Why I Would or Would NOT Play

The Good, Bad & Ugly --

One Customer's Perspective

After looking at several online penny-auction sites, I looked at what I like most and least about each one.  From a customer's perspective, I asked myself two questions:

• What would most make me want to come back and play on this penny-auction site again & again?

• What would make me leave this penny-auction site and never come back?

+DealDash.com

Good

DealDash.com has so many good things going for it that it is difficult to say what I like best, but if I had to narrow it down to the three things, I would have to say:

1. Free Shipping/postage & handling

DealDash.com is the ONLY online penny-auction shopping site I found that always offers free shipping/postage & handling on all auctions won as well as on auction items that are purchased through the seven-day BIN (Buy-It-Now) option. Having no hidden costs in addition to the winning cost is a huge benefit to customers, so I would have to say this is one of the best things about DealDash that makes it stand out from all other penny-auction sites.

2. Buy-It-Now Option

DealDash.com is the ONLY penny-auction shopping site that offers a seven-day BIN, which also makes it stand out from all other penny-auction sites. Although DealDash has recently put a limit on the number of bids customers can get back (in an effort to prevent over-bidding and to keep the final cost to the winners down), I still see this as a huge benefit. Why? Because it allows customers to place a reasonable number of bids risk free. As long as a customer does not over-bid, they can buy the auction item at retail price and get alll of their bids back FREE if they do not win.

3. Bid Buddy

DealDash.com has the most user-friendly automated bidder system I found. It is easy to add bids during a live auction and it is equally easy to cancel bids if a bidder changes their mind. It is also one of the few systems where bidders are free to place as many bids as they like to win the auction.  Customers still have the option of placing bids above and beyond the number they will be able to get back if they do not win. Although customers are now notified when they go beyond the number of bids allowed to do a BIN, the site still allows the customers to make their own decision. Customers like to be in charge of their own style of bidding, so that is important.

Ideas/Suggestions for Improvement

1. Ten-Second Speed Auctions

I would like to have a choice of slow or fast auctions. Although some shoppers might like the fast-paced 10-second auctions, I personally do not like them  for three reasons:

• I do not get as much time on the clock to win my FREE bids, so it takes longer for the green line to move to the end and for me to reach the next level.
• It uses up too many bids, too quickly. I would soon be in the poor house unless I changed to bidding maybe only once a month, instead of on a more regular basis.
• It forces me to stay at my computer. To win a 10-second speed bidding auction, I would have to be glued to my computer to monitor what's happening, and I am too busy with too much to do to do that, so I would be bidding on the site less often.

I can see where the 10-second speed-bidding might be highly beneficial to DealDash because I think the average customer would be spending a lot more on bid packages. However, I already know I would have to cut back by not bidding as often.

2.  Making Auctions Easier to Win

I would like to see DealDash tighten its win limits, which I think are now more than generous. Nobody needs to win 6 items worth less than $200 and 3 items worth more than $200 per week. I think that could be restricted to maybe 4 items worth less than $200 and 1 item worth more than $200 per week.
By tightening the win limits, more customers would have a better chance to win auctions. Many times I have lost an auction to a power bidder who had already won 5 of the 6 items under $200 and 2 of the 3 items worth more than $200.
Even though I probably used to be one of those power bidders myself, tighter win limits would eliminate the power bidders from the competition sooner and make it possible for other customers to win more auctions. Granted, the reason I no longer win many auctions is partlly my fault because I am not watching the auctions closely enough (because I am too busy to stay at my computer). 
But ever since DealDash.com has gotten a lot more customers, it has been more difficult to win. However, I know that the majority of DealDash customers do win auctions, and DealDash support staff are constantly working on solutions that might make it easier for even new, inexperienced customers to win.

Beezid

Good

1. Tight Win Limits

From a customer's perspective, what I like most about Beezid are tight win limits, designated by different colored locks. The reason it is good for penny-auction sites to have tight win limits is that it gives more customers a better chance to win.

