Have you seen the cheap final bids at penny auction sites? Have you played with the idea of bidding on items yourself? If you do, make sure you are doing it with the right attitude and at the right site. The last time I checked PennyAuctionTraffic.com, they listed 145 penny auction sites. This is a site that updates current traffic rankings averaged from different sources daily. This is one of the places you may want to check before you jump into the bidding frenzy.

Penny auctions look like great places to bid on items since their final bids look so low but there is a hidden cost associated with that. In order to place a bid you have to purchase bid tickets, usually in bundles. The prevailing price appears to be $0.60 per bid ticket ranging all the way up to $1.00. Every auction site is slightly different but in most penny auctions you loose your bid tickets once they have been used, whether you win the auction or not. This is how most penny auction sites earn their money. They sell bid packages.

Naturally, they are trying to offer products that will create bidding wars. The winning bidder can get a good deal because the other bidders are subsidizing his bid. Watch your bidding. Do not get drawn into a bidding war. If you are going to try your luck at penny auctions, read all the rules for the site you have selected. Penny auctions are timed auctions. If a bid is placed, time is added so someone else has a chance to raise the bid. Don’t waste your bids on early bids unless you enjoy throwing money away. Don’t be scammed. It didn’t take the less than ethical people long to figure out how to make sure they would make money. Some sites have associates that bid on items to raise the number of bids. Some have automated the process and have bots placing bids. This is why you should check out the traffic numbers before you register at a site. If you see heavy bidding, but the number of views at the  site don’t justify it, run the other way.

When you first try out an auction site, consider it a game. You are gambling on a chance to pick up merchandise cheaper than at your local store. You are gambling that the site you chose has a fair auction system and you are gambling that they will actually ship your product if you should win a penny auction. Merchants sell billions of dollars worth of merchandise on the internet but some fail to follow through with the shipment which is why sites such as eBay have seller reviews. In order to save costs penny auction sites may not order the product you win at an auction until after an auction has received a winning bid. Check their shipping schedule before you start bidding.

You may also see penny auctions where they require more than one bid ticket to place bids on more expensive items. The cost of an item can go up quickly if you are using four bid tickets every time you place a bid. Not all penny auction sites are out to scam you. There are sites which allow you to buy their products at a fixed price if you don’t want to go through the auction process, sometimes even deducting the cost of bid tickets you used in your failed bid. If you would be willing to pay their buy now price, this may be the right place for you to start your adventure into online shopping, auction style. In this case you are no longer gambling on the price. You know you can get it at a price you find acceptable and you are simply trying to improve on it. Just make sure you include the cost of shipping in your considerations.