Auctions start off as 20 second auctions. If the time gets below 20 seconds then the next bid resets the clock to 20 seconds. If several people are using bid butlers at the same time the auction will increase by 20 seconds for everyone while different parties are using Bid Butlers in the same price range.
Gradually this moves down to 15 seconds and finally 10 seconds. The bidding is more difficult with less time and the change for making an error increases.
Swoopo places a limit of 8 wins per month per account. This is what keeps the sharks from dominating Swoopo. The open auction allows anyone to bid. Beware these are shark infested waters. Only experienced bidders should even attempt an Open Auction as this is where all the expert Swoopers hang out.
The beginner auction is where you get your feet wet with Swoopo. You bid against other rookies who have yet to win something in the world of Swoopo. If there is anything you find remotely interesting in the beginner auction you should get it. Once you win any auction on Swoopo you will no longer have the opportunity to win a beginner auction.
Be smart. Read the material here first and then dominate your Swoopo Beginner Auction.
In this auction Bid Butlers are not allowed. This auction requires good timing and patience. You should also have a very reliable computer and stable Internet connection.
The key to this type of auction is being able to go the distance. You want to find a key amount of buffer time that you can get your bid in without missing your opportunity.
One of the biggest mistakes people make in this type of auction is not bidding. Often times they will count the number of bidders and see that several people are bidding. Typically you will see four people bidding. Everyone thinks the other three will bid at the last section to increase the time. What happens is that everyone ends up staring at each other wondering why they didn’t bid and how that other guy ended up with their prize.
This is similar to other auction types with the exception that instead of the price rising $0.15 it rises a penny. This is an advanced auction type. Typically higher priced items are listed under the penny auction type. If timed well this can be extremely profitable, but they are also very competitive.
Consider the case of a $1,199 television penny auction I recently saw listed. The final price for the 42 inch Philips television was $24.07. For the guy who had to buy this in the end it was a total steal. Remember that this was a penny auction so all bidders combined spent $1,807 dollars on this auction. Not a bad deal for Swoopo. Even if you had the majority of the bids you may have come out ok, but you have to be willing to spend a lot and not screw up in the end.
Sometimes you can do well even if you have the majority of the bids. I’ve seen a 37 inch go for $7.05 when it retails for $1,299. Even if you had all of the bids you would have only spent $528.
The important thing to understand about penny auction is that it is very easy to get in at the end, but in order to win you may need to spend hundreds of dollars in bids and even after spending hundreds there is no guarantee you will win.