It should also be noted that you can save money on bidding when you purchase online bid packages. Bids on MadBid can cost anywhere from £0.75 to £1.50. You can bring the price of your bids down by purchasing packages of 100 or more bids. For example, £100.00 gets you 100 bids for £1.00 each. £375.00 gets you 500 bids at £0.75 per bid.

NUMBER OF AUCTIONS: These penny bid auctions run at hourly intervals with anywhere from 6 – 12 live low bid auctions running at a time. Auctioned items can include a Fiat 500 car, a Samsung 40” TV, a 3G iPhone, Nintendo Wiis, laptops and digital cameras.

There are also MadBid “Rookie Auctions” – free auctions that are exclusive to new users, designed to help beginners understand how penny bid auctions work. Most of these auctions are for MadBid bids at a discounted cost.

One common complaint about MadBid auctions is the number of items like cash, auction bids, vouchers and scratch cards that sometimes flood out the higher end items in live auctions. Granted, there are many people that enjoy bidding on such items, many people prefer to see high valued items up for grabs.

To MadBid’s credit, their online surveys do frequently ask members what specific products they want to see auctioned off on the site. And it’s not like there is a shortage of top quality products on MadBid.

Another nice feature of MadBid is you are able to see what penny bid auctions are coming up in the days to come. You can review item details, see the time bidding starts and remember to monitor the clock and strategize your bidding. Many members choose to set up AutoBids in the “Member Controls” section of the site when they see something in “Future Auctions” that appeals to them.

EASE OF NAVIGATION: MadBid is a very “busy” site. There is a lot going on. It may actually be a little intimidating at first for low bid auction novices because there is so much on the site. However, in the “Member Controls” section of the site, there is a button for “Easy View”. This quiets down the page a little, breaking up the Rookie Auctions, Current Auctions and Future Auctions into a list format that is a little easier on the eyes.

All of the most relevant and pertinent information is readily available on the site. There is a solid “How It Works” and “FAQ section. There is both email and phone support available in the event that you run into any problems or issues.

OVERALL RATING: It’s important to remember that MadBid is a penny bid auction that differs from reverse auctions or unique low bid auctions where you’re bidding a specific amount. All your bid does on MadBid is increase the current bid amount by an increment of 1p while resetting the auction’s time clock. Each time someone bids, the current bid on display increases by 1p and the time clock is again reset. The auction is over when the clock finally hits 0.00, nobody counter bids and the last person to bid wins the right to purchase the item for the final low bid amount showing at the clock’s expiration.

So, yes, you can obtain goods at bargain prices, however, you must keep in mind that you’re spending £0.75 to £1.30 on penny bids. It’s very easy to become addicted to penny bid auctions and not realize how much money you’re spending and the likelihood that you’ll walk away with nothing. That said; check out MadBid to see if it’s a gamble you want to take. Take advantage of the free bids and perhaps you’ll be one of the fortunate ones that win goods at a fraction of their actual costs without frivolously throwing away a lot of money.

Click here to bid with Mad Bid

NUMBER OF AUCTIONS: When Grababid started in 2007, they ran a penny bid auction model and offered primarily DVD’s and computer games. Grababid now runs fixed price reverse auctions with up to 40 live auctions at a given time. This reverse auction seldom slights its participants when it comes to product quality and routinely offers top brand name technology devices, fashion accessories, cars, bikes, fragrances, and other home and lifestyle items for bargain prices that can be up to 95% off standard retail prices. Browse through the winning reverse auctions and you’ll see items like a Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock – Wireless Bundle, a Playstation 3 or the latest iPod contraption with fixed prices of £1.

EASE OF NAVIGATION: Grababid is a very well designed site that is much easier to navigate than some of its low bid or reverse auction competitors. All auctions are categorized and members can browse these categories courtesy of a drop down menu on the front page. You can view the featured fixed price reverse auctions that are ongoing and click each individual auction for more products and bid details. The “How It Works” portion of the site is brief, to the point but still an effective introduction to someone just entering the world of online reverse auctions.

OVERALL RATING: A quick online search of Grababid will likely find many accusations of the site being full of robot programs or certain members becoming multiple winners. Others online will be quick to boast about the bargains that they scored through Grababid’s fixed price reverse auction, not having to pay for shipping and receiving their goods within a desirable time window. Remember that there is always a positive and negative represented online.

The fact remains that Grababid is likely the first site that other reverse auctioneers will copy as a model. For those bidding on the site, it’s just a matter of developing the skill and know-how to come out “last man standing” when the auction clock hits 0.00. And remember the timer resets each time a bid is placed. Our suggestion: Get the most from using the Bid Butlers. Bid Butlers allow you to place, all at once, a number of bids that are submitted throughout the duration of bidding, rather than relying on the crapshoot that comes with placing single bids. You can actually walk away from the computer and come back the winner of a great prize at a bargain price through Grababid’s fixed price reverse auctions.

Click here to bid with Grab a bid

Ten-Pence, a penny bid auction site, apparently recognizes this more than other online auctions and promotes itself as having the most attractive bid bonuses on the market. First, simply upon registering, without even buying bid credits, you are given 5 free bids. And, when you are ready to buy bids, Ten-Pence rewards new members with an unprecedented 100% bonus upon your first bid purchase! So, if you purchase a package of 50 bids, you are given 50 more bids at no additional charge.

