Penny Auction Interviews

Have you bid on BidPennyDeal.com?

BidPennyDeal officially launched on June 15th and offers penny auctions for gift cards, iPods, gaming consoles, iPads and other consumer electronics. We recently interviewed BidPennyDeal´s owner to find out more about their site.

PennyAuctionWatch: What got you interested in the penny auction industry
and launching BidPennyDeal?

BidPennyDeal: Some friends and I started out as bidders and found that some sites were using underhanded tactics to take advantage of their users. So from the start, we were interested in having a site that could be trusted and where people would feel safe. That’s why the transparency was such a big factor for us.  We wanted our people to know what is happening on the site and how it will affect them.

 Penny Auction Watch: Have you run across any challenges so far?

BidPennyDeal: Lots! Like any site, there were technical glitches – some errors in the logic of the program itself, some issues with dissatisfied customers as a result of those glitches, and we really didn’t pick the ideal season for a launch. We’ve gotten the technical wrinkles worked out now, and we’re really very pleased with the way out customer service department has stepped up to the plate to build relationships with our users. Things have worked out nicely, and we feel like we’re definitely on the right path.

PennyAuctionWatch: Tell us about the bidding process on your site. Do you have any
reserves? What are your bid costs?

BidPennyDeal: Like many sites, we have a variety of auction structures: a standard open bidding against a countdown timer; a Beginner level, which is limited to new bidders, to give them a more level playing field; auctions in which Bid Buddy use is not allowed; and occasionally, a special structure, usually when we want to test an idea to see how well it will be accepted.

No reserves at this time, no.

Bids are currently $0.75 each, and we offer them in various sizes of bid packs.

PennyAuctionWatch: What is your policy for bid refunds on unused bids?

BidPennyDeal: All paid bids are fully refundable at any time. We can’t do that with bid packs that were won in an auction, for obvious reasons, however. It would be virtually impossible to track their cost.

PennyAuctionWatch: How many seconds does the timer increase with each bid?

BidPennyDeal: First at 20 seconds, and then 15, 10 and 5, as the auction proceeds.

PennyAuctionWatch:What type of items do you sell?

BidPennyDeal: Primarily gift cards and electronics.  Occasionally, though, we’ll toss something else into the mix, either because of a specific suggestion from our members, or just to test the waters.

PennyAuctionWatch: Is there a story behind the BidPennyDeal name?

BidPennyDeal: Not really a story, no. We just tried to come up with a name that would be easy to remember and contained some keywords for the search engines to sink their teeth into. As you know, there are a LOT of penny auction sites, both active and defunct, so the name is important.

Thanks! Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your penny auction? 

BidPennyDeal: We’ve had our developers working long hours for a few weeks on a major innovation in auction style. We realized that just being fun and getting a good deal on an item wasn’t going to be enough to keep every bidder coming back, or to get them to recommend BPD to their friends. We needed to give them something more.

We came up with what we feel is a perfect solution to achieve that, and it’s taking a lot of work to prepare and test it thoroughly. We’re now very close to unveiling it, and we’re really excited about it. We think our members will be too! It’s going to give back to those that have given us so much, in ways that we believe will make Bid Penny Deal one of the most popular penny auction sites around.

Sorry, I really can’t reveal much more today. Let’s just say that our current model, which lets a losing bidder use their expended bids on a But-It-Now, has been a pretty popular feature on our site and many others. But this new auction style we’re about to reveal will dwarf that in popularity. We fully expect our growth to skyrocket in a matter of days when we announce it.

Have questions and want to learn more? Bid on BidPennyDeal.com and want to share your experiences? Join our penny auction forum and post your penny auction reviews!

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