Bid-Bob 101

There are 3 easy steps to get started on Bid-Bob.com. Use this section and our FAQ section to learn about the registration, bid pack purchase, and bidding on an item processes.

Step 1Register your account with Bid-Bob.com

  • Click on the ‘Register Now’ button on the top of the main page.
  • Enter your information in the fields provided, and make sure you enter all the information for all required fields.
  • Click on ‘Create My Account’ to register and move to the ‘Your Account’ section.

SPECIAL NOTES:

  • By registering for an account, you are only creating your profile within Bid-Bob.com. Some auction sites charge you a $50-$75 registration fee without your knowledge, but you will only be charged for bid pack purchases and product claims at Bid-Bob.com.
  • As part of our privacy policy, your information will not be shared with or sold to anyone outside Bid-Bob.com. That includes other users, research companies, and companies inquiring about ‘purchasing’ our customer list. Your registration at Bid-Bob.com will not put you on any external mailing lists or call lists.

Step 2Win Cool Stuff!Purchase Bids so you can Win Products on Bid-Bob.com

  • Once you are directed to your main account section, click on the Icon that says ‘Purchase Bids’.
  • Bid-Bob.com sells bids in a ‘Bid Pack’ format. Our bids cost between $.40 and $.60 each, and are sold in bundles that cost $20, $40, $60, $90, $150, $300, and $600 respectively. The amount of bids purchased in each Bid Pack level are:
    • $20 Bid Pack – 25 Bids
    • $40 Bid Pack - 54 Bids
    • $60 Bid Pack – 86 Bids
    • $90 Bid Pack – 139 Bids
    • $150 Bid Pack – 250 Bids
    • $300 Bid Pack –  546 Bids
    • $600 Bid Pack – 1200 Bids
  • Select the Bid Pack you would like to purchase. You will be directed to a payment processing screen where you can complete your purchase using a major credit card including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.
  • Once your purchase is complete, you will see the bids credited to your account in the ‘Purchased Bids’ field on the top right of your account page. As you make individual bids on items, those bids will be subtracted from your available bids number. Your remaining balance will be available to you on all product bidding screens.
  • Now you are ready to view our products on the main Bid-Bob.com page and PLACE YOUR BIDS. Good luck.

SPECIAL NOTES:

  • Before you purchase a Bid Pack, figure out a budget that works best for you. In general, the higher priced items require more bids to win the auction. You can always come back and purchase more bids during the auction process, but that will take you away from the bidding process for 1-2 minutes and you risk losing the item to another bidder.
  • If you are new to Penny Auctions, a great way to start would be with the $20 bid pack. That price will give you plenty of bids (25) to win items on Bid-Bob.com, and you can determine whether the Penny Auction format is something you like.
  • Any customer may purchase more bids during the auction process or even in between auctions, but once you purchase bids they may not be returned for a refund. There is no time limit on purchased bids. Once you pay for them, they are yours indefinitely until you use them on a particular product auction.
  • Here is a quick way to figure out your total cost to win an item. This is something to keep in mind as you consider which Bid Pack to Purchase.

Total Customer Cost For Winning an Item on Bid-Bob.com:

  1. Number of Bids Placed to win the item ($.60 per bid used for this example)
  2. Final Auction Price of the product (varies between a few pennies up to over $50 for some items)
  3. Shipping Cost - Indicated on the bottom of the product description section

 

For Example, Customer A wins an IPad2 on Bid-Bob.com. He/she places 40 bids to win the item, the final auction price is $16.94, and the shipping cost is $15.00. The total cost is:

A. 40 Bids at $.60 per bid = $24.00

B. Final Auction Price of the IPad2 = $16.74

C. Shipping Cost = $15.00

 

Customer A just won an IPad2 for a total cost of $55.74. THAT IS A GREAT DEAL!

 

