It’s a fact. Nobody likes a jumper in real-life auctions or on DealDash, but the cold hard truth is that it’s a legitimate and allowed strategy in bidding. From my experience on DealDash, here are a few things I’ve learned about jumpers.
Why Do Jumpers Jump?
- While some folks get in on the action early and ride the course throughout an auction, there are many who prefer to keep an eye on auctions or take chances with jumping in later. This can be irritating to those who get in on the action and that can sometimes be the point.
- Low Bids in the Bank. Sometimes it can be as simple as a bidder really not having a lot of bids left in the bank and they are taking a chance to see if they can get the “one great steal” from another bidder.
- Bidders who have the time to closely watch the auctions and not bid until most of the competition has waned can afford to jump in toward the end, therefore conservation at least some bids they did not have to use against earlier competition.
- If you’re researching the items you want to bid on, you will often find there are many items that tend to end up with higher auction end prices and a lot of competition. You will sometimes find that bidders will place one bid early or a small number of consecutive bids and then bow out of the auction for a while.
- $3 No-Jumper Auctions. When the no-jumper price is lowered from $5 to $3 during a DealDash promotion, bidders will sometimes place an early automatic bid using BidBuddy to ensure they are in the auction before it reaches the $3 limit.
I have found the following tips to be helpful in both being a respectful jumper and bidding amongst them:
- First and foremost, don’t get rattled by jumpers. They’re just trying to win, the same as you.
- Take a breath and hang in there. Sometimes jumpers place one bid and you never see them again in the auction. Others hang out a while to see what your response will be. Patience is often your best friend in an auction.
- Use BidBuddy and never place just one bid early on. There is always a chance that any auction could unexpectedly end earlier than you think and that others are placing that initial bid to secure a spot and plan to come back later. Don’t make the mistake of placing just one bid and someone else getting the unexpected early win.
- Don’t wait until there are two bidders left to get in on an auction. I have watched many auctions diligently to wait until two remain only to be shut out because the remaining two or three bidders left the auction at the same time and someone else wins before my eyes. This is the worst feeling. You haven’t wasted many bids, but you’ve wasted a lot of time watching an action that you never got in on because you waited too long.
- As much as we know jumpers are a part of the game, one thing that all bidders can agree on is that stompers are unnecessarily the absolute worst! Don’t be a stomper. You will not intimidate experienced bidders with this tactic. They will simply laugh as you waste double, triple, quadruple or more bids than you as they continue on with BidBuddy doing its job for them.
Whether you’re dealing with the jumpers or trying to respectfully be a jumper, I hope the above article has helped in some way. Happy Bidding!
This sponsored blog post was written by Theresa B., proud American, MMA fan, grandmother and ardent practitioner of sarcastic wit. Theresa was compensated by DealDash for this blog.