Winning Archives - Page 22 of 28

Let’s Talk About the Importance of Monitoring Other Bidders

Have you been paying attention to your fellow bidders? Well, you should be. Monitoring other bidders can be a great strategy.

If you are a newer DealDasher you might just be jumping right into auctions without doing your research. Well, that’s not a very good idea. Not only should you be researching the items that you plan on bidding on, you should also be doing research on your fellow bidders. If you’re new to DealDash you might be amazed at some of the awesome deals that people seem to get by chance. The more seasoned bidders might make it look easy to win, but I can almost guarantee you the winners of most of the bigger ticket auctions not only watched many of the auctions to see what the final auction fee was, but also took note of the bidders who were in for the long haul.

If you are interested in a certain type of auction, say laptops, then you should be watching and observing every laptop auction that you can find, even if it isn’t the particular laptop that you plan on bidding on. If you have been watching the laptop auctions and you see that Bidder A, Bidder B, and Bidder C show up to almost all of the laptop auctions and stay until the final auction fee has surpassed the BIN (Buy It Now) price, then you might want to try and find a different laptop auction that Bidder A, Bidder B, and Bidder C are not involved in. Every bidder has a win limit of 9 items per week, so if you are patient you might be able to find a laptop auction when Bidder A, Bidder B, and Bidder C have already used up all of their win slots.

Alternately, if you wait until DealDash has one of their “Free Auction Weekends” when there is no final auction fee you might be able to snag a win even if Bidder A, Bidder B, and Bidder C have been bidding on an item. Most (but not all!) bidders tend to try and stay within the BIN price, and will stop bidding once they know that they would be losing money by continuing to bid. Once Bidder A, Bidder B, and Bidder C have stopped bidding and have decided to either cut their losses or BIN the item, then it’s your time to go ahead and start bidding. Just make sure that you have already placed at least one bid before the $5 No Jumper limit has been reached.

In case you don’t know what the “No Jumper” limit means, here is an explanation straight from DealDash’s FAQ section:

The big difference between No Jumper™ auctions and normal auctions is that new bidders can’t enter the auction after $5.00. This means you won’t have to compete with users that didn’t bid in the auction from the start, before the price reached $5.00.

I hope this helped some of you newer DealDashers! If you’re interested in reading even more tips and tricks check out the “Tactics & Tips” section on DealDash. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

My Tips for Using the BidBuddy

“What’s a BidBuddy?” you might ask on your first day of discovering DealDash – The secret is in the name. It’s your new best friend.

This (hopefully) helpful article is for those of you new to DealDash who aren’t yet familiar with the BidBuddy. It might be mystifying to you to see people that seem to be bidding on DealDash around the clock. “When do they sleep?” you might ask. You also might be curious why certain groups of bidders on auctions seem to place their bids in the same order every time, with 9 seconds in between. The answer to both of those questions is by using the BidBuddy!

The BidBuddy is an automatic and free to use bidding tool used on DealDash, and is by far the most important secret of how to win auctions. Here’s a few different ways that the BidBuddy can help users win auctions:

You are in charge of telling the BidBuddy to use a pre-set number of bids in each auction. Once you have inputted the number of bids you would like to use, the BidBuddy will automatically place your bids before the bid clock counts down to 0. When you set your BidBuddy you’re guaranteed to get your bids in no matter how many people are in the auction, and no matter what their bidding style. You’re free to leave the computer and do other things while the BidBuddy will automatically start bidding for you, you don’t even have to have your computer on. It’s extremely handy for people who don’t know if they will have access to a computer or smartphone when the auction begins. The BidBuddy will bid up to the number of bids that you booked, and you can adjust that number up or down anytime that you like.

If more than one bidder has a BidBuddy set on a certain auction then the BidBuddies will take turns placing the bids. Most bidders know this and they look for these patterns, and if they see more than a few BidBuddies taking turns they’ll know that they won’t win until the BidBuddies have run out of bids. You might want to try putting in just 2 or 3 bids into your BidBuddy and watching the auction, when you see a pattern you can tell whether other bidders have their BidBuddies set up. Almost all auctions on DealDash are won using the BidBuddy, so try using these tips to help you win more auctions, the BidBuddy will never let you down, even if the power in your house goes out the BidBuddy will still faithfully bid as many bids as you have “fed” it before the auction.

Top 4 Secrets of a Successful Bidder

If you’re just getting started with DealDash you might be interested in learning my Top 4 Secrets of a Successful bidder. Read on, but keep it a secret, shhhhhhhh.

Secret 1 – Watch, don’t bid…YET. If you’re new to DealDash you might be amazed at some of the awesome deals that people seem to get purely by chance. The bidders might make it look easy to win a Nooka Zem Zoo Night Steel Watch valued at $325 for just $2.23, but I can almost guarantee you the winner of this auction watched and studied many Nooka watch auctions before deciding to bid on this particular one. For example, if you were to look up the upcoming Nooka watch auctions you might want to pick a few offered at different times of the day and see what time the watches tend to end. Morning? Evening? Late night? Take your time, study, watch, then bid!

dealdash bidbuddy

Secret 2 – Use your BidBuddy. If you have just signed up for DealDash and haven’t used the BidBuddy yet I strongly encourage you to give it a try. It’s really simple to use, each auction page has the bid button that says “Bid Now” and the BidBuddy, which is below the bid now button. Click your mouse on the white area and enter the number of bids you want to use and click “Book a BidBuddy” your BidBuddy will now be set and you can even turn off your computer and the BidBuddy will take care of everything. The BidBuddy will bid up to the number of bids that you booked, and you can adjust that number up or down anytime that you like. 95% of the auctions that I have personally won have been using the BidBuddy.

