Since dropping out of Beezid a month ago, I have received 4 phone calls from their Telemarketing department promising to help me win "The Big Items." I thought this was interesting, so I spoke with the first two telemarketers that called me (from Canada, incidentally).
The first caller told me she had observed that I hadn't won any big items and that she would like to teach me how to do it. The first thing I had to do was log in and buy $550 worth of bids and she would triple my bids. (AS IF I WOULD SPEND $550!) Tripling my bids on Beezid really means doubling them plus 1/5. This is not really a deal, since you can buy bids on the auction site for less than .13 a bid. I know, because I never spent more than .15 a bid on Beezid after the first bid package when joining. I pointed out to her that .30 a bid (the average price of this deal), was still much too high a price to pay for bids. She said that unless I had a stockpile of bids, like the Pros had, I would never win a big item. I said I didn't want to win a big item, I merely wanted to win $25 - $100 gift cards in a fair auction where maniacs and lunatics are not spoiling the auction by overbidding by 200 and 300 bids the value of the item.
She told me that bidders overbid to demonstrate their power and make a name for themselves so that they can then win auctions in the future much cheaper by merely intimidation. I said that was silly and counterproductive, since when I checked www.allpennyauctions.com for these maniacs' names, they, in fact, were overspending on nearly every auction. The whole point of penny auctions, I pointed out, was to win things cheap, not overspend on them. She said that Pros pay much less for bids than average people, and I said not according to my research, or according to the final auction results where Beezid shows how much the bids cost the bidder and what he/she actually spent.
There may be some Pros paying .10 a bid at Beezid, but most are spending .15 - .20 a bid and they are not making any money by power bidding an auction. Most recently, a bidder named "turkeyboy" overbid 50% on three separate auctions - a $25 gift card, a set of towels and a set of sheets. He could have bought all three products from Target for less than he spent on one auction. It makes no sense.
The telemarketer realized I was not an easy mark and let me go. The second telemarketer tried the same ploy on me, and when he realized I wasn't an idiot, but rather a disillusioned and disgusted normal bidder, he encouraged me to give Beezid another chance. I said I certainly would, thank you very much (not)! The next few calls I recognized from Beezid I let roll into voice mail.
Showing posts with label Beezid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beezid. Show all posts
April 20, 2013
March 27, 2013
Beezid For The Insane
As I suspected at the end of my book, reviews or analysis of penny auction sites could be old news after only a few weeks, and Beezid is a perfect example. A few months ago when I joined Beezid, it was fairly competitive but not full of people willing to bid 2, 3, 4 times worth the cost of the auction. I won a few auctions early, and then when people were busy with shiny objects, I won a nice auction with 2 bids.
This past month every time, no matter what time, I join a modest 25/25 auction ($25 gift card/25 promo bids), which is worth maybe $40 at most (given you only spend .16 a bid average at Beezid), half a dozen power bidders (or irrational bidders) join the fray, bid the price up to $3.50 in a heartbeat (which represents over 50 bids each, already past my limit), and then proceed to bid war each person as though we're in a fight for the death in Thunderdome.
Finally, they let some idiot win after 200, 300, 400 bids, which cost him 2-3 more than the price of the card, plus the final auction price which is, by now, over $6, plus the delivery charge, which is $4.
Insane. This happens every day, all day, with people who would rather win than save money and who are chasing off all the people who just want to get a good deal and adhere to Rule #1: TGIF (To Get It Free!)
This is akin to a bad poker player trying to buy the pot when he has a bad hand. Stupid, irrational, economically a loser, and pointless.
I cancelled my membership at Beezid. It's not worth a single second of my time anymore.
This past month every time, no matter what time, I join a modest 25/25 auction ($25 gift card/25 promo bids), which is worth maybe $40 at most (given you only spend .16 a bid average at Beezid), half a dozen power bidders (or irrational bidders) join the fray, bid the price up to $3.50 in a heartbeat (which represents over 50 bids each, already past my limit), and then proceed to bid war each person as though we're in a fight for the death in Thunderdome.
