also bidding on items you would buy anyway such as gift cards for Target and Wal-Mart, or even household items that you use daily such as toilet paper, tissues, or laundry detergent. 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 when 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 guidelines 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.

How To Conserve Your Bids

The next best thing to buying cheap bids on sale is conserving the ones you already have!

You might ask “How am I supposed to win if I am being thrifty with my bids?” Well, there are a few different ways to try and conserve your bids for another day, and I will try to teach you about some of the easiest ways to save your bids for later.

The first way is pretty obvious – only bid on items that you are willing to “go all the way” on, do your math so you know when to stop bidding to break even with your bids + final auction cost, then stop bidding! Remember, if you do your math calculations and you have reached the BIN price, use the “Buy it Now” option and pay retail price for the item. DealDash will when refund all of the bids you used on that item, and you can try again another day.

 

The next way to conserve bids is to enter the auction late. On most days at DealDash you have to get at least 1 bid in before the auction price has hit $5. These are called “No Jumper” auctions, and it basically means that DealDash doesn’t want someone who has no bids invested in an item to get to win it with just a few when other bidders have been trying hard (for hours sometimes) to win the item. However, DealDash has decided that $5 is the magic price, and as long as you get your first bid in before then you are good to sit back and wait until the competition is less fierce, say when there are only 3 or 4 people left in the auction. Some days the No Jumper auctions start at $3 instead of $5, but it’s always marked very clearly at the top of the homepage, so there’s no confusion.

The last way to conserve bids that I would like to talk about today is a little bit on the risky side – Going Mobile!! Sometimes there’s a particular auction that I am interested in that I won’t be at home to catch, so normally I would just load up my BidBuddy with the appropriate number of bids to break even if I win, and hope for the best. However, now that DealDash has made a great mobile site it’s easy to bid “on the go.” This way I can monitor the auction from my phone and step in at just the right moment instead of bidding from the beginning and probably losing to someone who started at the $3 or $4 mark. I say that this is a “risky” way to try and conserve bids because there have been MANY times that I have planned on monitoring an auction from my phone, but by the time that I remember to check it’s already passed the $5 No Jumper limit. So if it’s something that you are extremely interested in I would suggest setting an alarm on your phone to remind you to check the auction.

That’s it! Those are just a few simple ways to save your bids and get the most out of your bid pack purchases. Pay attention to what you’re doing, check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on, and try my tips to save bids. See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.