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What is a Penny Auction?

by auctionwatcher on May 26, 2009

Just what is a penny auction?

A penny auction is an auction where bidders pay-per-bid for an item and the time increases with each bid. The winning bidder is the bidder whoever is the last to bid when the timer counts down to 0 seconds. Not all auction websites are the same so make sure you read the rules carefully. Some auctions require you to also pay for the final amount showing for the item. For example if each bid raises the auction cost by $0.01 an auction that ends at $5.98 would mean there were 598 bids placed on that item. If the winning bidder were to place 74 bids on the item they would pay for each bid placed in addition to the final cost plus shipping.

Editor’s personal experience: I had some success with my first penny auction site. I won a few nice items at low prices, with some of my best being a Garmin GPS for $5, $50 Starbucks gift card for $0.80, a KitchenAid Mixer for $7. I have also spent more too, sometimes even over the value of the item and other times spending money and getting no items at all. These auctions can become very addictive, so be wise!

I didn’t know that there were so many penny auction websites until I did some investigating I found quite a few. Some are even auctioning off items such as cars, Michael Jackson concert tickets, gift cards, dvds, iPods, vacation packages, designer handbags, and other popular items.

Beware of shills, bots & scam auctions!

I have come across a few penny auction sites that appear to be doing business fraudulently by using shills: Penny auction employees/owners/friends that act as bidders to attract more bidders to the auction, and bid bots. A bid bot is a program that bids on many items or the same item over and over again. In order to obtain enough money to pay for the auction item so that the dishonest penny auction company makes a profit from all bidders then either releases the item to a real bidder in an effort to legitimize their penny auction site and reel more bidders in. Some auctions may even steal your money and not even ship you the item that you won.

PennyAuctionWatch.com was created with the bargain seeking, cautious bidder in mind. Feel free to share your experiences with other bidders in the forum so that others can be warned of the fraudulent penny auctions as well as the legit, safe sites.

Thanks for visiting!

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Penny Auction Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) — Penny Auction Watch
December 10, 2009 at 1:52 pm

{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }

Adolf August 14, 2009 at 12:50 am

Penny auctions are scams. The only one thing is that when they start their business allows to win a few months , the example is gozila.co.uk.

www.gozila.co.uk August 17, 2009 at 6:18 am

Adolf,

Not all penny auctions are scams. Even gozila.co.uk penny auction allows players to win. Anyway if you are not going to count your cash, you will probably became outbidden.

Anonymous September 14, 2009 at 11:50 am

This website it’s the best penny auction website you will find. With your bids you get premium information where you can see how many are bidding on a auction and how many bids remain. It’s a great genuine website and now is the time to get great bargains. Register and try the virgin auction witch are free to bid and win it’s that simple and 100% genuine. The Customer Service that users receive is fantastic you will not get service like this anywhere else. There is also a new tool where you can now chat to other people on PsychoAuction with PsychoChat and tell them which items they should not bid on because you want to win them yourselves! Also new: If you purchase more than 500 bids within 7 days and use them on an object without winning it, they give you back half of the used bids. It’s great fun and you win also great place and the best. You don’t need Mathemitcal skills you can see how many bids remain. see for yourself, i have won 24 items so far and there have been many winners.

Anonymous September 19, 2009 at 6:24 pm

just to update you i have now won 27 items, on psychoauction .com n the past week i have won a nitendo wii, LG TV and 1000 cash it’s just great.

bargains September 22, 2009 at 12:24 am

There are many people out there running scam penny auction sites. People need to have a place where they can turn to find out whether a penny auction site is legitimate or not

TJ September 25, 2009 at 5:45 pm

Far as I can tell this one is legit I won an xbox for like 10 cents had to pay the shipping I think the total was like 15-16 bucks after shipping. They acutally sent it and I got it about a week after I paid :D . Didn’t seem like many people were bidding on there either so I’m guessing it’s new or they suck at advertising. lol

TJ September 25, 2009 at 5:48 pm

P.S. the site I was talking about was http://poordaddypennyauction.com/ enjoy!

Steve November 8, 2009 at 2:12 pm

Landofsavings.com is nothing short of a scam, you have to wait for months
to get your winnings. Poor customer service, their bids are worth nothing cos
they give it out for free to prolong the auction.
If you don’t mind waiting for months for your winning
or if you wona spend days bidding, then this is the site for you.
They might have been good sometime back but I am talking about now.
Hope this review help others. In case you wona sign up with them raise issues with them first.
Good luck

Manchester November 13, 2009 at 4:24 pm

One of the penny auctions that I think is legit is http://www.bids4penny.com
I found them over 2 months ago and I won an item (PDA cell phone) on my first attempt for only £5.98 and I’ve paid £16 for the postage and I received my item within 8 days. since then I won so many items. I am planning to go for the ford KA that will start in future. they also have one of the best customer service. you will also get 10 free bids for each referral that you refer!
if you want to register on http://www.bids4penny.com then contact me and I will give you my referral link so we both get 10 free bids as well…

craig November 26, 2009 at 5:31 pm

I have to agree with Physco auctions, very good site, i have won £200 and 2 game systems, Landofsavings.com is also a very good site, delivery is slower (I waited 4 weeks and 2 weeks) but did win a lot of good items, £300 in cash, tesco gift card and a 50″ tv. Stay away from froggybids.co.uk this one is a rip off.

ladygaga December 10, 2009 at 5:48 pm

I have been using http://www.ReetBid.com which is a UK based for 2 months now and I think is the most legit penny auction in the UK and I recommend it to all the users out there.

Bidfella January 1, 2010 at 4:18 pm

Scam sites are out there but many of penny auctions are still legit businesses. Try out Bidfella – we work hard to offer big wins and pleasant user experience.

Not Saying January 23, 2010 at 12:01 pm

Manchester (aka Manchester Boy) promotes the Bids4Penny.com website anywhere he can.
Having bid on this site – I am convinced it is a scam – it definitely uses bidbots and/or shill bidders.
It sometimes auctions cars but you can never find any publicity about the prize giveaway – doesn’t that seem a bit strange?
When Madbid.com auction off a car they publicise it everywhere, well you would wouldn’t you – if there was a genuine prize!

Vizion Quest February 7, 2010 at 4:44 pm

Here’s a list of some of the top penny auction sites and a comparison chart that addresses the differences in features and benefits of them. You can filter, sort and compared pricing, bid costs, shipping, and whether or not they offer credit towards lost bids:

http://tomuse.com/penny-auctions-entertainment-sites-review-compare

Susan March 3, 2010 at 11:52 am

The first charity penny auction site http://www.Bid2battle.com

There are not so many players like at swoopo or Bidrivals so you have more chance of winning great products. You don’t have to be battling with 20000 other players and they donate 25% of their profit to charity. Check it out and you will thank me later …

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