Penny Auction Terms: Explained

Power Bidder: A bidder who has made his/her reputation by over-spending on auctions, often to prove a point, and in the hopes to win auctions at cheaper prices in the future. For example, a Power Bidder may spend $500 on a $100 item in one auction; if other bidders see that that the Power Bidder is willing to over-spend and go all the way, that bidder may win a future $500 auction for less than $50.

Jumper (Jumping): A bidder who comes in late on an auction in the hopes that the other bidders who have been battling are running low on bids and/or funds. The act of jumping can result in "revenge bidding" in the future from sore losers, but jumping remains a legitimate and, at times, effective strategy.

Sniper (Sniping): A bidder who bids only at the last second in the hopes of snagging an easy win.

Throttling: To bid immediately after someone else does, continuously; the throttler's name is always shown as the top/most recent bidder. This is a form of intimidation, and while it can be effective, it can also be very costly.

Stamping/Tagging: To be the first bidder to bid on an auction; in conjunction with "Tag & Defend" Strategy.

Buy It Now (BIN): An auction in which the value of all bids placed can be put towards buying the auction prize at a set price.

Imposter: A bidder who, knowingly or unknowingly, has signed up on a site under the name of a well-known or already existing bidder. Oftentimes, imposters will take a well-known Power Bidder's name in an attempt to profit off their reputation. While there are typically no rules against this, it is considered bad form, and may result in "revenge bidding". This is why you will see many bidders with the words "real" or "AKA" in front of them; however, as penny auctions become more popular, it can be almost impossible to determine whether or not a particular bidder is the "real deal".

Shill: An agent of the site bidding against real, paying customers with unpaid bids, which is fraud and theft.

Bot: A process that is programmed into some penny auction scripts for the purpose of testing, and sometimes for bidding against paying customers with unpaid bids.

Collusion: An agreement between two or more bidders to unfairly effect the outcome of an auction. For example, two bidders may agree to "respect" each others tags.

Respect: A term used to describe a way of thinking amongst bidders who believe they are entitled to win the item they've “stamped/tagged”, or if they've made a point of over-spending on auctions in the past.

Tag-Teaming: The act of two or more colluding bidders participating in an auction in the hopes that one will chase away other bidders while the other goes on to win the auction.

 

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