BigDeals
BigDeal is based on a pay for every bid model where the items are auctioned in real time mode. You buy the bid tokens before you can actually make a bid. Every bid costs $0.75. The bids are incremented automatically from 1 to 15 cents. If you don't win, the amount you spent on bidding will be offered as royalty or you have the choice to buy at the retail price.
Whether customer makes huge savings of upto 90% or not; BigDeal is definitely making cool bucks. It is reasonably good model for the company.
BigDeal Auctions (http://www.bigdeal.com/?ramushamu.com) are different from eBay’s. On eBay, the winner of an auction is often the person who places a bid with as little time left as possible (this is called “sniping” an auction). This is the case because eBay’s auctions end at a pre-determined time.
On BigDeal.com, like on offline auctions held by auction houses, time is added to the auction when someone bids. That means that bidding at the last second is not necessarily the best winning strategy.
When is a good time to bid then? Here are some tips we hope you find helpful:
Some users like to bid with a few seconds left to see if anyone will bid before them. That strategy can help save bids but can seem passive to other bidders.
Some users like to bid aggressively as soon as someone else bids. That strategy can help limit competition but it costs a lot of bids.
Some users like to skip turns to try to save bids. That strategy can work but can be risky as the auction can end.
Some users like to bid on every turn. That strategy ensures that the auction will continue but it can be expensive.
Use a combination of the 4 strategies above depending on the auction you are in and the bidding patterns of other bidders.
The closest competitor to BigDeal is http://www.callecents.com/?ramushamu.com