As anyone who has ever been in the market for new, highly sought after electronics can attest, deals that seem to be too good to be true normally are just that. Yet every day consumers shopping on Craigslist, eBay and various other sites are successfully baited by scammers. As such, BidHere.com, a recently launched pay-per-bid auction site, offers several tips for safer online bidding, and more importantly, promotes their business as a much safer bidding experience.
- Seller history. If they are relatively new sellers with no experience successfully selling high end products, the likelihood of them offering a “can’t miss” deal is very low.
- Overseas seller. Many online scams are conducted by individuals in third world countries. Even if they claim to be based in the US, the use of broken or improper English can be a tip-off.
- Method of payment. Refusal to accept PayPal, credit cards or other secure payment methods that allow for disputes.
- Stock photos. Instead of using a photo of the actual item you are bidding on, scammers will often use an image taken from the product’s website, a sure sign that they most likely don’t possess it.
- No serial number. Any seller should be able to provide a legitimate serial number for a product, allowing the buyer the ability to confirm its validity. Again, no serial number most likely means they don’t possess it.
- Buy it now. While the “buy it now” feature can be helpful when trying to grab a got-to-have item, an item that is priced to sell much lower than what similar items are going for is almost always a certain tip off.
- Phony history. A common tool of online scammers is the use of sob stories, tapping in to human emotion as a means of covering up the truth. A sick mother with skyrocketing medical bills, a lost job or any number of tales can explain why an item is practically being given away.
- Don’t ask. Any reputable seller understands the importance of customer relations. The inability to provide clear answers to simple questions about a product most likely means there is something to hide.
By employing an innovative bidding system where bids are purchased as credits, BidHere.com ensures that the ending amount stays as low as possible, often at 60-90 percent off suggested retail price. All auctions start at $0 and all products are brand new. New registrants are given five free bids and subsequent bids can be purchased for just $0.60 (discounts are offered for bulk purchases). Users can then either bid via BidHere.com or by text message, with each bid raising the price of the product by 2 cents. Auctions commence when two or more users have bid on an item and a timer begins a countdown (usually two minutes). If the timer reaches 0 and no new bids have been placed, the last bidder wins the item and pays the final auction price.
Should a user’s bidding prove unsuccessful, he or she can choose to buy the product for a discount, minus the cost of the bids already placed. Therefore, you will never have to pay more than the retail price for any products on BidHere. The auction will continue as usual for other members who do not want to buy it, but win it instead. This means that no one ever has to walk away empty handed.
You can set up an account at BidHere.com for free.
