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7 Tips For Staying Focused on Your Auctions

FocusedIt’s easy to lose an auction. That is, if you’re not paying attention. Keep your eyes on the prize and don’t lose focus.

  • Don’t bid and multitask
  • Don’t bid and drive
  • Don’t bid and talk on the phone
  • Don’t bid while cooking dinner – or washing dishes – yeah, if you do that you may need to bid on a new smartphone or laptop 😉
  • Don’t bid then walk away from the computer for a minute, or even 7 seconds.
  • Don’t bid when your computer is about to do an automatic update
  • Don’t bid when you’re not paying attention

Okay, so it may seem pretty simple to stay focused on the auction you’re bidding on, but sometimes it really can be a challenge, especially if the auction has been going on for awhile.
It’s easy to get bored while bidding and even easily to open up a new tab and start browsing, playing a game or bidding in another auction even, so, with that said here are 7 tips to stay focused.
#1 Minimize Distractions
Before you start bidding make sure you are able to focus on the auction for as long as you decide you are going to watch and bid on the auction.  Set aside time to bid where you won’t get distracted. Find a quiet place to bid. Put headphones on maybe. If you have a hard time focusing on more than one thing. Turn your phone ringer off – set it to silent until the auction is over, or until you win. You’ll save yourself frustration and the other person on the line won’t be wondering why you keep freaking out.
#2 Set up BidBuddy – BidBuddy is DealDash’s automatic bidding tool that will let you set a predetermined number of bids, as many that you’d like to spend to try and win the item. It will only use your bids during the last few seconds of the timer. Others may be on BidBuddy too, and you won’t know it, but they also won’t know that you’re on bidbuddy. So set it and forget it, but really don’t forget it… Still watch and see where you’re at and how the auction is doing.
#3 Don’t multitask. Don’t open up new browsers and start surfing the Internet. Really, it’s easy to open up a new page and check something else out Online only to find when you switch back the auction ended and you lost your bids. Or – opening new browsers could freeze up your computer and not even let you get back on DealDash.
#4 Update & Clean Your Computer Make sure your computer’s software is up to date before you start bidding. A scheduled automatic update could suddenly force your computer to restart mid-auction. Also, make sure your computer is virus, spyware and adware free before you start bidding. Pop-ups and browser hijacking due to viruses and trojans will only wreck havoc, you’ll be unable to focus on an auction if you can’t get back in it. Some good, free software to use to clean your computer: AdAware, SpyBot Search & Destroy, Malwarebytes, Avast and AVG AntiVirus.

#5 Finish your chores first

Make sure dinner is already done. Laundry & dishes already started. Your homework or work obligations done. Your kids occupied or in bed. If you put off your obligations until the last minute and decide to take a break from them to bid, you are more likely to get distracted and lose an auction. So make sure that everything you need to do for the day is already taken care of before you start bidding.
#6 Train your mind to focus
Really, it seems easier than it is. It’s easy to get distracted while bidding, or while doing anything. Stop yourself if you’re beginning to lose focus. Apply this to all areas of your life, not just bidding, and you may just find more success when you manage your time and focus on the task at hand.  Start small with maybe just a few minutes a day and work up to larger amounts of time. If you find your mind wandering, just go back to bidding or whatever it is you’re working on.
#7 Set Goals and Time
Before you go into bidding write down how much money you want to spend at max to try to win an auction. Set how much time you want to spend bidding. Keep within this timeframe or budget and you will be less likely to lose focus on bidding.
What do you do to keep your eye on the prize and focus on the auction or task at hand? Tell us in the comments section!
Now is the best time to stay focused and try DealDash. Right now bids are only $0.15 each!
If you bid on DealDash share your tips with us!

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The Powerbidder's Strategy to Winning DealDash Auctions Part 2 of 3

Continuing on from where we left off yesterday in Powerbidder’s Strategy – Beat Them or Join Them? Part 1:
Should you worry about powerbidders?
Yes-and-no…
Thanks to the risk-free buy it now option on all DealDash products users can opt to buy an auction at any time while an auction is running.
When is the best time to use buy it now?
This is up to you really, but it may be better to show other bidders that you’re serious about winning and will bid until you have reached an item’s buy it now value before you use buy it now. All bids placed in the auction do not go towards buy it now, but will be refunded back into your account if you buy an item with buy it now, giving you back an arsenal of bids to try and win more items.
Why is powerbidding a strategy?
I know what you’re thinking.
Why would anyone want to spend more money on multiple occasions, especially when the object of DealDash is to have fun and win items for less money? Right?
A powerbidder likely won’t tell you, but if you watch auctions and find yourself bidding against them long enough, you will start to recognize who these bidders are. They “win some” / “lose some,” and that’s just their mentality and their ultimate strategy.
Often I’ve seen where a powerbidder wins high valued items such as iPads and laptops with just a few bids – we’re talking HUGE savings. Perhaps their opponents shy away from bidding against them because they were “cleaned out” by these bidders before and just don’t have the time, patience, or amount of bids available to go head-to-head with them again.
DealDash is a very popular penny auction site and therefore has a very large userbase. Let’s just say there’s a time when the only bidders around, everyone else has met their 9 items/week win limit, and the only bidders in a particular auction are ones who have gone against these powerbidders before and lost. Who ends up winning, sooner rather than later? While not totally possible to predict, the established, hardcore powerbidder is usually likely to prevail.
What if a powerbidder gets in a “bidding war” with another powerbidder?
This is when two bidders who seem to always place a lot of bids are consistently bidding against each other.
Watch out, and get ready for what could be a very long battle to see who has more bid ammo, and patience. Chances are, at this point, one of these powerbidders will choose buy it now and the other may win.
Let’s just say the item they’re bidding for is one with a $1,000 value. Bidders will watch to see if either bidder, or some will try a few bids with hopes of winning, watching to see if either consistent bidder will drop and use buy it now to come in.