DealDash is a penny auction site founded in 2009. It started the operations with a vision to offer every bidding participant with a fair chance to win the auction.
If you can understand how DealDash works best for you, it can give you value for your money. Many customers do not fully understand the bidding process and lose money.
DealDash offers certain benefits for buying branded items at a bargain price. It also has some limitations with its business model and limited geographical presence in the US market.
Here are a few pros and cons of using DealDash as a customer.
1) Branded Products at Low Prices:
You can find branded products at DealDash at lower than market prices as a buyer. If you plan well, you may also win the auction at a bargain price. DealDash buys their products as overstock, which offers them a cushion of lower pricing.
Even with the bidding process, you may get a deal that saves you more money. For example, currently, DealDash offers a 50% discount on spent bids if you win the product auction. It means if you have 1000 bids (say at $0.13 each) costing $130, you can get back the same item for only $65.
2) Get Back the Spent Bids Money:
Unlike other penny auction sites, you can always claim back the spent bids with DealDash. If you don’t win an auction item, you can buy it with a “buy it now” option.
You’ll only pay for the item price and get back the amount spent on bids. Each bid may cost you anything from around $0.12 to $0.60.
3) Free Shipping and Zero Subscription Fee:
DealDash does not charge any signup or account subscription fees. They make money on deals with retailers and inventory liquidators and by selling bid packs. Also, when you win or buy an item, it’s shipped for free through the US.
Additionally, DealDash offers occasional promotions on direct buy and bid pricing. A normal bid cost is $0.60, often with promotions; buyers can get them for as low as $0.12 apiece. These low-priced Bids can be saved for later bidding too when bid prices change and increase.
4) Bid manually or automate with Bid Buddy:
High-priced items in an auction can take a long before the bidding process completes. Each bid ticks the item price by $0.01, and the timer resets at 10 seconds. It may become tedious, and you may lose focus on the bidding strategy.
DealDash offers a bidding buddy that can automate the bidding strategy for you. It bids only at the last second, increasing the winning chances significantly. Bidders can also set the upper limit with the bid buddy and always stop bidding if they wish to buy the item.
DealDash, as a penny site, offers some limitations to the customers too.
5) Shipments only within the US:
DealDash makes free shipments to the US only. International buyers must arrange the product delivery through a third-party forwarding agent. That puts them at the disadvantage of paying more than domestic customers.
It makes it almost impossible for international customers to purchase with DealDash for small value prices. An international shipment cost may be worth many times the original product price.
6) Limited brands and Product Quality:
DealDash offers a wide range of products in several categories. The limited brand range and product quality may not be on par with open-market products.
Overstock and liquidated inventory products may not meet the customers’ quality expectations looking for cheap purchases.
7) You lose money if you don’t buy:
The business model of DealDash offers each customer to place an order directly through a “buy it now” option. Bidders may want to participate in auctions to secure a cheap deal.
That’s the primary lure for the bidders on penny auction sites. However, if you lose the bid and do not purchase the item, you’ll have to forfeit the money spent on the bids.
8) You may Win and Pay more:
A big disadvantage of bidding on auctions for products is that you do not always win. If your product is available for the “buy it now” option, you may secure it straight away and redeem lost bids.
Sometimes, bidders may take the auction to a higher-than-normal product price. With a won product through auction, you may still pay more than the listed price for the same item.
