Several months ago, Debbie posted about where penny auction sites get their products. Since we’ve got quite a few new members since then, I thought I’d address the question again.

First, I think the vast majority of sites offer new products, not used or “seconds”. That would be fraud in most areas, if not clearly identified as such. But where do they get those products?

Most, BPD included, start out by purchasing at some retail outlet, like Best Buy or CostCo. Their prices are among the lowest and all their goods come in the original manufacturer’s packaging, with the warranties intact.

There are a few PA sites that inventory very little, perhaps even just one of each item. Then, when they sell several, they have to run out and buy more, which adds time to the shipment date. Bid Penny Deal never does that – we only offer items that we have already purchased and have in our stock.

Spending tens of thousands of dollars on inventory means having a lot of money tied up, that will trickle back in over weeks or months, as items are auctioned off. But it’s also a sign that the owners take their business seriously. We know that quick shipments are important to our credibility. Besides, the idea of selling something we don’t have yet just seems dishonest to us. It certainly doesn’t fit our model of being transparent.

It’s very difficult, of course, to know beforehand if a PA site actually already possesses the item you’re bidding on (or buying in a BIN). The best indicator is probably comments of past bidders… if it took them three weeks to receive an item, that may be a flag telling you that the item wasn’t in their possession when it was sold.

The same is true of the quality and authenticity of items. Previous auction winners will quickly announce to the world on several PA forums that the “Somy” big screen they received was a cheap knock-off. It seems to me that such tricks would bury a business very quickly (and it should).

So before you buy bids on a new site, it’s a good idea to investigate as much as possible, and then proceed with caution. I wouldn’t go buy 1000 bids on any site that just opened their doors yesterday. Start small, let trust build and proceed accordingly.

At BPD, our Guarantee clearly states that we offer only new, authentic products and that we’ll refund the full purchase price if you’re not satisfied that you got what you were promised. We feel that’s only fair.

The third side of the BPD triangle, of course, is (say it with me, folks) FUN! We try to make sure that the site and our auctions are fun for everyone. We do that partly by offering contests and prizes, but also by making things easy to find, understand and implement. That way, you can concentrate on enjoying the bidding game, rather than wondering how to buy bids or turn on your Bid Buddy.

So anytime you have a question or suggestion about how to find or use anything on our site, please let us know, at [email protected]. You’ve come up with some great ideas before, and we know you have more!

The BPD Team

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I think I strained my “I WANT that” muscle last night, bidding on an iPhone on a penny auction site. I spent my whole week’s allowance on beefing up my account with lots and lots of bids… more than I figured I’d need, since there were four other bidders in the auction.

Then two of the bidders decided to go toe-to-toe, and wouldn’t you know it… I got sucked in!

Long story short, I now have zero bids left in that account, and I got to watch someone else walk away with MY iPhone, only ten minutes after I ran out! WAAAAAAHHHH!

Before you ask, no. It. Wasn’t. A. BIN. Auction.

Which is probably just as well… I deserve to be punished! Maybe.

The sad part is, before I started, I told myself that this time, I needed to follow my own advice! I watched the other bidders a while (already “knew” them from other auctions), looked up the retail price and previous winning bids, stocked up on bids (LOTS of bids!) and only then, I made my first bid.

The lesson?

You win a few… you lose a few. Words to live by!

Anyway, having shot my wad for the week, I’m now bid-broke until the weekend. I don’t want to mess up my budget, because I’m pretty sure my landlord wouldn’t understand that the late rent wasn’t my fault, but rather some unknown bidder in Florida.

So this time, I think I did things right, for the most part, but I still lost. That’s part of the game, though. At least, if I did anything wrong, I don’t know what it was.  If any of you have any ideas, please… share them with me.

My severely strained I-Want-That muscle will thank you, as will I.

The BPD Team

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Monday wasn’t always my favorite day of the week, but then, I didn’t always work at Bid Penny Deal! Let me tell you, if you’re in a job where you hate Mondays (like a LOT of people are), then you’re in the wrong job!

Think about it… we spend roughly a third of our day sleeping, and a third of our day at work. Doesn’t it make sense that we shouldn’t spend nearly a third of our life doing something that we don’t thoroughly enjoy? I did that for years… believe me, loving your job is much better!

The last third of my day… the “free” time (when I’m not cleaning, cooking, doing my laundry or some other chore), I like to spend doing things I enjoy. It dawned on me recently that there’s a lot of similarity in what I do at work and in my leisure time.

For instance, I enjoy reading about things like business practices, customer service and marketing, which help give me a different perspective on my job. And of course, if you haven’t already guessed, I enjoy bidding on penny auction sites.

And in the little bit of extra free time I have, I enjoy playing with the cool things I’ve picked up on some of those PA sites!

I also enjoy following some the banter between PA enthusiasts on the forums that have been mentioned her. There are some cool people out there, with a really wicked sense of humor (which is what makes it so much fun).

But on Monday mornings, I honestly find myself looking forward to getting here, so I can see the comments on the blog, see who-won-what over the weekend and check out the items coming up for auction during the week. And I make it a personal rule to never plan my Monday blog post ahead of time. (Seriously! Go back through the blog, and you’ll see it’s true!) I just kind of “go with the flow” and talk about whatever came to mind over the weekend.

Like this, for example… did I mention that I’ll be slaving over a hot stove, trying to corral hyperactive kids and washing dishes like a galley slave from Wednesday through Sunday? Let me tell you, NEXT Monday is one I’ll really be looking forward to!

In fact, I’m already wishing it was here.

See you ‘round the auction block!
The BPD Team

P.S. Keep those comments coming, everyone. Any of you guys in the US have big Thanksgiving plans? If not, maybe you’d like to stop by my place… feels like everyone else is!

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Wow! What a short weekend this is turning out to be! I spent most of yesterday shopping, as we have family coming in for a big get-together, from both sides of the border. Of course, we already celebrated our Thanksgiving last month here, but since nobody down south could get away to join us, we decided to do it again!

Most are family, but five of them are old family friends from Michigan. They say they like to come up here to warm up.

Anyway, I’m going to be cooking a few dishes ahead of time, so things will be ready to just finish up on Thursday, with lots of time to visit and catch up. We haven’t all gotten together for four years, so it should be fun. And challenging!

My aunt already told me that she wants me to show her how to use penny auctions. I told her about some of the nifty items I’ve picked up for a song, and she wants some of that! So some lucky PA community is about to have a new member. I really ought to warn them, though… she is super competitive! None of us will play Monopoly with her anymore… it can get ugly!

My guess is, she’ll be a well-known power bidder in no time at all.

I wish I could bring her into the BPD community, but I decided that wouldn’t be a good idea… better to steer her elsewhere, and avoid any questions of impropriety. So if anyone would like to suggest any PA sites where newbie bidders are welcomed and get a fair shake, I’d appreciate it.

I will, though, be showing her the BPD site and blog, so she can see how a penny auction site and community should shape up! Why not? We’re all mighty proud of BPD and it’s community of members. It’s growing every day, and is quickly developing into a solid community.

So, in addition to cooking up a storm most of next week (18 people through Sunday!), I’ll also be playing tutor to a newbie to the penny auction scene, trying to keep five rambunctious kids from demolishing the house or terrorizing the dogs and unless I miss my guess… washing a LOT of dishes!

Looks like I won’t be doing a lot of PA bidding this week! But I will be checking in here every day and responding to your comments. So keep ‘em coming, everybody. Remember, our incentive program is still active, and one approved comment per day will bring you two free bids!

More than one will NOT be turned down, though.

The BPD Team

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