Low Bid Tips

Participating in low bid and penny bid auctions can be incredibly fun and rewarding if you are good at it. If you’re careless, you could potentially lose a lot of money and walk away with nothing to show for the money that you’ve lost.

Before you even think about participating in sites like MadBid or Swoopo, it’s important to do as much research as you can to understand exactly how low bid and penny bid auctions work. The most practical thing to think of is how much money each bid costs you.

COSTS OF LOW BID AND PENNY BIDS ON SWOOPO
For the sake of simplicity, we’ll keep this article’s content focused on the low bid/penny bid auction site Swoopo. Swoopo’s normal low bid auctions increase in increments of 10p with each bid priced at 50p per bid. You can save on bids by purchasing BidPacks that are priced at £10 for a pack of 20 bids, £25 for a pack of 55 bids (saving £2.50), £50 for a pack of 115 bids (saving £7.50), £75 for a pack of 170 (saving £10.00) and £250 for a pack of 560 bids (saving £30.00).

PIECING IT ALL TOGETHER
Now that you have these significant details on bid pricing, isn’t it time to make use of this information when formulating your bidding strategy for a particular item that you fancy? Let’s say that there is a 32GB iPod Touch up for auction on Swoopo. The high-end street value or estimated retail price of this iPod Touch is £289.00.

Knowing that each bid will set you back 50p per bid, how much are willing to spend to win the right to purchase this iPod Touch at a bargain price?

DEFINE YOUR BARGAIN PRICE
What purchase price would be a bargain to you? 50% off of £289.00 would be £144.50. This isn’t even factoring in things like the item’s shipping costs. Some people may want bigger savings from a low bid or penny bid auction but let’s say that 50% off the regular retail price is satisfactory to you. Let’s now define a bidding strategy.

CHECK AUCTION HISTORY
Look for previous closed auctions of either the same iPod Touch or a similar model. The great thing about low bid and penny bid auction sites is that users are able to review previous auctions to see previous winners and previous winning bid amounts.

Based on this research, you see that a previous 32GB iPod Touch was auctioned off on a Swoopo low bid auction for £67.50. Another 32GB iPod Touch went for £99.20. One could assume that an auction for the same item would go for a price in this ballpark range – if not a little more.

DETERMINE HOW MANY BIDS YOU WANT TO PLACE
Once you’ve determined the maximum amount that you’d pay for the item, it’s time to factor in how much you’re willing to gamble on bidding. Remember that your paying 50p per bid and could potentially walk away empty handed. So, you should look at this bid amount no differently than a betting on a horse, putting money into a slot machine or laying money on the table during a game of cards. You may or may not see a return on this investment. How much of an investment risk are you willing to take?