Top 3 Traits Of A Successful Bidder
Before we talk about what makes certain bidders successful, let’s define “success” as it pertains to penny auctions.
If you define “success” as simply winning auctions, here’s something to think about. Say you “win” a $10 gift card for $3.50 and you spend 50 bids in the process. Was this a “successful” auction? I would say the answer depends on what your 50 bids cost you. If those bids cost you 15 cents each, you just spent $11.00 to “win” $10.00. Some would call that “success”. I don’t.
For the sake of this article, we’re going to define “success” not only as winning auctions for less than retail, but doing so consistently. The successful bidders are the ones with a positive return on investment.
So, what is it that sets successful bidders apart from the rest?
Patience
In “Patience, Patience, Patience” we talked specifically about patience during the bidding process, but there are countless other ways patience is important. Here are just a few:
- Waiting to buy bids when they are on sale
- Waiting until you have enough bids in reserve before bidding (keeps us from needing to buy bids when they are not on sale)
- Waiting for the best time of day to bid
- Waiting for the best auction that isn’t full of overbidders
- Waiting for DealDash to run promotions (free auctions, 5X time as highest bidder, $.20 buy it now on bid packs, etc.)
- Waiting until later in the week (after many have reached their limit) to bid
Discipline
Having discipline is a lot like having patience. While having patience usually results in us “spending” less of our money, having discipline will result in us “losing” less of the money we’ve already spent on bids. Here’s what I mean. The more disciplined we become, the more likely we will be to:
- Not get emotional while bidding which leads to stomping, overbidding and all sorts of other bad behaviors
- Have more realistic expectations which keeps us from bidding on every item we see
- Set reasonable limits on what we’re willing to spend and sticking to our limits which keeps us from wasting bids
Education
Finally, the successful bidder is educated. Many people approach penny auctions strictly as entertainment, much like gambling in a casino. This is fine as long as they’re willing to accept the same odds of winning as they’d get from a typical casino. I can assure you that successful bidders are not willing to accept those odds. Yes, there is certainly an element of chance involved in every auction, but there are also many things we can learn to greatly increase our chances of winning. Do you think it would help if you knew:
- How many bids the other bidders have placed in an auction?
- The average number of bids other bidders have used in past auctions?
- The win/loss percentage of the other bidders?
- Whether or not a bidder has recently won a large number of bids?
- The average as well as historical selling price of an item up for auction?
- The best time of day to bid?
- The best day of the week to bid?
I think you’ll agree these are all valuable pieces of information that would greatly contribute to more successful bidding. All of this information and more is available to members of AllPennyAuctions.com. If you’ve never visited this site, I suggest you check it out.
We’ve talked about the value of patience, discipline, and education. Put these three things together and you’ve got a winning combination that’s sure to make you a more successful bidder.
I’ve said this before, but I believe it’s worth repeating. Most of the mistakes people make end up costing everyone in the long run. If all of us would learn to bid more responsibly, we’d see a lot less bids being spent foolishly, resulting in bigger savings for everyone. So, go have some fun, but please bid responsibly!
