Discuss PickleBid.com - User Reviews & Experiences

[boredncrazy]

BoredNCrazy - Nice battle yesterday we had on the xbox game, not exactly the outcome I wanted, but it was funny once we were both on that site finally at the same time and let the bids fly. What's crazy is it was cheaper to use the BIN option instead of winning that auction after our early battle...go figure. I've seen you on a few sites I've been trying out lately, I usually respect and root for PAW members on the sites I play and hopefully you will do the same moving forward....

See you around

Wcjoker

yes that was a battle we had going
I see you are on another site I bid on
we must like the same things
good luck

[Chocolate]

Hi, guys:

Did you change your win limits. I see that it still says the following in your FAQs:

You may win (1) one auction per 24 hour period.
You may win (5) five auctions per 7 day period.
You may win (12) twelve auctions per 30 day period.


But, my win limits meter says differently: 1 per day, 4 per week, 12 per month.


Thanks,
C

[picklebid]

Hey there everyone!

I am in the process of adjusting the Limits again, but I think this will be a great chance. The Daily Limit is now every 12 Hours, but to compensate for that the Weekly will be 4. How does everyone feel about Category Limits? (too confusing?).

One of the biggest issues we users could not "tag" auctions starting the next day. So we will try this new 12 Hours Win Limit and see how things go. Things can always be changed. Any feedback is appreciated!

Thanks,

-Nate

[Carmelita21]

I was going to buy bids today but I am getting an error that recipient cannot accept payments at this time.. Anyone know what's going on?

[picklebid]

Hey everyone - sorry to report that PayPal had issues with our account. Not enough transactions to outweigh the risk associates with PA sites, but enough to raise a flag. Sort of a grey middle area and even though we provided a lot of documentation, they still denied our Appeal. We will be bringing back Authorize.Net Monday or Tuesday. Until then you can still Bid with the Bids you have or use TrialPay to purchase additional Bids - as for payments, just leave items Un-Paid until Authorize.Net is back online. A smaller collection of Auctions will be offered and when Authorize.Net is back in place we will be announcing our latest wave of changes (not really that many, but Wave sounds good) and a few small design changes. Thanks and sorry for this inconvenience! -Nate

[rpgman1]

Guess that would explain why Quibids uses Verisign instead of Paypal. Really strange that you were denied even though many other PA sites use Paypal. Must be all the disputes and fraud associated with PA sites. I'll be bidding on your site soon anyway since I haven't won anything from your site yet.

[picklebid]

rpgman1 - did you mean you WON'T be bidding soon or you are going to start since you haven't won? Sorry, wasn't sure what you meant! I hope you will be on the site this week! We use Versign as well for our SSL and Site Verification Seal, but not for actual Credit Card Processing. Might be something to look into though if these issues continue ... Thanks!

[rpgman1]

I'll bid anyway but it still says I can't enter Beginner Auctions for some reason (I haven't won anything yet). Since you do have a good selection of gift cards and those novelty pickle items up for auction, looks like a good site for beginners. Some people should have or being close to reach their monthly limit.

I was in a bad mood yesterday when I exposed one PA site for using autobidders (bots), then suspended my account for that. People still use the site anyway not knowing about the bots running the auctions.

[picklebid]

A quick announcement we sent out this afternoon, thanks!

[PickleBid] Some Updates from PickleBid.com - [PickleBid] Some Updates from PickleBid.com

[aliand]

Just an update: I have been away for a week and came back to find 2 25$ Chili's gift cards and a tin of delightful dill pickle soap in my mailbox!
Now I just need some terrified pickle magnets to hang Nate's business card on my refrigerator. Thanks for the great service and quick shipping. Hope you are getting lots of new bidders, this is a great site. ali

[aliand]

Seriously, people, why aren't there more bidders on here? Yeah, it's great winning gift cards for 8 cents, but if we don't drum up some more traffic it won't last forever! There are 9 auctions tonight and only 4 are even stamped. I love the spread out times rather than just the peak times everyone is doing. I just now won a BestBuy 25$ card. It went for 21 cents. The win times are now every 12 hours, so you can win pretty frequently, and the auctions are listed in advance so you can stamp a later one before you win if that's what you like to do. I got my e-card within minutes and my gift cards within a week. Not many sites are coming through like that. I would rather have some competition than see a good site go down.