Step 3Bidding on Products

  • The way you win an item is to be the last person to place a bid before the timer reaches zero.
  • Go to the homepage of Bid-Bob.com. Products up for auction are placed next to each other in boxes, and also listed on the bottom part of the page. In general, the products toward the top of the homepage have the least amount of time remaining on the Auction Timer. Choose a product you would like to win, and Click on the Product Box on the Bid-Bob.com homepage.
  • Bidding DetailYou are now at the main bidding page for that particular product. You will see the current auction price of the product, the Timer which indicates how much time is left on the auction before someone can be declared a winner, a bid history section where you can track who is bidding against you, and a full description of the product including technical specifications and shipping cost.
  • To start bidding on this product, you must be logged into your account and have available bids left in your account.
  • To place your bid, click the large ‘Bid’ button located near the timer. Once you place a bid, you will see your name at the top of the bid history section and the price of the item will go up by one penny. If the timer hits ‘Zero’ without anyone else placing another bid, you are the winner. If someone places a bid before the timer reaches zero you will then see their name on the top of the bid history section, the auction price of the product will go up by a penny, and the timer will reset to a predetermined time (usually 10, 15, or 20 seconds) and it will start counting down again.
  • At this point you decide whether you want to continue bidding against the other users, or if you want to try another product. Remember, you must be the last person to place a bid before the timer hits ‘Zero’ to win the auction.
  • Continue placing bids in this format until your available bids run out (It is possible to win multiple items with a handful of bids if you have a strategy and some luck on your side). Then purchase more bids if you enjoy the Penny Auction experience, and want to win great products at 70-99% off retail price.
    SPECIAL NOTES:
  • The Timer on each product counts down to the first point in time where a bidder can win that item. If the timer has 20 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, or even more time left then you may want to try bidding on other products that have less time remaining on the clock.
  • It is possible to bid on multiple products at one time. If you view all the products on the home page of Bid-Bob.com, you may click the ‘Bid’ button on multiple products without leaving the main page. Also, you may decide to ‘Follow’ a couple of favorite items by choosing them on your main account page. If you decide to click on one of the product pages and look at the formal description, bid history, technical specs, etc. your favorite items will still be visible in small boxes near the top of the screen. Each box will have a ‘Bid’ button so you can monitor those auctions and bid accordingly.
  • If there are a lot of users actively bidding on the item you want, it might be smart to let them use up their bids against each other before you start placing your own. You must watch that auction closely, because if the timer gets down to 1 or 2 seconds you may have to place a bid to keep the auction going. There is a fine line between counting on someone else to place bids and keep the auction going, and actively placing bids yourself when the timer gets close to ‘Zero’. If you notice the number of users bidding on the item starts going down, you might want to step in and start asserting yourself by placing multiple bids. That will send the message that you are serious about winning the auction, and other bidders might decide to gracefully bow out instead of bidding head to head with you.
  • Win Limits: Bid-Bob.com has win limits for individual users.  We appreciate your business and hope you win many great products at Bid-Bob.com, but we need win limits to keep a level playing field.  Our Win Limits are based on total number of wins, and on items with a Retail Price over $100.  For questions about our 'Win Limit' policy, please contact us at Support@Bid-Bob.com.  Current Win Limits are as follows: Each Individual User may win up to 1 Auction per day and a total of 15 Auctions per month.  For items with a Retail Price of $100 or more, each individual user may win up to 1 Auction per day and 2 Auctions per month.  All Win Limits reset on the first day of the calendar month.

 

Single Bids Versus AutoBob

  • There are two ways to bid on a product. The first way is called a Single bid, and that is described in the section above.
  • We also offer an ‘AutoBob’ feature for those who want to have their bids placed automatically. The ‘AutoBob’ feature is available only in the main product auction page where you see the full product description, specifications, shipping cost, bid history, etc.
  • To activate ‘AutoBob’, fill out the fields below the Bid History section to tell Bid-Bob how to place your automatic bids.
    • The starting price number tells 'AutoBob' when to start placing your bids. You then decide how many bids you want Bid-Bob to place for you, and then give Bid-Bob a maximum price number to indicate when you want Bid-Bob to stop placing your bids.
    • The ‘AutoBob’ feature can be cancelled at any time by entering all zeros '0' in each field and clicking 'save'.
    • An ‘AutoBob’ bid is placed after any other bidder places a bid (until you reach your bid limit or the pricerange limit you entered into the ‘AutoBob’ activation field). The ‘AutoBob’ bid comes through shortly after any bids placed by other bidders. You are either buying time to look at other products by using the ‘AutoBob’ feature, or you are sending a message to your competitors that you are serious about winning this product. They might think twice about placing their own bids since ‘AutoBob’ will bid for you just seconds after their bid appears in the Bid History.

SPECIAL NOTES:

  • The first step to using 'AutoBob' is to establish your starting price.  Most members start at the beginning of the auction so this field can be left blank.  If you wish to start bidding once the price reaches a certain threshold, you can input that number.
  • Next, enter the maximum price you are willing to see the auction get to.  Some members decide that they do not want to bid if the auction price passes a certain point.  It is important that this field be greater than zero.
  • Lastly, set the maximum bid number to some value you are comfortable with.  Now you are on 'AutoBob'.  Just check your 'AutoBob' status and reset or cancel as appropriate.