Bivwak Auction Help for You

Richracer1

Handloader
May 12, 2005
2,137
114
I wrote this in a response to a question from another forum member and thought I'd post it here as well to assist others in using Bivwak or other auction sites.
There are typically three types of auctions used:

1) The "Buy it Now" or "Buy Out" type of auction, meaning, you log in, find the auction and click on the "Buy it Now" or "Buy Out" button or lettering and bingo you just bought that item(s).

2) The regular type of auction, is you place a bid that is the MAXIMUM you are WILLING to pay for that item. Bivwak will keep you as the highest bidder until someone exceeds your max bid. At this point, you need to decide if your new MAXIMUM with shipping is still cheaper than other sources for this item.

3) The "Dutch" auction. This is where the seller has a quantity of the same item to sell. Bidders will enter the amount they are willing to pay for EACH item and can input how many items they want at that bid amount. The auction then ranks the bidders on the amount($) of their bid. The number of winners is relative to how many items each winner requested in their bid. Please becareful with this as some bid some exorborant amount and want multiple items. For instance, Shooter's Pro Shop has an auction with 50 boxes of bullets, a bidder entered a bid of $100 and selected a quantity 4 boxes of bullets. Well when this "Dutch" auction ended, this bidder now owes Nosler $400 for 4 boxes of bullets. Other than the amounts I used, this example really happend on Bivwak and with a Shooter's Pro Shop "Dutch" auction.

Here a few rules I have set for myself when bidding on any online auction: (Yes, I get out bid a lot, but I have also score some fantastic deals)
1) Know what you would pay (+ shipping & tax....) at another business, be it online or locally - no sense paying more than you have to.

2) Unless you absolute have to have that specific item, which is not available any where else or is one of a kind, DO NOT get emotional or caught up in the bidding game - you'll just end up paying more for it.

3) Pay particular attention to the shipping the seller is charging. A lot of Ebay sellers are really gouging you for shipping to make a profit as most do not pay attention to the listed shipping charges.

4) Most importantly, re-read rule #1 and #3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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