penny auction sites

If you have researched the penny auction industry at all you have probably noticed a great deal of controversy on whether or not these sites are legitimate or simply scamming consumers out of the money. Well, you can be assured that there are some really great penny auction sites out there that do offer great deals on amazing products. However, there are some sites that you should definitely avoid as their sole purpose is to simply make as much money as possible without any regard to the consumer. But how can you tell the difference between a legitimate site and one that should be avoided? Here are a few things you can watch for:Websites that Don't Offer the “Buy It Now” OptionThere are many websites out there that don't offer the “Buy It Now” option. This is an important feature for the consumer and you should never use a penny auction site without it. This feature protects the investment that you are making as the bidder when you bid on a certain item. In the event that you don’t win the auction item you then have the option to purchase the item at the retail price. The best part of the deal is that you get credit for the amount in bids that you spent on that item off the retail price. This way you aren’t losing the money you have already spent during the bidding process. Auto BiddingThere are some websites that have a system that allows auto bidding. This is when a computer acts as though it's a bidder. These are used to increase the amount of an item and to get bidders to pay more for the item they are bidding on. When sites us this method, they are truly not taking the bidder into consideration and are out to make as much money as possible. Of-course, you don’t have to activate the bid-o-matic feature of these sites as it is just an option. One site suggests that you use the auto-bid feature when you have to leave the room for some reason. Our suggestion is…don’t leave the room and don’t activate the auto-bid feature. PrizesYou want good quality items first and foremost. If they sell designer name brands then they need to offer an authentication for the items that they are selling. Also beware of sites that auction lots of “bid packages”.Read more about penny auction sites   If you win a bid package and then that site goes out of business you will be completely out of the money you spent on the “bid package” to begin with. Make sure that there are a variety of products to choose from as well. If they only have a couple of actual items up for bid that probably means they don’t have a very big inventory and this may represent a sign of a struggling business. At the end of the day, penny auction sites are fun and entertaining e-commerce companies. Your goal is to try to win “deals” on products. Make sure you are bidding on the best products so that when you win you are getting something that you want. Cost of BidsThe penny auction site makes money by selling their bids. If they are charging an arm and a leg for these bids that means that they are really just out for the money and don’t really care about the consumer. A good price for a bid is in the $.50-$.75 range. If you are paying more than that it is time to start looking for a new site.These are just a few of the items to pay attention to when looking for a great penny auction site. Yes, the owners of the penny auction site are there to make money. But there is a definite difference from a penny auction owner that indulges in good business practices and one who doesn’t.For more info visit penny auction sites