Fair Play Is A Two-Way Street

While bidders expect site owners to abide by their Terms & Conditions and Rules, and by the general ethics of a business owner, site owners also expect bidders to abide by the Rules of Fair Play. These rules include, but are not limited to:

• The use of hardware and/or software that gives the bidder an unfair advantage over his competitors is strictly prohibited, and is against the Terms & Conditions of almost every penny auction site. Third-party hardware and/or software is frowned upon in the penny auction community, and if a bidder is found to be using such a program, it will result in a permanent ban, and the bidder may not receive a refund or any prior won, undelivered items.
  
  
• Collusion and Team Bidding do not mix well with penny auctions. Collusion is defined as a "secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, esp. in order to cheat or deceive others." Team Bidding is defined as "an agreement between two or more bidders to unfairly effect the outcome of an auction." This could include an agreement to "respect" each other, or to chase off other bidders until the other team bidder wins. If bidders are found to be engaging in Collusion or Team Bidding, they could be permanently banned from the penny auction site, and they may not receive a refund of unused bids or any prior won, undelivered items.  Penny auction owners are in communication with each other, and a bidders' unscrupulous actions could result in further bans from other penny auction sites.
  
  
• If you encounter a glitch in an auction, stop bidding and report it immediately. Many bidders record their auctions to account for any glitches that may occur, but some websites strictly prohibit this because this software can consume resources and cause glitches in the auction. Be sure to check the Terms & Conditions; if they prohibit recording software, you can record your auctions with a smart phone or any other "old-fashioned" recording device. If a reported glitch is determined to be on the side of the penny auction site, the site typically will invalidate the auction and refund all placed bids to the participating bidders. However, there are issues that can't be determined to be the fault of the penny auction site; in this case, the auction may be voided and bids not refunded.
  
  
• Bullying other bidders is not acceptable. Cyber-bullying can be as simple as continuing to send e-mails to someone who has said they want no further contact with the sender, but it may also include threats, sexual remarks, pejorative labels (i.e., hate speech), ganging up on victims by making them the subject of ridicule in forums, and posting false statements as fact aimed at humiliation. If you are the victim of a cyber-bully from a particular site, do not respond; instead, report him or her to the site owner immediately. If you are found to be a cyber-bully, you will likely be permanently banned from the penny auction site, and could be subject to further bans from other industry venues, including forums.
  
  All 50 states have laws that explicitly address electronic forms of electronic forms of communication within more traditional stalking or harassment laws. For more information, click: National Conference of State Legislatures.

• The penny auction industry is a very competitive industry, and with competition comes the desire to try and intimidate your competitors. While intimidation can take the form of harmless comments such as, "You just try and beat me!", we are more concerned about intimidation that borders on collusion and/or bullying. This can include remarks like, "If this bidder beats me, they're on my hit list!" or "I have 1,000 bids in my Bid Butler and I'll blow you away!" A little friendly "trash talk" is acceptable, but when it crosses the line, it's intimidation, and it's not acceptable.

Penny auctions are meant to be fun and exciting;
when Fair Play is not utilized by all involved,
it stops being fun and everyone loses.
Take it light!