DealDash Bidding Tip: Stay Focused
I must admit, the biggest problem I have is patience. Waiting it out is not my forte. One of the best DealDash tips I can give you is to stay focused.
I have lost more auctions by putting a few bids on my Bid Buddy and either walking away to do something or getting involved in my Mahjongg game only to come back a find out I lost the auction. And to add insult to injury, I was the second to last bidder. If only I had stayed focused, I could have at least had a chance. It just happened to me very recently. I was bidding on a Monarch Specialties White Juvenile Chair and Ottoman for my grandson and I plugged in a few bids, walked away, came back to find several other bidders had dropped out and then my bids ran out, making me the next to the last bidder, or the loser!!
Previously I was lucky enough to win a Manual Series 92-inch Projector Screen by Elite Screens for $1.78. I then needed to try for the projector to go with it. Once again I was just 2 away from winning and the projector which sold for $0.91.
Thus I have to try very hard to change how I bid in the future. I need to remain focused and not lose site of what I want in the end – the win! I hope maybe DealDash will add a feature for us “drifters” in the future and add a verbal or noise alert when our bids are about to run out. I know it would help me! Until then I will be more diligent when bidding in the future.
I have been shopping as a DealDash bidder since 9-2012. I have won over 150 auctions. I live in Ohio with my family. Written by Kim Finnegan
ALSO SEE: Patience, Patience, Patience
Bid Wiser: Track Your Spending and DealDash.com Wins & Losses
Do you find yourself losing more money than you are winning items? It’s time to get smart. Money smart. If you aren’t keeping track of your expenses it’s about time you start. A great app to manage your financial transactions and always know what is in your bank account is the Mint smartphone app from Mint.com for Windows 8, iPad, iPhone and Android devices.
Here are some great tips to help you keep track of your spending on DealDash.com and any other penny auction site.
1. Set limits
Don’t spend more money on bids than you can afford to lose, because if you don’t win the only way to not lose the money you spent on bids is to use buy it now on the item you lost. If you say you are only going to spend $50 to try and win that new dresser set or Nespresso espresso machine, stay true to your word. Maybe even put a post-it note on your computer screen, buy a bid pack with the determined amount of bids you can afford to lose if you lose and don’t buy more bids after that until you’ve either won or can feel ok about losing what you lost if you don’t win.
2. Set Up a Dedicated Bidding Account
You don’t have to set up an entirely new bank account for your bidding activities, but what you could do is get a pre-paid Visa credit card and fill it with the amount each month that you can use just for your penny auction bidding. Believe me, if you don’t do this and use your regular credit or debit card your spending could get out of control and you will be more shocked when you see your statements than you should be.
3. Track your wins
There’s a new app, like Mint, but ctually keep track of your “worth” in goods such as cars or merchandise, this could be something to try to keep a database of everything you have won and what the items are worth. The app is called Trov (Trov.com) and it will let you store the things you own, get current market values of your things, organize them and when and if it comes time to sell them, Trov even has a sharing option.
. Or you could just view your won auctions from the DealDash user dashboard to see what all you have won and what you paid for each item.
5. Track time, and money. Compare wins with bid pack purchases
This is a great way to pinpoint and keep track of what you really paid for your won items. Set up a Quicken Spreadsheet with specific columns one for the item – one for the value, one for the amount of time you spent to win (or lose) remember time= money. Lastly, create a column for how much you spent in bids to equal how much money you really saved on each item.
6. Take a look at the data you collected.
Are you ahead or are you at a negative as far as saving money goes? If you’re the latter you may just want to take a step back, re-evaluate and take our simple tips to heart and start limiting and tracking your activity on DealDash.com
Be an informed penny auction bidder.
If you have any questions about DealDash, wondering what type of items they have be sure to check out our previous posts here filled with tips, strategies and item guides.
Do you have tips for mana ging and keeping track of your spending on DealDash.com? Let us know about it here!
Top 10 Must Go To Summer Music Festivals of 2014 & Packing List
If you love music summer isn’t summer without going to at least one music festival! Here are the top 10 festivals this summer and a packing list of items that you must bring to make the trip even more fun!
Summer Music Festival Packing List (and links to where you can find some of these items on DealDash.com!) Note: DealDash is an online entertainment shopping auction site where you can win popular items for the cost of the bids it takes you to win! If you don’t win an item you can buy it and get your bids back.
- Toilet Paper (just in case, these festivals can be crowded!)
- Sunscreen
- Bug spray
- Sunglasses
- Folding chairs
- Cooler
- Water bottle
- Snacks
- Rain gear
- First Aid Kit
- Digital Camera
- Extra Phone Battery, other batteries
- Baby wipes
- Flashlight
- If the music festival is a camping music fest be sure to bring camping essentials like tents, sleeping bags, pillows
- Hand sanitizer
- Tickets… pick your favorite festival from the list below!
Beale Street Music Festival
- When: May 2-4
- Where: Memphis, TN
- 2014 Lineup Highlights: Kid Rock, Alabama Shakes, Foster the People, Snoop Lion, Juicy J, Motorhead, Avenged Sevenfold and more!
Sasquatch! Festival
- When: May 23-25
- Where: Gorge, WA
2014 Lineup Highlights: Outkast, The National, Queens of the Stone Age, MIA, Foster The People, Kid Cudi, HAIM and more!
Electric Daisy Carnival
- When: May 24-25 (NYC), June 20-22 (Las Vegas)
- Where: New York City and the big party in Las Vegas
For more info check out http://electricdaisycarnival.com.
Governors Ball
- When: June 6-8
- Where: New York, NY
2014 Lineup Highlights: Skrillex, Vampire Weekend, J Cole, Jack White, OutKast, Interpol, The Strokes and more!
Bonnaroo
- When: June 12-15
- Where: Manchester, TN
2014 Lineup Highlights: Kanye, Lauryn Hill, Skrillex, Frank Ocean, The Avett Brothers, Jack White, Elton John, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, Lionel Richie, The Flaming Lips, Kaskade, Neutral Milk Hotel, the Arctic Monkeys and more!
Firefly Music Festival
- When: June 19-22
- Where: Dover, DE
2014 Lineup Highlights: Foo Fighters, OutKast, Jack Johnson, Imagine Dragons, Pretty Lights, the Lumineers, Arctic Monkeys, Weezer and more!
Summerfest
- When: July 26–30 – July 2–7
- Where: Milwaukee
2014 Lineup Highlights: Dubbed “The World’s Largest Music Festival”. Ray LaMontagne, Kip Moore, Tegan & Sara, The Fray dubbed the “largest music festival” Ben Harper, Lady Gaga, Atmosphere and more!
Electric Forest
- When: June 27–30
- Where: Rothbury, Michigan
2014 Lineup Highlights: Passion Pit, Pretty Lights, Empire of the Sun and more!
Pitchfork Music Festival
- When: July 19–21
- Where: Chicago
2014 Lineup Highlights: Mutual Benefit, Isaiah Rashad, Jon Hopkins, DJ Spin, Schoolboy, Real Estate and more!
Lollapalooza
- When: August 1-3
- Where: Chicago, IL
2014 Lineup Highlights: Eminem, OutKast, Kings of Leon, Skrillex, Calvin Harris, Lorde, Nas, Childish Gambino, Arctic Monkeys and way more!
Riot Fest
- When: September 6-7, 12-14, 19-21
- Where: Toronto, Chicago, IL, Denver, CO
2014 Lineup TBA. riotfest.org
What’s your favorite summer music festival? Would you add to our packing list? Let us know!