Bidding for an item at penny auctions can be a very lucrative way of getting items for virtually nothing. As the name suggests, if youre lucky enough and you time it right, you could end up paying just a penny for your item. There arent many auction websites where you can land items this cheaply.
However the probability of this, and also not getting the item you are after, is quite high. This is why certain parties feel that the Gambling Commission should look at penny auctions to see whether they should be classed as gambling, therefore come under increased government scrutiny.
At the moment however, penny auctions are classed as auction sites, so are open to all.
To enter a penny auction you first purchase bids. Each bid can cost between 40p to around 1.50. The skill comes with where to enter the bidding process and how many bids to make. The gamble is guessing what the optimum price might be when the bidding is timed out, and whether your place in the bidding means that you are in with a chance. Opponents of the system see people placing numerous bids without getting anything in return, and believe this to be gambling. However, these penny auction sites sell packets of bids at special prices, and the more you buy the cheaper they are. So by being loyal to these sites, placing numerous bids may not be as expensive as one tends to think.
Online auction sites like ours at Redbread also provide examples of ended auctions, where punters can see what price items have previously gone for. Most reductions are not huge, but of course there will be the time when something expensive is sold for a silly price, and this is the inducement and gambling element of the penny auction.
