The Complete Guide to BidRivals.com

Penny auctions are all the rage online these days and for good reason. People are able to buy brand new products at a fraction of their retail cost by taking part in penny auctions. BidRivals is a leading penny auction website that boasts having more than one million registered users.

Penny auctions can seem confusing if you are a ‘newbie’ and do not know where to begin. This guide can help you learn what BidRivals is all about so you can buying great products for very little money.

Getting Started

To bid on products at BidRivals, you first need to register with the site which is free to do. As a new member you will be given one free bid after signing up. Next you choose a payment method then buy a package of bids or a BidPack as it is called. The beginner’s BidPack is for all new members and it consists of 150 bids with 100 free bids tacked on at no extra cost. With this package you get 250 bids for $112.50 which is a great deal so do take advantage of it. Now it’s time to select a product you would like to bid on from the many up for auction. Once you choose something you would like to own, you are ready to place your bids. You can bid manually or set up the optional automatic bidding tool called BidAgent wherein the bidding is done for you.

Pick Your Auctions Wisely

There are all types of items up for bids ranging from bid collection cards to laptop computers. It is important to know that high value items tend to attract more bidders. This means that it is more difficult to win these auctions. And, it may end up costing you more than what the item is actually worth. So for instance, very popular items like iPads, flat-screen TVs and high-end digital cameras will most likely have many people bidding on them, which will decrease your chances of winning.

Take Advantage of Your Newbie Status

It is a good idea as a newbie to choose the ‘Beginner’s Only’ auctions – these auctions are marked with a red star. This way you can get the hang of how a penny auction works as well as a ‘feel’ for placing bids. You will see that each time you or someone else places a bid, the auction timer is reset to ten or fifteen seconds. The timer will count down to zero if no bids are placed. Once the timer hits zero, the auction remains ‘live’ for another five seconds. Then if no one places a bid, the auction is over and the final bidder wins the product at the amount he or she bid.

If you win four Beginners Only auctions, you are no longer considered a beginner and cannot bid on these auctions any longer.

Keep Your Emotions Under Control

It is important not to become upset when bidding on penny auctions. It is best to keep your cool and maintain your composure. If you allow yourself to become upset you most likely will bid carelessly and waste many bids.


Don’t Have Unrealistic Expectations

Do not expect that you are going to win every auction you bid on because frankly that is not going to happen. As stated earlier, the best items up for auction at BidRivals will have many people bidding on them. This means your chances of winning are decreased so be realistic and have fun bidding. If you do win, then great! But if you don’t – there will always be other auctions to bid on!

Use the Buy Now Feature

Some auctions have a “Buy Now” option which allows you to purchase the product using 100% of the value of the bids you’ve already spent on that auction. This gives you the opportunity to buy the item by paying the difference between what your spent bids are worth and the value of the product. You can click the Buy Now button at any time the auction is live and up to twenty-four hours after it closes. If you really want the item and don’t want to bid on it, then by all means use this option if it’s available.

I am amazed by the number of times I have seen people ignore this function and place bids that have a much higher value than the product. If the price of an item is $20 then there is no reason why you should ever place bids worth more than $20 on that item. Below I have a screenshot of a good example of what I am talking about.

This auction was for a €10 iPad 2 gift card and the winner of the auction ended up spending €41 worth of bids when he could have stopped at €10 and picked up the card for free by using the buy now feature.

Only Bid on Things You Really Want

Just as you wouldn’t walk into a store, take a random item off the shelf and they pay for it at the checkout, you should not bid on random items you don’t really want. It can be tempting to see few bidders on a product and then place some bids, but if you really do not want that product, why waste bids buying it? Again, keep your emotions in check and only bid on those items you would truly like to own.

Conclusion

Many people thing that there is a secret “trick” to winning auctions on BidRivals. However, the reality is that there is no such trick. Winning an auction requires patience, timing and strategy. Some participants only bid on items at odd times during the day like late at night or very early morning. They do this because there are often not so many bidders active during these times. One final tip which could help you win is to use a intimidating user name. A powerful user name such as “I_WIN” or “YOU_WILL_LOSE “ can make people think twice about bidding against you.

Tagged as: Bidding Sites, BidRivals, Guide, How to Win, Penny Auctions, Review