Could be addictive if you are gullible (bid tv)

Member Name: sympatic

Product:	bid tv
Date:	17/12/07 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some bargains to be had

Disadvantages: Postage costs

This is one of those home shopping auction sites which can be found in the dark depths of cable TV, the channel pretty much runs 24 hours a day and to be honest some of the stuff that it sells is a bit dire however I did get a rather good bargain on a set of luggage which was way below the price I would have paid on the high street.

The basic concept is that items are available for viewers to place a bid on, there are two types of auction, one is a falling price auction where everyone pays the lowest price for an item. There are a set quantity of the item available and once bids have been made for that quantity available the auction closes. To encourage bidders every so often the price on the screen drops by small increments. In a way the only bid that matters is the last one as that is the one that sets the price and bidding is done by ringing a premium rate number.

The other type of auction is a rising price one which often has a time limit set on it however these types are less popular.

As far as a viewing spectacle well it is really for the brain dead although it is interesting to see just how much detail and enthusiasm the various perma tanned hosts can raise for the items they sell and hving seen the contestants on The Appentice try to do the job and fail there is a certain amount of skill involved.

Also the operators of this channel are skilled marketeers making sure that they manipulate the numbers to match the number of viewers and people on the phone lines, if the bidding slow they introduce new gimmicks to attract people back onto the lines.

My personal experience with my purchase was that within an hour of the auction ending I had a phone call from a call centre to collect payment and delivery details. Be aware that when you bid your telephone number is captured to allow them to ring back so there is no changing your mind. My item arrived within 10 days of the auction date via courier and I was quite impressed with both the speed of delivery and quality of product. If I had one moan it would be that the post and packaging is a bit steep but you know the cost at the time of bidding.

Summary: TV auction site