For every 100 penny auction sites on the web, one or two may be legit. The business structure is very clever as it theoretically allows 1 customer and a supplier to walk away with a deal. However, if traffic is low for a particular penny auction business, the supplier may be losing money. In order to hedge against these losses the supplier will have employees, or even bid robots drive the auctions up to a break even point. This makes it more difficult and in some cases impossible for you to actually win a product up for auction. If you would like to learn more about how to spot which sites are using these tactics feel free to visit the Penny Auctions to Avoid page on 101TopPennyAuctionSites.com. My article is strictly designed to review what I believe to be the top penny auction sites online.
Top Penny Auction Sites Reviewed
Cheap Electronics Depot is my favorite penny auction site for one very significant reason; I can actually win, and win often on here. I cannot guarantee that this trend will stay the same as the site gains popularity, however right now it would appear they are losing money on the auctions in hopes of future profits. This is one step in the direction of reassuring me this company is legit. A scam would have items either selling for way too low as no one is there to compete with the bid robots, or way too high because there is human competition and the bid robots are making sure they do not win. Neither of these seems to be the case at CED. Products currently sell below the mathematical break-even point for the company, but not so low that it would be logical for them to close up the business.
Pros:
- Incredible products ranging from top of the line High-Def Televisions to Ipods, video game consoles, and laptops.
- Winning auctions is not very difficult. I usually only needed about 1,000 bids (approximately $300 in order to win some of the high end $2,000 products)
- Shipping is fast (perhaps this is because they are located in PA and I live in NY). Still only took 3 days from when I won the auction to when it arrived at my door.
Cons:
- Very weak customer support. Took 6 days to receive a response for a question I had before signing up. No live support or phone number is offered either.
- They only sell 40 items. Although the products are great, it would be nice to see more of the small stuff like video games, $50 gift cards, etc. They also only sell electronics, so if Best Buy isn't your forte this probably isn't the penny auction site for you.
- No Buy It Now option is offered. Several Penny Auction Sites offer a Buy It Now Option if a user has spent more on bids than it costs to actually purchase the product. Although, using more bids than the actual price was never a problem for me on Cheap Electronics Depot, it could become an issue as the site gains more customers/bidders.
2. Beezid
Beezid is one of the most exciting websites I have ever visited. Upon signing up, there is so much to do here. The tutorials are fantastic, and the help section very rich in content as well as simple to navigate. The auctions up for grabs have a ton of variety. HDTVs, toy airplanes, footlocker gift cards, and on it goes. Bonus coupons and special offers are usually available if you search hard enough online. Beezid is about as trustworthy as a penny auction site comes. They are an accredited business; Verisign authorized, and consistently update their site to keep up with user demands.
Pros:
- Excellent product variety. Auctions are usually always on their last leg, so no need to worry about waiting around to start bidding.
- 10 free bids are granted upon signing up. However, they must be used within 24 hours and can only be used on certain auctions.
- Accredited and secure business with top notch web design
Cons:
- Not always very easy to win auctions. Beezid is the top penny auction site for user traffic, therefore competition is high.
- Premium auctions such as big screen TVs and laptops are few and far between. The value on most products is under $50.
- Limits are set for how many auctions you can win each month. Once you pass this limit you can no longer bid on these auctions.
3. IShop4Cheap
I feel like a record on repeat putting IShop4Cheap on here. This site is basically a clone of Cheap Electronics Depot (CED). IShop4Cheap came before CED, as CED is the company's most recent attempt to expand in the penny auction business. Hopefully they continue with this trend as CED gains more user traffic. After all, a new site equals less bidders initially and more potential to win electronics for low prices. Everything said about CED goes for IShop. The only reason it slips a few spots is because it is slightly more difficult to win on here as user traffic is higher than it's new subsidiary site. This should even out over time though.
Pros:
- Same trustworthy ownership as Cheap Electronics Depot
- Monthly giveaways on valuable items
- With a good strategy it is relatively easy to win the auctions
Cons:
- Website seems to load slowly at times
- Would be nice to see a different product selection than what they offer on Cheap Electronics Depot
- No video tutorial to help explain how the penny auctions work. This could cause Penny Auction newbies to become a bit lost as to how they can get in on the action.
Top Penny Auction Sites Reviewed