Additionally, like many other penny bid, low bid and reverse auctions, Ten-Pence gives members an opportunity to earn even more free bids by inviting other friends and family to join in on the fun. When your referral signs up to participate in Ten-Pence’s penny auctions and purchases their first bid pack, you are rewarded another 100% bonus of whatever amount they purchased.

NUMBER OF AUCTIONS: We have yet to see more than five ongoing penny auctions running at once on Ten-Pence. There also seems to be an influx of vouchers or free bids being auctioned off rather than top-notch products. However, that isn’t to say that the vouchers aren’t of value, and we also aren’t saying that you won’t find some superb products in Ten-Pence’s penny bid auctions. There have been winners of Nintendo Wii systems for £4.2, iPod docking stations for £0.2 and iPod shuffles for £8.

EASE OF NAVIGATION: The site design allows for simple navigation. The home page is comprised mostly of current auctions with a header banner that displays past auctions with winning bid amounts. Information on Bid Bonuses is nicely outlined and briefed and the top navigation bar links you to FAQ, News and Auction Winners pages. The FAQ section hosts a very nice section on how to win penny bid auctions on Ten-Pence that explains the use of Bid Agents, etc.

OVERALL RATING: Ten-Pence is a nice penny auction site that is comfortable and uncomplicated. They offer members the cheapest bid packs of any penny bid, low bid and reverse auction site online with online bid prices ranging from 45p to 60p. Ten-Pence would benefit from having more simultaneous ongoing auctions and a more desirable product selection. That said, if you check the site frequently, you can still make out with bargains on some great items. We did regrettably encounter some technical issues with the site. At times, the bid timer runs slow due to a JavaScript issue, the page displays jumbled on the Google Chrome browser and we received several error messages when trying to login. It’s hard to establish whether or not these were just “wrong place/wrong time” issues but this penny auction site is still relatively new and they could still be working out some kinks here and there. One nice thing about Ten-Pence is there are times of the day when it’s not particularly busy. This has made it somewhat easier to score some great deals through Ten-Pence penny auctions.

Click here to bid with Ten-Pence

Members of Swoopo purchase bids in advance at 50p per bid. BidPacks are sold in packs of 20 at £10, 55 at £25 (save £2.50), 115 at £50 (save £7.50), 170 at £75 (save £10.00) and 560 at £250 (save £30.00).

You do receive 5 FreeBids for every invited friend that purchases a BidPack and joins in on Swoopo’s low bid and penny auctions. Free bids for Swoopo are valid for seven days and must be used within that time frame.

NUMBER OF AUCTIONS: Swoopo has their low bid auctions and penny bid auctions categorized in easy to follow categories.

They have close to 50 Beginner’s Auctions running at a time. These are special auctions that are exclusive to members of Swoopo that have yet to win an auction. Your competition is limited and no more skilled or experienced than you are. This evens out the playing field and gives newbies an opportunity to perfect their bid strategies before taking on pro bidders.

They then have close to 200 Live Auctions running. Items up for grabs in these low bid or penny auctions range from Consoles and Video Games, Home & Garden materials, Watches and Jewelry, iPods and mp3 players, laptop and notebook computers and many other surprises.

In the majority of Swoopo auctions, each bid increases the amount by 10 pence. But there are also penny bid auctions on Swoopo where the amount only goes up 1 pence – just like MadBid’s penny bid setup.

Swoopo has 20-second auctions, 15-second auctions and 10-second auctions. These time intervals are actually how many seconds the clock increases each time a low bid or penny bid is placed. When the clock ticks down to 0:00 – the person holding the last bid has earned the right to buy that item at the bargain price bidding ended at.

You can either place single bids or select how many bids you’d like the BidButler to execute within a given range. The BidButler will wait until the final 10 seconds of the auction’s countdown clock to execute the bidding.

EASE OF NAVIGATION: There is plenty of good content and information on the site that can be easily located. Navigation is simple as the Home Page serves as the portal to everything; accomplishing everything a Home Page is supposed to.

Scroll down menus let you view the auction categories and your current ongoing auctions. You see current Swoopo promotions; you can read about the latest low bid or penny bid auction winner on Swoopo; auctions that are down to their final hours and minutes and other live ongoing auctions. You can see for yourself the contrast between what the item’s current bid is in relation to its actual market value.

The “My Swoopo” section connects you to all pertinent information regarding your account. You see all of your current and past auction activity; you can purchase BidPacks; and edit details regarding your account.

The Help section of Swoopo is full of relevant information for anyone new to low bid and penny bid auctions. You can find details regarding delivery, shipping, defective products, and properly managing your account in the left side navigation menu.

OVERALL RATING: Swoopo has been labeled the originator of “Entertainment Shopping” and it’s impossible to argue that. While there is a gamble to participating in these low bid and penny bid auction sites, it can be incredibly fun and rewarding for those that develop a knack for it. Swoopo is one of the best online auction sites out there right now. It’s just too bad that they don’t offer many free or bonus credits. More people would likely give these low bid and penny bid auctions a try if there wasn’t such great potential for losing money. Free or Bonus credits – with great incentives to earn more – would seemingly get more people joining and bidding.

Click here to bid with Swoopo