Tell your friends! There's plenty of room ali

[boredncrazy]

Seriously, people, why aren't there more bidders on here? Yeah, it's great winning gift cards for 8 cents, but if we don't drum up some more traffic it won't last forever! There are 9 auctions tonight and only 4 are even stamped. I love the spread out times rather than just the peak times everyone is doing. I just now won a BestBuy 25$ card. It went for 21 cents. The win times are now every 12 hours, so you can win pretty frequently, and the auctions are listed in advance so you can stamp a later one before you win if that's what you like to do. I got my e-card within minutes and my gift cards within a week. Not many sites are coming through like that. I would rather have some competition than see a good site go down.

Tell your friends! There's plenty of room ali

\


oh some of us have been bidding there
and reached our limits
I like the site

[aliand]

I've seen you, boredncrazy! It would probably be wise of them to ease up on the win limits a bit until they have more traffic.

\
oh some of us have been bidding there
and reached our limits
I like the site

[Darkrayz]

Why do i need to refresh for the timer to go lower?

[picklebid]

Thanks for the kind words aliand!

We are trying not to change too much beyond listing more Future Auctions and keeping up with the Customer Service end. We need to increase traffic more so I am working on more Marketing - every bit helps, thanks!

We are adding a few new features and change the layout a little bit. I hope everyone likes it and we always welcome comments/feedback.

Best of luck and see you all on the site!

OH and re: the Refresh issue, I updated the Main Page and had to re-upload; it's fixed, you must have caught it during the update.

[picklebid]

I've seen you, boredncrazy! It would probably be wise of them to ease up on the win limits a bit until they have more traffic.

Do you think the Weekly's should be increased to 5? I know the request was out to let people "Stamp" auctions for the following day, thus the 12 Hour Limit for Daily's, but I didn't want to risk it by leaving the Weekly's @ 5 Wins. So I have it set to 4 Weekly and 12 Monthly. I am open to changing these as needed, so feedback is appreciated. Nothing is set in stone, the site needs to be dynamic to stay alive - thanks everyone!

-Nate

[picklebid]

Just an update: I have been away for a week and came back to find 2 25$ Chili's gift cards and a tin of delightful dill pickle soap in my mailbox!
Now I just need some terrified pickle magnets to hang Nate's business card on my refrigerator. Thanks for the great service and quick shipping. Hope you are getting lots of new bidders, this is a great site. ali

Funny story to share - I left the Pickle Soap and Pickle Mints in my car today (sending out mail @ lunch), in New Haven, in the HOT sun. The ride home was NOT pleasant. The car now smells like a Dill Pickle - the Pickle Mobile has been born! My wife is not going to be happy! Good night!

[rpgman1]

There's pickle mints? Hmm, not as bad as mustard ice cream ugh. The reason that not much traffic goes into your site is because people are in other penny auction sites that end around the same time period? Need to bid and win on something then. Maybe you need someone who has marketing experience to promote your site then?

[picklebid]

There's pickle mints? Hmm, not as bad as mustard ice cream ugh. The reason that not much traffic goes into your site is because people are in other penny auction sites that end around the same time period? Need to bid and win on something then. Maybe you need someone who has marketing experience to promote your site then?

Are you asking me about the Traffic and Times or telling me? Sorry! Just a little confused. Not sure what you mean by "bid and win"? I think we have to spread out the times, thus we try to start auctions and end at random times to minimize this. Most of our Marketing is Google/Facebook/Yahoo PPC - looking beyond PA Sites and Forums really - we need to attract the NEW PA user. Thanks, I appreciate any and all feedback! -Nate

[rpgman1]

Um, I'm just saying there isn't much traffic to your site. Guess I should make it clearer then. I can get new users when I'm back in college in August.

[Chocolate]

Here is my question regarding reserve auctions: say you put in bids on a reserve auction; thus, helping it met the reserve. Then, it becomes active after you have met a daily, weekly or monthly limit, are you still locked out?

