Lights ..Camera ... AUCTION ! (bid tv)

Member Name: jaybee

Product:	bid tv
Date:	18/11/00 (1325 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See exactly what you are going to get

Disadvantages: Not always a great range of goods

For anyone who likes online auction sites and has access to sky digital Television, then Bid-Up TV should be a channel you should check out. This channel combines the elements of a TV shopping channel like QVC, with an online auction site.

The channel provides programmes that are live and completely interactive - which means you can watch the auctions on screen and use the telephone to phone in your bids. This means you are able to see how well your bid is doing instantly.

There are various auctions throughout the day from noon till midnight for a wide range of goods. They have various themed programmes like “Wine and Dine” here you can bid on items like cases of wine, or related items, like electric ice buckets. “Switched On” is their Electrical goods show, where you can bid for things like Cd players, and all manner of electronic gadgets and gizmos. But they have auctions on all types of items, from jewellery to sports equipment.

Two presenters tell you about the goods, descriptions and some technical stuff normally, this can be quite funny, as the programme is live and it’s obvious that sometimes they haven’t got a clue what they are talking about. An electronic thesaurus and translator last week was described as being able to translate English into seven different languages including” Dutch, Netherlands and Holland”? I presume the other 4 were Scottish, Welsh, Irish and British?


They have various types of auctions Most start with a price of around 50% or less of the average High street price, - I’ve seen some of these that are quite low, and others that seem a bit high, so I suppose it balances itself out. – This is the price that bidding will start. You then decide how much you are willing to pay, and when to phone your bid.

The presenters sometimes say an item has a reserve price, they must reach this price for the bids to become valid, but they don
217;t always tell you what this price is. Most auctions last for about 4-6 minutes before being closed.

At ten to every hour they have Bargain bidding - here the lots start at £1 and can be anything from Digital cameras to Televisions. I’ve seen huge savings during this slot; some times they don’t even reach 75% of the Estimated High St. price. Sometimes there may be as many as 10-20 of the items for sale, so it’s not as if it’s impossible to actually successfully bid for anything.

Every time an item comes up for auction a telephone number, unique to that auction and item, appears on screen. To make your bid you dial that number and an automatic answering system asks you to enter your bid, to bid £35 you would just press the 3 then the 5 on your telephone, It then repeats your bid for you to hear: if it is correct and you then want to confirm your bid, you press the hash key on your phone, this places your bid.

This whole process takes around 40 seconds and with calls costing 60p a minute that means your bid will cost you 40p. You can also place more than one bid, if the price is rising on screen it says - bid now needed is - and clearly shows how much you now need to bid; So you can go back on line, or hold on the line if you want to make another bid.

If you are successful in your bid, then they call you back so payment and delivery details can be sorted out. They can do this because when you call them your telephone number is automatically logged when you make a bid.

Unlike QVC, and other shopping channels I have previously watched, the goods on offer are nearly always well known brand names that I am familiar with. and of decent quality.

I think a TV channel like this has a lot to offer, and if it’s a bargain you want then you might just be lucky enough to get one, as the channel is pretty new and there doesn’t seem to be vast numbers of viewers - YET!

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