Image result for person looking at multiple windows on computer

Secret 3 – Don’t spread yourself too thin. I personally suggest not bidding on more than 2 or 3 auctions at a time, especially if you are actively bidding on them and not using your BidBuddy. Auctions can change so quickly, going from 5 active bidders or more down to the final 2 in a matter of moments. If you miss your window to jump into the auction you might not get your chance because someone else might be seeing the “Congratulations!” on their screen while you are still scrolling through the other auctions that you are interested in.

Secret 4 – Get free bids by posting photos on social media. After you have won and received your auctions you can get free bids by just taking a photo of yourself holding the item and posting the picture on social media with a quick message such as “I got this -name of item won here- @DealDash for -number of bids used- bids & $ -final auction price-. I love it! #DealDash also gives #FREE shipping!” Here’s a link to get the full details on how to get even more free bids, it’s easy to do and is a great deal.

Rachael Ray Knows Her Way Around a Kitchen!

Who pops into your head when someone mentions the Food Network? I’ll bet Rachael Ray is in your top 3 that you think of! She’s everywhere!

Most people might recognize Rachael Ray as a celebrity chef on the Food Network. She was born on August 25, 1968 in New York, and has been around restaurants all of her life, thanks to her mom who was a restaurant manager when Rachel was young. She is also an author as well as hosting the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray, and three Food Network series: 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels, and $40 a Day.

One of the most interesting things that I found out about Rachael Ray is that in 2007, The Oxford American College Dictionary announced the addition of the term EVOO, short for extra-virgin olive oil, which Ray had helped to popularize, and credited her with coining the phrase. This phrase started on her television programs, she has used catchphrases such as “E-V-O-O” (extra-virgin olive oil) as well as a few others that haven’t caught on quite as much such as “stoup” (cross between a soup and stew), and “choup” (thicker than a soup but thinner than a chowder).

Why am I telling you all about Rachael Ray? Well, if you like her products then you should see what DealDash has for you! DealDash offers many of her high quality products such as Stoneware Oil and Vinegar Bottles, 3.5-quart stoneware covered rectangular casserole dish, and my personal favorite, the Hard Enamel 10pc Cookware set in 2-tone red. I got this cookware set from DealDash right around the time that I was moving, and it was one of the very first things that I unpacked when I moved in. This set includes: 1 Qt. Covered Saucepan, 2 Qt. Covered Saucepan, 6 Qt. Covered Stockpot, 3 Qt. Covered Saute, 8.5″ Skillet, and 10″ Skillet. All of these items have a nonstick interior. The nonstick interior allows food to slide off and makes cleanup quick and easy. All of them also have soft grippy handles. The rubberized dual-riveted handles are comfortable and oven safe to 350°F. The lids are made of tempered glass – Watch your foods cook without having to remove the lid to keep moisture locked in. Here is a picture of me with my Rachael Ray cookware set!

Head on over to DealDash and check out the upcoming Rachael Ray product auctions. One of my favorite things about the Rachael Ray products is that they come in so many different colors – purple, orange, and red to name a few. If you see one you are interested in, go ahead and hit the blue “Alert Me” button and DealDash will send you a quick email when one becomes available. Good luck and happy bidding everyone, set your Bid Buddies and go out and enjoy the beautiful weather!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9×7-GYIxMjI

Petco -Where the Pets Go

What do most DealDashers have in common? Pets!!

At least, reading people’s little bios and looking at so many different pet avatars it would seem like most DealDashers have at least one pet, if not more. I’ve seen bios referring to cats, dogs, birds, and even some more exotic pets like lizards and goats! I don’t personally have any exotic pets like that, but I do have two tanks of saltwater fish. And I don’t know about you, but the very first place I think of when it comes to getting pet supplies is Petco!

Petco has just about every item that I have ever needed or wanted, and even more items that I didn’t even know existed until I saw them in the store. They have pet supplies for just about every pet including your average cat, dog, and fish but also ferrets, rats, turtles, hermit crabs, and more!

When you think of a national chain pet store you might think that their offices are only thinking about the “bottom line”, but Petco is actually has a “Think Adoption First” philosophy, which means they always recommend that anyone who is looking to add a new pet to their family to first consider adopting a companion animal in need of a new home, rather than purchasing one – even from a Petco store. Petco and the Petco Foundation work with more than 8,000 local animal-welfare partners to find homes for more than 250,000 animals every year through in-store adoption events. Petco has never sold dogs or cats. They do however have ferrets, hamsters, bunnies, and more available to purchase.

In case this is the first time that you have heard about the Petco Foundation, They are an independent nonprofit organization, and they have raised more than $125 million since it was created in 1999 to help promote and improve the welfare of companion animals. Petco and the Petco Foundation work with and support thousands of local animal welfare groups across the country to host in-store adoption events and help find homes for adoptable dogs, cats, and other companion animals. That’s what I call “Thinking Adoption First.”

My favorite thing about Petco versus the other major pet retailer in my area is that Petco actually has saltwater fish and corals. I can get the exact same type of Clownfish (Ocellaris) for $10 at Petco that I could also get at my local fish store, except they charge almost double the price! I will go with the $10 Petco Clownfish every time. Also, Petco has consistently lower prices on dry goods such as salt mix, fish food, and fish medications. I foolishly bought a coral medication at my local fish store over the weekend for $24.99, and when I compared the price at Petco today I realized that I could have gotten it $5 cheaper. Lesson learned – check the Petco price before buying anything at a local shop.

Luckily for us pet-loving DealDashers DealDash now has Petco gift cards available! They come in $10 and $25 denominations, and you can spend the gift cards in store as well as online. They are really convenient, and since I know that I am always going to have an occasion to spend $10 or $25 in Petco I always bid them up to the limit. Give it a try, you never know when you might get lucky!