My name is James McVann and I have achieved a high level of success on penny auction sites. I am a data analyst, and a programmer with degrees in business and marketing. I have analyzed, scrutinized, scouted, tested and contacted almost all of the sites out there in order to implement my strategy effectively, not just on one specific site, but on as many as it took to maximize my success rate. I have now been consulting for various sites and I am working on a book about the peaks and valleys of bidding online entitled “The Art of Bidding Warfare”. Listed below are some of my top strategies that will also be found in the book, due out next year.

“The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.”
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

Of all of the auction sites available online, you must select the one that suits a certain criteria. You are looking for a legitimate site that you know will honour your wins, has a decent amount of auctions, has features that give you an edge, has product quality and is easy to use. You must investigate at least three sites at a time, comparing various details on each. First, watch the site. Spend a few hours a day watching how the auctions work. Look for a site that is deep, meaning they have many pages on how to use the site, terms and conditions, as well as a lot of features. You can tell the quality of the site by their design, commitment to guiding their users, functions that work properly, types of products in auction, promotional offers and most importantly, what information they capture from your in registration. This is very important because a legitimate site will have a two step process, validation codes, they’ll make you enter your information twice, etc. A site that has a short one step registration is looking to capture your data or they are not equipped to run a business that will cater to your needs. Find a toll free number, location, etc. Call the toll free number and ask some silly questions. If you can reach someone and there is a level of professionalism that can be expected from a large corporation, then you’re in business. It also doesn’t hurt to check their traffic rankings on Alexa. This will give you an idea on how the site handles traffic, their history, etc. I also like to look at how a site advertises; there are many that advertise online, but only one that also advertises on TV and Radio that I’ve seen, and that is Beezid.com. I highly suggest applying the methods herein to Beezid.com, however whichever site you are comfortable with is fine as long as you apply these strategies. Recently, I have almost moved exclusively to Beezid because I have their rhythm down pat. I suggest you begin with Beezid.com as the techniques I am focused on currently are best applied to that site.

Before you register, you have to realize that these companies spend a lot of money to make you their client. Now, if you have determined that the site meets your criteria, you need to do two things; Search online for bonus codes. Some companies leak bonus codes, and some codes just get out. Once you have your bonus code, the next thing you do is call the company. Tell them that you have a bonus code and you want to verify that it is the best one. Tell them that you are going to buy the largest bid pack and you want the best deal. They’ll take care of you. If they don’t, ask for a supervisor. Beezid is extremely loose with bonuses and loading your account with free bids and bonus bids, just annoy them with phone calls!

Now you are registered and it’s time to load up. Some sites have a flat rate of their CPB (cost per bid), while others have a descending scale based on volume. For your first purchase, people would recommend that you buy a small bid package and sniff around. BAD ADVICE! There is no point in going into a gun fight with one loaded gun and no additional ammo. You have already done your homework, so purchase the largest bid package and use the promo from the customer service people. Once you purchase that bid package, call beezid customer support back and tell them that you’re ready to go, but you want them to do better based on your purchase. This might not work, but try, you might at the very least get bonus bids (I’ll explain how that works later on).

Now it’s time to get familiar with the features of the site. The tools that you are going to use, or at least know they are being used by others and gain that edge that you need to be a winner. Cruise through the site and find the site’s ‘autobid’ function. Almost every site has one. Read up on how it works, limitations of usage, auction types where they apply and additional features that go along with it. Beezid.com has one, it’s called the autobeezid and they have some explanation in their video tutorial, but the text version in the help section really spells it out. Beezid also has a sniper tool. This is extremely useful in the event you don’t meet your target range and beezid is the only site that has this. Make sure you maximize the sniper when using your autobeezid and you will undoubtedly exhaust the competition and be much closer to achieving the level of success that you are looking for. Remember; it is extremely important to load up a large amount of bids in the autobeezid as well as knowing the price range your item usually goes for in auction. Do this by searching your item and close times on its auction.

Beezid is one of the sites that has a vast array of popular products, however in order to maintain a high level of success, you must focus on the following auctions before going after what you really want; Bid For Free auctions and Bidpacks. The Bid For Free auctions are usually bidpacks of 100 and 50 bids. It doesn’t cost you a single bid to get involved in these and you will average down your CPB to 50 cents and under. Beezid has these on full rotation, so they are readily available. Don’t start bidding on these until they hit about 50% of the retail listed. Otherwise you are wasting your time. Regular bidpack auctions. Beezid also has these on rotation and are usually a 200 bidpack. These auctions generally close around $10 depending on the time of day. Once you are familiar with which times equal what deals, you will know when to bid on these. For example; after 3am, they’ll close out for about $5 or $6, but during peak hours you can expect to see them close for $15 or more. Knowing this will allow you to come in at the tail end and not blow you budget. Once you have been successful at these auction types, your next step is to try out a gift card or any product under $100. It is imperative that you perfect these steps before going after that 50” LCD, or you will get crushed.

I have analyzed Beezid’s strategies and added my comments. Please see the tips page for this very important information.

Applying all of these tips will ensure that you come out with spending less and getting more, and after all, that’s what it’s all about. Auction sites are still relatively new on the internet so now is the time to take advantage of these sites, their deals and to squeeze out the highest possible amount of claimed wins! Now that you’ve been armed with the knowledge required, I wish you all the success in the world!

James McVann is an entrepreneur, data analyst and author. Look for his new book entitled “The Art Of Biddding Warfare” due out in late 2010. The book contains all the winning strategies on bidding online, as well as background information on the popular auction websites and secrets they don’t want you to know.

For an advance copy by notification, enter your email address in the field below.