Finally, they let some idiot win after 200, 300, 400 bids, which cost him 2-3 more than the price of the card, plus the final auction price which is, by now, over $6, plus the delivery charge, which is $4.
Insane. This happens every day, all day, with people who would rather win than save money and who are chasing off all the people who just want to get a good deal and adhere to Rule #1: TGIF (To Get It Free!)
This is akin to a bad poker player trying to buy the pot when he has a bad hand. Stupid, irrational, economically a loser, and pointless.
I cancelled my membership at Beezid. It's not worth a single second of my time anymore.
March 23, 2013
Voucher Bid Vampires - Quibids
Lately, I have changed my strategy of bidding only on items I would already buy or can use as business gifts to accumulating as many bids as cheaply as possible. In my book I mention how to buy up bids on Beezid during low-traffic times when you aren't desperate for bids and can wait for the right price. I've gotten 50 and 150 bid packs on Beezid for as low as .08 a bid when nobody was paying attention.
With Quibids, it's a little different. If it's a slow time, there are far fewer auctions in which to participate, so there is more competition. It's best to wait for a higher activity level when you can bid on Voucher bid auctions while more interesting items are on the board (iPads, TVs, etc.) You should accumulate Voucher bids at first by winning them with paid bids. Then, once you have 25-50 Voucher bids, you should only use those to accumulate more Voucher bids.
Be advised that if you are bidding on a hybrid Voucher bid auction where a Game Play is involved, you are going to compete with a dozen people who are playing with mostly Voucher bids and are willing to blow most of them to win a game play where they can win 30-100 more.
Also, beware of the Voucher bid Vampires! When you are observing a Voucher bid auction, hover your mouse over the bidders as they appear on the bid board. If they have won 25 - 50 Voucher bids in a recent auction, you know they are willing to spend up to half of them (or more, if there's a Game Play involved) to win. You have to decide if you want to go against someone who can spend 15 bids to win 25. Not me. You have to accumulate a lot more Voucher bids to compete against them. Start small with new players or bidders who waste all their bids early. Some bidders don't realize they can't spend more real bids on an auction than the item is worth (unlike in Beezid, where insane people spend 2-3 times the value of the item just to win); so you will wind up having to BIN an auction unless you are using Voucher bids. I would not spend more than 1/3 my Voucher bids winning more Voucher bids, but I am cheap like that.
I watch Voucher bid auctions, wait for the price to go to an average level, bid using Voucher bids as late as possible, and never go up against people with 50 - 100 Voucher bids to spend. Your goal should be to accumulate as many bids as possible during opportune times (Saturday & Sunday afternoons between 2 - 5, weekdays between 2-4 pm EDT, and very late if you're a night owl between 3-5 am EDT).
With Quibids, it's a little different. If it's a slow time, there are far fewer auctions in which to participate, so there is more competition. It's best to wait for a higher activity level when you can bid on Voucher bid auctions while more interesting items are on the board (iPads, TVs, etc.) You should accumulate Voucher bids at first by winning them with paid bids. Then, once you have 25-50 Voucher bids, you should only use those to accumulate more Voucher bids.
Be advised that if you are bidding on a hybrid Voucher bid auction where a Game Play is involved, you are going to compete with a dozen people who are playing with mostly Voucher bids and are willing to blow most of them to win a game play where they can win 30-100 more.
Also, beware of the Voucher bid Vampires! When you are observing a Voucher bid auction, hover your mouse over the bidders as they appear on the bid board. If they have won 25 - 50 Voucher bids in a recent auction, you know they are willing to spend up to half of them (or more, if there's a Game Play involved) to win. You have to decide if you want to go against someone who can spend 15 bids to win 25. Not me. You have to accumulate a lot more Voucher bids to compete against them. Start small with new players or bidders who waste all their bids early. Some bidders don't realize they can't spend more real bids on an auction than the item is worth (unlike in Beezid, where insane people spend 2-3 times the value of the item just to win); so you will wind up having to BIN an auction unless you are using Voucher bids. I would not spend more than 1/3 my Voucher bids winning more Voucher bids, but I am cheap like that.
