Author: DealDash community

Do you enjoy traveling by train? If so, you are shopping in the right place.

Some new items on DealDash.com include gift cards that can be used to travel by train in the amounts of $10, $25, $50 and $100. Because gas prices are so high, even people who never before traveled by train are now looking at this mode of travel as a viable option.

I’ve always enjoyed traveling by train because we often cannot see anything while flying high in the sky, except on takeoff and landing. In fact, I’ve traveled thousands of miles by train. I took a train four times from Western Washington to my home state of Minnesota. From my own experience, I’ve discovered several reasons why traveling by train might sometimes be the best mode of travel.

• When traveling by train during daylight hours we can enjoy seeing the view of the countryside. Sometimes tour guides will even give talks about the history of specific sites as we pass.
• Sometimes during the train ride we can attend special passenger events, such as trivia questions. Anyone who answers correctly will have the opportunity to win awesome prizes, such as a bottle of wine.
• Since there are usually more train depots than airports, we can often get closer to our destination by train than we can when we fly. It might even save us the cost of having to get a rental car, depending on where we are going and who we plan to visit.
• I also enjoy meeting interesting new people when seated four to a table in the dining car of a train. For example, one man I met on the train said he and his nine brothers and sisters were all traveling home on 9/11/2001 to attend their mother’s funeral. Nine of the ten children were flying home on airplanes that were grounded. He was the only one traveling by train. Therefore, he was the only one of his mom’s ten children who got home in time to attend her funeral “I’ve been traveling by train ever since,” he said. We never know what we might learn from meeting and listening to other people. We each have our own unique experiences and stories to tell, and it’s easier to meet new people on a train than on an airplane.

The bottom line

DealDash offers a wide variety of gift cards we can use to purchase food, gas and even fishing gear. However, this is the first time I saw gift cards we can use to travel by train.

Wouldn’t it be nice to win one of these new gift cards to help pay for our next scenic train ride?

This sponsored blog post was submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers. Barbara was compensated by DealDash for this blog post. Blog posts are written by real DealDash customers. The opinions and advice here represent our customers’ views and not those of the company.

Have you shopped for the fancy men’s leather dress shoes on DealDash.com yet?  These shoes will definitely grab attention at any formal event. They would look absolutely stylish with a suit.

Can you picture the man in your life wearing such high-end shoes to church service or a family wedding? Not many men would go out and buy shoes with a BIN of $1,450.00. However, that’s what’s so great about shopping on DealDash. Even families on a budget can win shoes like this that they might otherwise never be able to afford. 

Let’s take a look at some of the best deals past DealDash shoppers have already won on a pair of the size 11 men’s leather dress shoes.

• July 25, this auction sold for $3.01 and the winner paid a total of $11.50 including the cost of the 50 bids placed;
• July 14, this auction sold for $8.73 and the winner paid a total of $48.49 including the cost of the 225 bids placed;
• July 17, this auction sold for $36.19 and the winner paid a total of $67.64 including the cost of the 302 bids placed.

Size 11 might be the most common size with the most competition for these shoes. After checking out the other auctions for sizes 8, 9, and 10, I see that even more DealDash shoppers won these shoes at great bargain prices. Before placing bids in the auction, we must remember to pay attention to the size. We might also prefer to shop for the brown shoes instead of the black.

One thing that makes these shoes so special is that they are meticulously cut from one whole piece of leather. Then they are carefully crafted with closed lacing in a distinctive Oxford style with a chisel toe and raised bump.

A brief history of shoes

According to my research, the first protective coverings for human feet were first used about 40,000 years ago and dates as far back as 2.5 million BC. It is believed the first simple shoes were made from animal skin and wood and were created more than 8,000 years ago. Moving up to about 4,000 years ago, shoes were made from rawhide and became more commonly in use. Middle Eastern shoemakers started producing shoes with heels to make walking across hot sand more bearable.

Here are some fun facts about shoes:

• Sneakers were first introduced in Europe in the late 19^th century, but they became more popular after American manufacturers started producing them in factories.
• The average American woman owns 30 pairs of shoes and they spend an average of $300 on footwear every year.
• Today most footwear comes from China. In fact, 98 percent of all footwear in the USA is made overseas.
• Pointed toes on shoes became a symbol of wealth and power in Europe and mostly remained in fashion between the 11^th and 15^th century.
• The most expensive shoes ever made in the world are a pair of shoes from Antonio Vietri and they cost almost $20 million.

The history of shoes also includes some strange wedding traditions involving shoes. For example, in Hungary the groom drinks a toast to the bride out of one of her wedding shoes; and in China, one of bride’s shoes is tossed from the roof. The shoe must be red and this gives the couple good luck in the marriage.

The bottom line

If you never owned an expensive pair of men’s shoes before, now you have the opportunity to shop for a pair on DealDash.com. Who knows! You could be the next winner!

This sponsored blog post was submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers. Barbara was compensated by DealDash for this blog post. Blog posts are written by real DealDash customers. The opinions and advice here represent our customers’ views and not those of the company.

What could feel more pleasant than relaxing in a brand name hammock on a warm, sunny day? If that sounds appealing you are shopping in the right place.

One new item now available on DealDash.com is a comfortable, high-quality hammock that has a BIN of $699. This hammock is a unique style and its non-woven mesh allows cooling airflow. The cover is made from durable polyester with protective coating for stain-and-water-resistance and it is recommended to keep it covered when not in use.to “minimize constant exposure to water or sunlight” because it could cause fading.