Also, I wish you would reconsider changing your win limits back to 5 a week.

Thanks,
C

[aliand]

I agree, Chocolate, I think the win limits are a little low. I like the 12 hour rather than 24 hour thing, though.

The reserve auction is a cool idea, but I have some questions too. If there is a way to make win limits separate from the regular auctions it should work. Like have the regular win limits plus one reserve auction win per week. I would put in bids on all of them just in case! However, since I won an auction today, it doesn't let me place bids. I guess you can place bids before you bid on your regular auction and hope it doesn't go off for 12 hours. Also, the 60 minute timer once the reserve is hit is a little scary - you would have to check it 24 times a day and no one would be able to sleep or work. Fun idea, but it needs a little tweaking.ali

Here is my question regarding reserve auctions: say you put in bids on a reserve auction; thus, helping it met the reserve. Then, it becomes active after you have met a daily, weekly or monthly limit, are you still locked out?

Also, I wish you would reconsider changing your win limits back to 5 a week.

Thanks,
C

[frosthawk]

The reserve timer should be a lower like 60 seconds not 60 minutes! I was going to bid on the reserve items but noticed the 60 minute timer. I will just wait for someone else to waste bids running it up because I have plenty of time to jump in after it is active.

[aliand]

Hi frosthawk! I think what they mean is once the reserve is met, the auction will start to count down for 60 minutes and go like a regular auction when the 60 minutes are up. I didn't see the reserve auctions today, maybe they're changing something. I still think it seems like a fun idea. ali

The reserve timer should be a lower like 60 seconds not 60 minutes! I was going to bid on the reserve items but noticed the 60 minute timer. I will just wait for someone else to waste bids running it up because I have plenty of time to jump in after it is active.

[picklebid]

Hi frosthawk! I think what they mean is once the reserve is met, the auction will start to count down for 60 minutes and go like a regular auction when the 60 minutes are up. I didn't see the reserve auctions today, maybe they're changing something. I still think it seems like a fun idea. ali

We had some issues with the Reserves that we are working out.

I did change the timer to 15 minutes. So when the Reserve is Met, and the Auction converts to a 'Regular' auction, that auction will start with 15 Minutes on the clock. This seems like a much better solution.

Thanks!

[picklebid]

On another note: I have heard from some users that they dislike the Buy It Now Feature on ALL auctions. I understand that if someone knows they have Buy It Now they may keep bidding on an item longer, thus forcing the price up and in turn causing you to spend more bids then you wanted. It basically lessens the value of their Bids. But on the other hand, it allows everyone a fair chance at bidding and recouping any loses. I think we may try it both ways and then see what works best.

We are always open to suggestions. I'd like to make sure people can easily determine which auction is Buy it Now and which is not from the main page. Once I can get that in place maybe each night a few auctions are not Buy It Now. What is everyone's thoughts on Buy It Now? Do you dislike it because more users "jump" in thus you have to spend more Bids to "shake them off" or do you enjoy knowing that no matter what the outcome, you control how much money you are out and if you don't go over retail, you walk away "whole"?

Thanks!

[Chocolate]

I appreciate the B.I.N. option.

[khangski]

I am for B.I.N. At least we will not waste our bids. I mean if we are bidding against a power bidder for example or alot of jumpers, we will have to use the buy it now feature. At least that is my opinion. I know I will not be wasting bids if I don't win.

[aliand]

I think BIN on some auctions is ok, but what will end up happening a lot is this: user A and user B bid against each other. Waiting in the wings is jumper C, counting their bids. A and B drop out when they reach the zero BIN price, C bids and wins for 1 cent. A and B break even as does the site - on them. The site loses almost the entire cost of the item to C. Potential customers are scared away by the "high" price for which they see the items go, and current customers are run off by jumpers.

The only reason sites like Dealdash can win with BIN is about every fourth auction they have is for bidpacks which people bid on with real bids, then the bids they win are considered bonus bids, and aren't counted toward the BIN price when they use them in future auctions.