I watch Voucher bid auctions, wait for the price to go to an average level, bid using Voucher bids as late as possible, and never go up against people with 50 - 100 Voucher bids to spend. Your goal should be to accumulate as many bids as possible during opportune times (Saturday & Sunday afternoons between 2 - 5, weekdays between 2-4 pm EDT, and very late if you're a night owl between 3-5 am EDT).
March 16, 2013
Rule #1: TGIF - Get Your Bids Cheap
In an effort to adhere to Rule #1 of Penny Wise, Penny Foolish, the lower the cost of your bids, the higher profit you make on your winnings.After your first promotional bonus when joining a site, you'll have to buy bid packs at "promo" rates or win them in auctions. The cheapest way to buy bids is to win them, but that requires spending bids to do it. You'll have to use the formula to determine how many bids you can afford to spend to win more bids. (No more than 1/3).
The next cheapest and easier method is to bid on "Free To Bid" auctions on Beezid or HappyBidDay and pay .06 - .16 per bid, at most. On Beezid, there are constant free auctions on packs of bids ranging from 50, 150, 80, 250, etc. The amounts are somewhat random, so you must do the math ahead of time. Make a list of bid quantities offered and determine your absolute maximum price for that pack. For example, a 50-bid pack on Beezid frequently sells for $8.80 to $9, which is about .17 per bid. My goal is to pay less than $8 for that pack, and I won't bid above that. If someone else wants to pay more, let them. You don't get into bid wars over bid packs. I won't pay more than $10 for a 75 pack, and my goal is to always get it cheaper. I don't focus on buying bid packs, but look for deals and stock up if I can snag them cheaply. It's like buying boxes of cereal on sale. You know you'll use it and enjoy not paying $4 a box for it!
Set a max price based on .14/bid or thereabouts for Beezid. No reason to spend more. Don't be in a hurry, just watch for opportunities to snag bids cheaply. Whatever you do, don't buy any of their promotional packs where they offer 300% bids. Remember, promo bids expire after a week, and bonus bids only count 1:5, in other words, they only apply for every 5 real bids you spend. Even factoring in the 1:5 bonus bids into the value, a typical bid package: 100 bids @ $70 plus, 100 promo bids and 100 bonus bids (worth 20 bids). If you use up these bids in a week's time (220 bids), they cost you .31 each. You can buy bids much cheaper either in auctions, by winning free bids in a hybrid auction, or bidding for them at a max price of .14 - .16. There are plenty of opportunities for that.
Don't get sucked into a "promo" deal. It's not a deal.
The next cheapest and easier method is to bid on "Free To Bid" auctions on Beezid or HappyBidDay and pay .06 - .16 per bid, at most. On Beezid, there are constant free auctions on packs of bids ranging from 50, 150, 80, 250, etc. The amounts are somewhat random, so you must do the math ahead of time. Make a list of bid quantities offered and determine your absolute maximum price for that pack. For example, a 50-bid pack on Beezid frequently sells for $8.80 to $9, which is about .17 per bid. My goal is to pay less than $8 for that pack, and I won't bid above that. If someone else wants to pay more, let them. You don't get into bid wars over bid packs. I won't pay more than $10 for a 75 pack, and my goal is to always get it cheaper. I don't focus on buying bid packs, but look for deals and stock up if I can snag them cheaply. It's like buying boxes of cereal on sale. You know you'll use it and enjoy not paying $4 a box for it!
Set a max price based on .14/bid or thereabouts for Beezid. No reason to spend more. Don't be in a hurry, just watch for opportunities to snag bids cheaply. Whatever you do, don't buy any of their promotional packs where they offer 300% bids. Remember, promo bids expire after a week, and bonus bids only count 1:5, in other words, they only apply for every 5 real bids you spend. Even factoring in the 1:5 bonus bids into the value, a typical bid package: 100 bids @ $70 plus, 100 promo bids and 100 bonus bids (worth 20 bids). If you use up these bids in a week's time (220 bids), they cost you .31 each. You can buy bids much cheaper either in auctions, by winning free bids in a hybrid auction, or bidding for them at a max price of .14 - .16. There are plenty of opportunities for that.
Don't get sucked into a "promo" deal. It's not a deal.
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