The Penny Auction Prize in the Mail

Winning a prize at a penny auction site may seem to be just half the battle.

A lot of consumers have experienced late shipments, no shipments, hidden charges and ridiculous shipping fees. The quality of the items may not be what you expected, sometimes they come of lesser quality, size and features than what was advertised on the site. Worst case is, if you get a dud or completely defective one. The penny auction site may not be entirely at fault here, it could be the third party provider who ships the prizes, but they are liable to make things right for you. You do pay for their services.

So what options do you have if something goes wrong?

Immediately call their customer service hotlines, get a ticket, make your case known. The sooner, the better as each customer case is under a time frame. The longer you have the item you are unhappy with, the less likely you can get it replaced. But you also have to be wary of hidden costs such as per minute fees with customer service hotlines.

Ziinga's Legit Move: Ziinga Cooperates with UK Trading Standards:

Ziinga.com is doing itself a favor by publicly declaring its doing full compliance with advertising standards set forward by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Okay, so the trading standards police is finally checking up on Ziinga. But why? The site does deliver on the merit of its prizes, but Ziinga has come under hot water due to consumer complaints of unwarranted credit card charges. Hope there's a follow through with this story. As a huge penny auction fan, I trust Ziinga to do the right thing by its subscribers, as  the whole penny auction industry goes under closer scrutiny, they should improve on their sign up system and let people know better of the charges being dealt on their credit cards.

What I've Won So Far!

From Quibids.com

Philips Norelco Razor

From Ubid.com

Black & Decker Coffee maker

From Ziinga.com

iPad 3

From Bidcactus.com- a Kindle Fire!!!

Penny Auctions rock!

How did I win all this cool shit? Well I made bidding at different Penny Auctions my life!

Penny Auction Site Reviews: NutritionBid.com

Whey Protein Monsters have a new reason to celebrate, there's a special penny auction site just for gym rats and fitness buffs, and that's NutritionBid.com

NutritionBid.com is just like any legit penny auction site except instead of winning the usual gadget fare, you get to win something very healthy. The prizes range from nutritional supplements to expensive whey protein powder drinks. You have to sign in first before you can purchase a bid pack and bid packages start in $100, $200 and $350 bid sets!

So after sweating out a few reps at the gym, you can hit NutritionBid.com for some epic bidding in the name of fitness.

Why Niche Penny Auction Sites are Cool

If you have a specific item in your mind and you are a little too bored and lazy to browse generic penny auction sites, have a look around the internet, do some research, and you’ll find the perfect niche penny auction for you in no time.

Niche Penny Auction sites gives you something major penny bidding sites don't offer, instead of the usual LCD TV, Apple Device or Mobile Phone, Niche Penny Auction sites have interest-specific prizes. If you're a backpacker, travel Penny Bidding sites lets you bid on airline tickets, vacation packages, hotel stays and travel gear. Hobbyists such as toy collectors, muscle car enthusiasts and trendy fashionistas can really benefit from these niche penny bid sites because what they offer is something closest to their hearts.

Are Penny Auctions Sites a Scam?

Being the victim of a web scam is quite hard to accept, no one wants to look like a fool, regardless of how it happened.

So how do people get duped into giving money?

There are bid sites masquerading as legit sites, baiting people with prizes until they find out that their freebies actually cost them more. Or in caes of Penny Auction sites, users feel that this wasn't what the signed up for, most just wanted the freebie for what it was- a FREEBIE.

Like a toy that comes with a happy meal, the free stuff they wave in your face are often not free, the cost is deducted from somewhere, someone has to pay because services in general cost money and the cost will always be taken from the user who wants the free swag.

So take care of your credit card info, listen to your gut feel- do you really want a FREE iPod Nano? What's the catch? And if there's a catch, is it worth my time and money?

Penny Auctions often work that way. They lure you in with free products in return you sign up for months-worth of membership. Bet you didn't know that, huh?

In the larger scheme of things, it is legal. Penny sites getting you to sign up is not a scam, giving your credit card number willingly for a freebie is not a scam on their part (hey, you handed it over without a gun to your head, right?). These websites have all the legalities down pat, they know you'll fall for their bait-and-switch. Well, you shouldn't really feel bad about it, that is, if you really wanted the membership or if you really wanted to sign up, anyways. But if it wasn't the case, then you have every right to be mad as hell. It only starts to feel like a scam, when you finally find out you'll be paying for the subscription through your credit card.

So how did that just happened?

Most users are just too lazy to find out what the catch is, they didn't bother reading the fine print or a site's ToS (Terms of Sevice) all they want is that freebie. To hell with freebies, didn't your mom ever tell you nothing in life is free?

So if you don't like Penny Auction sites and you don't like paying for FREE shit, keep your credit card snug safe in your wallet.

Confessions of a Penny Auction Addict

I've been totally stoked about joining another one of these Penny Auction sites, I've been signing up to see if I could win some big prizes if I went the rounds, bidding from site to site.

It is also worth noting that most penny auction sites , if not all, there are sites that offer at least 3 (sometimes 5) free bids that you can immediately try out! Besides reading reviews like this, also take time to research about penny auctions and find out about strategies to make sure your bids are placed with precision timing. There are a lot more penny auction sites out there, so research them as well! And for now, happy bidding!