It's nice to have the BIN security, but using it on all auctions could be a losing proposition in the long run. Using it on select auctions gets my vote, that way people can play whichever way they like. ali

[Chocolate]

i agree with aliand. while i don't care for sites that go with too many bidpacks, having one a day is something to consider for you guys since it is 100% profit.

[picklebid]

i agree with aliand. while i don't care for sites that go with too many bidpacks, having one a day is something to consider for you guys since it is 100% profit.

The Bid Pack idea is nice - but Bid Pack sales are far from 100% profit. ;) We may look into it, thanks! I think having a few "Regular" auctions might be useful as well. We'll see what we can do this weekend to easily identify which auctions are BIN and which are Regular.

[picklebid]

i agree with aliand. while i don't care for sites that go with too many bidpacks, having one a day is something to consider for you guys since it is 100% profit.

We have some Bid Packs up, I am thinking of 1 Morning and 1 Evening Bid Pack auction. Also Reserve Auctions are not 100% operational and Buy It Now is on most auctions, but we are going to run 2 or 3 per day that will NOT have the Buy It Now option. I think this covers a lot of feedback we received recently. Enjoy! -Nate

[frosthawk]

Do the reserve auctions count against your win limits like the regular auctions?

[rpgman1]

Have you sent out my gift card yet Nate? I know I paid for it on Sunday. At least you finally brought out bid packs. 2 is fine, so don't put up anymore. I know some people will abuse them on other auctions easily if they win too many bid packs. Do they count towards the win limits?

[picklebid]

Do the reserve auctions count against your win limits like the regular auctions?

The short answer is Yes. The long answer is, Yes - and here is why:

If you had just won an auction, and Reserve Auctions were "Open to Bidding" - you could be bidding on the Reserve, and another user could come along and "unlock" the Reserve, thus converting it to a "Normal" auction. At that point, the system treats the Auction like any other Auction and since you had just Won, the Daily Win Limits would apply (12 Hours).

If you have not Won for the day (12 Hours) you can Bid on Reserve Auctions and keep bidding until the Reserve is "unlocked" - you then can Bid on the "Normal" auction (15 Minute Timer) - and if you Win this would be counted towards your Daily Limit as if it was any other Auction running.

Once the Reserve is Met the system treats the new "15 Minute Timer" Auction as if it was any other Auction in the system.

I hope this answers your question, if not, just let me know, thanks!

AND Congrats on your Bid Pack Win tonight!

[picklebid]

Have you sent out my gift card yet Nate? I know I paid for it on Sunday. At least you finally brought out bid packs. 2 is fine, so don't put up anymore. I know some people will abuse them on other auctions easily if they win too many bid packs. Do they count towards the win limits?

Hi rpgman1 - Not sure about your item at this moment, if it didn't ship it will ship tomorrow or Wednesday. While we do like to ship right away and delivery e-Gift Cards within 24-48 hours, physical items can take longer and we do reserve the "10 Business Days to Ship (not Deliver)" as per our ToS.

I'll make sure I only run 2 Bid Packs and email you right before I list them! ;)

You missed out on this last one, it went for $0.03! Congrats FrostHawk!

And Yes, Bid Pack Auction Wins count towards the Daily Limit of (1) Win per 12 Hours. So we will most likely be running 2 Bid Pack Auctions per Day. One in the AM and one in the Evening. So Bid wisely!

[picklebid]

Have you sent out my gift card yet Nate? I know I paid for it on Sunday. At least you finally brought out bid packs. 2 is fine, so don't put up anymore. I know some people will abuse them on other auctions easily if they win too many bid packs. Do they count towards the win limits?

I think a 25 Count for Bid Packs is decent, what are your thoughts? I would rather keep the Bid Pack auctions small (2) max per day, maybe even (1) per weekday and (2) on Fri/Sat/Sun, and the amount of Bids small. Thus their value will be greater.

[rpgman1]

It's good enough anyway since you don't have that many items up for auction.

[picklebid]

It's good enough anyway since you don't have that many items up for auction.

EXACTLY! Thanks rpgman1! Best of luck this week/weekend.

[rpgman1]

People keep abusing bid packs anyway, no matter what the auction it is. Afterwards, they go after other auctions and win items easily without much of a struggle. Not good for the PA site and business.