Penny auction sites can strike you as an amazing opportunity to score big on items that normally cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

While this is true to a certain extent, there are a number of things about penny auction sites that you are going to want to keep in mind.

How to Use Penny Auction Sites (and Win Auctions)

This article is about how to make passive income online; however, it is not possible with penny auctions. Using penny auctions can be a good way to save money if you know what you are doing.

At the end of the day, while you can snag something like a new flat-screen TV for just a few bucks, penny auction sites are more often than not going to offer a considerably more complex experience than what you might be expecting.

Can you walk away from a penny auction site with an amazing deal? - Absolutely.

What are penny auction sites?

One of the first things you need to understand about penny auction sites is that you are talking about an extremely competitive concept. Penny auction sites have been gaining a considerable amount of traction since they first made the scene in early 2010.

While some sites are in fact disingenuous, and there has been a little bit of controversy with those sites, the truth of the matter is that there are legitimate penny auction sites worth your time, energy, and money.

These sites work with the pay-per-bid model, which means that you are going to have to pay regardless of whether or not you actually win. As you can imagine, those pennies can start to add up in a hurry.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can find yourself losing a considerable amount of money over time.

Think of a penny auction as a brinkmanship game. In other words, you are pushing a situation as close to complete collapse and disaster as humanly possible, with the idea being that the closer you can get to disaster without actually courting it, the more successful your venture is ultimately going to be.

If that sounds a little intense, then you should start to have a pretty good idea of everything a penny auction site can bring to the table.

Again, through "real" penny auction sites, you can win and enjoy major savings. There are a number of tips that can lead you to successful experiences, more often than not.

At the same time, you have to remember that there are a number of elements working against your chances of success. You can control these elements, but only up to a certain point.

This isn’t meant to discourage you. It’s simply important to understand what the situation is going to call for in order to get the most out of the experience.

How to Win at the Penny Auction Sites

Penny auction sites sell items starting at 0.01, usually with a timer. Bidding adds one penny to the total bid price, in addition to a few seconds to your timer.

If you can hang in there to become the last bidder when the clock hits zero, you win the item at the standing auction price. In many cases, this can lead to scoring an item at huge savings.

Unfortunately, people are naturally competitive at these sites. After all, they want the same things that you do. The hyperactive desire to win has created what seems like a legion of people who can swoop in, dominate the bidding process, and walk away with whatever they want. This is true to a certain extent.

There are things you can do in order to improve your odds of being the winning bidder.

6 Important Things You Need to Keep in Mind:

#1. Get ready to get frustrated: Chances are, you’re not going to be a rock star at penny auctions right out of the gate. As you learn the ins and outs of successful penny auction bidding strategies, expect to lose, particularly in the beginning.

The universe can be cruel. You can devote an extraordinary degree of energy and money and still lose out to someone. Don’t let this bug you too much. It happens to everyone, and it’s a fact of life at penny auction sites.

#2. Remember your goal: To bid on auctions, you are going to have to purchase bids. These bids can be obtained for prices ranging from fifty cents to a dollar.

What you want to do is win the items of your choice with as few bids as humanly possible. In the throes of bidding, keep in mind how much you’ve spent. Set limits, and respect those limits.

#3. Research: Learn more about the bidders on the site of your choice. Study their bidding styles.

#4. Auto-bidding: This is a great, endlessly useful feature.

#5. Off-peak: Bidding during off-peak hours is often your best bet.

#6. Start small: Go after items that aren’t quite as competitive as others. Use the time to develop a bidding style while learning how everything works.