2. Price Freeze

I also liked that Beezid placed a "price freeze" on some auctions (although this was only done on a limited number of auctions). By doing this, the winner was guaranteed to win at a bargain price that never went higher than a designated amount (even though the bidding continued).  However, there might be a negative part to this. With a "price freeze" there might be no incentive for the bidding to come to an end.

3. Choice of Gift Cards

In some auctions for $25, $50 or $100 gift cards,the winner gets to choose from about 5 different ones

which gift card he/she wants.  I thought this was a very good feature.

Ideas/Suggestions for Improvement

1. High Cost of Bids

Bid Packages at Beezid are too high for my budget., especially since it is so difficult to win. Every time I played on this site, I lost a lot more than I won ... and I was never able to win anything of real value.

2. Web Site is Too Complicated/ Too busy

Beezid has way too much going on -- 3 kinds of bids, 3 kinds of auctions and 2 kinds of automated bidders. While it is good to give customers choices, I think this site over-does it. I found it to be terribly confusing to a new bidder. New bidders do not want to have to study the site to figure out how it works. They want something simple enough to just start playing. This site offers three different kinds of bids -- regular bids, promo bids and bonus bids. That in itself is pretty confusing. Beezid also has several different kinds of auctions -- Turbo auctions which are really fast, Express auctions that are not as fast as Turbo auctions and regular (slower) auctions.  They also have two kinds of auto bidders and that makes it too busy and too confusing. Having two auto bidders makes customers lose too many bids, too quickly, too.

BidCactus

Good

1. Free Bidding on Designated Bid Packages

Customers can bid FREE on designated bid packages and only pay if they win it. While bid packages are

fairly easy to win, other auctions are very difficult to win.

2. Kentucky Fried Chicken Gift Cards

BidCactus offers gift cards to KFC, one of my favorite fast-food places.

3. Gear Icon on Home Page

BidCactus has a gear icon on its home page and when that gear is moving, it means the automated bidder is in use. I think that is a good tip for new bidders who are curious enough to find out what that moving gear icon means.

Ideas/Suggestions for Improvement

1. Low Inventory

It appears that BidCactus has a low inventory of high-quality items up for auction.

2. Slow shipping

I won a pedometer several weeks ago and it took about a month to receive it.

ZBiddy

Good

1. Extremely Low-Cost Bid Packages, Free to bid on & Easy to Win

Customers can bid on bid packages free of charge and only the winner pays for the cost of the bids. It is super easy to win cheap bid packages on this site, which keeps customers in the bidding.

2. Preset "Cap Price" on Selected Auctions

ZBiddy places a pre-set "cap price" on designated auctions to guarantee the winner will get the item at a bargain price. The drawback is that after the auction reaches the "cap price," there is no incentive for the bidding to end. Some incentives to bring bidders back is the daily wheel spin for 1 to 10 free bids and "Happy Hour Fridays."

3. Health & Nutrition Products & Princess Diana Ring

ZBiddy offers some health and nutrition weight-loss products that are promoted by Dr. Oz on OWN.

This site offers rasberry keytones, green coffee bean extract and African mango. Also, an anti-aging cream. I also liked the simulated Princess Diana Ring (which I think would be a hot auction item).

Ideas/Suggestions for Improvement

1. Automated Bidder 25 bid limit should be increased

I think ZBiddy has the worst automated bidder. When an automated bidder is limited to 25 bids at a time, that is barely enough time for the customer placing bids to go to the bathroom or get a bite to eat. Therefore, bidders are stuck at their computers. It is also difficult to cancel bids. Customers have to go into their account to cancel bids. The automated bidder is NOT user-friendly.

2. High Shipping/Postage & Handling Fees
ZBiddy adds rather high shipping/postage & Handling fees. An auction won for 3 cents ended up costing me nearly $10.

Drum roll please.  After conducting an in-depth study of several penny-auction sites, I would have to say that DealDash.com is clearly the winner ... and has earned its reputation of being the most "fair and honest" penny-auction site.

Visit me here:  https://plus.google.com/111941944154930718258/about?rel=author Barbara Sellers