The deluxe version of this hammock, which measures 110 inches long by 55 inches wide, includes a sturdy freestanding frame that allows us to use it indoors or outdoors. It is also offered in different brilliant colors, so keep your eyes open for the color of your choice.

It can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth and mild soap.

A brief history of hammocks

A hammock is a sling made of fabric, rope or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. They originated from a Taino culture Arwakan, a word meaning “fish net.” Originally, hammocks were not designed for leisure, but instead served as protection. The suspended beds safely kept users away from dangerous creatures and insects in warmer climates.

According to my research, traditional hammocks originated in Central America and can be traced back nearly 1,000 years to the Mayan civilization, but Christopher Columbus is credited with bringing hammocks to Europe. In 1492 Columbus discovered the hammock in the Bahamas and he said “People were sleeping in nets between the trees.” When he brought the hammock back to Europe mainly sailors started using them.

Early hammocks were woven from the bark from a hamack tree. This was later replaced by sisal fibers as they were more abundant.

In the United States, hammocks were used as cheap, practical solutions for farmers, and a leisure item for wealthy families.

Today hammocks are particularly trendy among millennials and are used in a variety of ways, especially with the invention of lightweight and portable hammock stands. Hammocking can be a way of hanging out with your pals, and it’s an inexpensive way to spend an afternoon. You don’t have to be in a forest. You can use them in your back yard.

From 2014 to 2016, the market research group NPD found that overall sales of the product had doubled.

The bottom line

It appears that hammocks are still nice to have and now we have an opportunity to shop for a very nice how quality hammock on DealDash.com. There are no reviews on this new product as of this writing, but from the looks of them and description I feel certain that the hammock winners will be very pleased.

I’ll see you in the auctions.

This sponsored blog post was submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers. Barbara was compensated by DealDash for this blog post. Blog posts are written by real DealDash customers. The opinions and advice here represent our customers’ views and not those of the company.

I’ve been a shopper on DealDash.com for more than 10 years now and I’ve learned a lot about how to win auctions by watching other frequent winners.

Who are the frequent winners? It’s easy to find them. All we have to do is check the winners’ list and write down the screen names of other DealDash shoppers who consistently win more than one auction nearly every day. These are the people to watch. Once we figure out what winning strategies they use to win auctions, then we can win more auctions, too.

I cannot tell you what winning strategy works best. One might work best one week and another one might work best the next week. Perhaps you might want to try all of them and see what works best for you.

Let’s take a look at a few different strategies that some experienced DealDash shoppers use to win auctions.

Bid low to win low

Okay, we all know that if we do not place at least one bid in an auction before it reaches $5.00 (or whatever cutoff amount is designated) we will be locked out from actively competing for the win later on. Therefore, many shoppers throw in one bid at the beginning of the auctions with the intention of coming back to place more bids later on.

What happens, however, if everyone places only one bid except only one shopper who places more than one bid at the beginning of the auction? Well, then that one shopper who placed more than one bid wins. I’ve watched one shopper use this strategy and he successfully wins more than his share of auctions. This shopper consistently places from 2 to 30 bids at the very beginning of several auctions, and whenever an auction closes early, this shopper is there.

The greatest advantage to using this strategy is that it’s a great one to use if a shopper is on a tight budget.  Because this shopper always bids low and seldom (if ever) places more than 30 bids in an auction, he always wins low, too. I have watched this shopper win some fantastic bargains. This strategy takes a lot of patience and self-discipline because some auctions might only close early one time out of every 20 to 40 times it goes up for auction, but it does work because most auctions will eventually close early. The plan is to be there when it does.

Last minute warriors

Last minute warriors use the opposite shopping strategy. I’ve watched several experienced shoppers who only place one bid early in the auction and then they disappear and never return until the bidding gets down to the nitty-gritty with only two or three competitors still in the fight. The idea is to wait until all of the other shoppers have already used up their supply of bids, and then these last-minute warriors swoop in and take the win using only a small number of bids. Hardly seems fair, does it?

This strategy often works. However, it also has possible consequences. For one thing, the last-minute warriors take the risk the auction could close early and then they miss out on their opportunity to win. Not all auctions get down to two or three shoppers before it suddenly closes. Another thing that can, and does, happen is that some shoppers who have already invested a large number of bids in the auction might want to teach the last-minute warriors a lesson by not allowing them to have an easy win.

Some shoppers refuse to quit. Instead, they will buy more bids and intentionally overbid or drive up the cost of the auction a lot more than the last-minute warriors expect. Therefore, it is a good idea to get familiar with other shoppers so we know which ones will quit and which ones will not.

Endless bidders

Another strategy is to stay away from and never bid in the same auctions with certain wealthy, endless shoppers with an endless supply of bids. I have a list of screen names I avoid like the plague because I know I would only be wasting my bids whenever I’m in the same auction with them. Therefore, if I see certain screen names join in my auction, I immediately cancel my bids and move to another one.

The bottom line

Watch other winners and develop your own winning strategy.

This sponsored blog post was submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers. Barbara was compensated by DealDash for this blog post. Blog posts are written by real DealDash customers. The opinions and advice here represent our customers’ views and not those of the company.