Internet users can purchase virtually
everything via online auctions. Auctions range from computers, to collectibles
to real-estate. Auction44.comis
the leading auction site in Nigeria, and essentially it is a marketplace where
buyers and sellers can interface.
Online auctions
typically last for a fixed period of time, usually seven days. Bidders enter
the highest amount they are willing to pay for an item. The highest bidder at
the close of the auction earns the right to purchase it at the agreed price.
All of these seem straightforward, but the nature of the bidding is something
that few people are aware of.
Now what is Proxy Bidding?
Auction44, along with some other popular
auction sites, employs the use of proxy
bidding. Perhaps the easiest way to explain proxy bidding is to provide an example.
Suppose that a seller has listed some mangosteen juice
for sale on Auction44.com and the auction ends on Friday. Sometimes there are
many people that are interested in an item but for the sake of simplicity,
let's assume that there are only two people interested in this particular
auction: Luka and John.
John discovers the auction on Monday and
places a bid for N1.00. On Tuesday, Luka
notices the auction and sees that someone else (John) has already placed a bid. Luka is interested in purchasing the mangosteen juice,
but he won't be able to monitor the auction since he is very busy. So instead
of entering N1.25 as his bid (he
couldn't bid N1.01 because Auction44 has
minimum-increment requirements), Luka enters N9.63. He enters this as a regular
bid, but only Auction44 'knows' this
amount - it isn't revealed to anyone else. On the auction listing, Luka is
shown as the highest bidder with a bid
of N1.25 even though he bid much more.
Auction44 has placed the lowest bid
possible on behalf of Luka.
On Wednesday, John checks the listing again,
and sees that he has been outbid, and so he places a bid of N1.50, but seconds later he sees that
the highest bidder is listed as Luka for N1.75. Auction44 has instantly placed
a bid on Luka's behalf - again the
lowest amount possible to remain the high bidder. John is frustrated and
continues to place bids; the process continues until John reaches N3.00 at
which point he gives up. No other bids are placed, and when the auction closes,
Luka is pronounced the winner for N3.25 (one bid
increment higher than John's highest bid)
even though the bid he entered was
N9.63.
So you can see that on those sites that use proxy bidding, it is safe to bid as much as you are willing to pay for an
item. You are only going to have to pay one-bid
increment more than the highest opposing bidder. Of course, if someone outbids
your maximum bid, then you will not win
the auction.
You are clearly at an advantage if you bid
the highest amount you are willing to pay for an item from the first instance,
especially if you don’t have time or internet access to monitor the auction.
We hope you
have learnt one or two things by reading our knowledge series newsletter. Thank
you for your time.
You must first be a registered member. Once you have registered simply login to your account and click on the "Sell" link. The first thing to do is select a general category for your item, note that you can choose a more specific category further into the listing process. You can then enter in your chosen settings and item description
To place a bid on an item you must first login to your account. Once logged in a bidding box will be displayed at bottom of all auction pages. You can use this box to place you chosen bid
As with every market place, there is the possibility of some rogue traders, we advise that you read the payment methods in an auction before bidding, ask a bidder if you can inspect his/her item before submitting your bid, ask if you can come and pay in cash when you are picking up, email us to find out if the seller is verified by us or not, these are just some of the questions that you can use to judge the motive of a seller. again as with every marketplace we wont expect you to buy with your eyes closed.
As the site grows in transaction, the feedback system will help in verifying sellers, but for now, rely on your judgement, "if something is too good to be true, its probably not true" - Buyer Bewar
Finally do not send payment that can not be traced... such as moneygram or western union to anyone you have not bought from before.
You should register as a business and create a storefront which will also serve as your website for advertising purpose. All stores will be subject to approval.
NO! we are a God fearing organisation and will not allow pornographic , prostitution, drugs or any offensive materialson our auction site. any listing that violates this rule will be removed immediately. should you come across such listing please use the contact us link to report.
