This is new for me. People asking me questions. It is making me a little nervous. I hope i do a good job. I'm over- excited about this as usual. Here we go:
Starting with the One-Per-User Myth. I'm calling it that because i too have noticed that there is something suspect about the One-Per-User. It seems like some players shouldn't be able to go for the same item after winning one. But yet some people do seem to be able. So there is obviously some sort of loop hole in the One-Per-User Rule. Here are some possibilities:
1) Any new update, version, etc. immediately means it is a new item, and back up for grabs for anyone. Even a new color. Or a new tiny update of some sort. Or a different description word, or a they found a higher retail out there somewhere and are matching it. So "technically" it is a new item. So I bet even if you called DD out on this, saying you are looking for at the exact same item with same bidders on it, they'll come back and say, well, this one is "technically"different because it has a different serial number." And you say,"of course - don't they all have a unique serial number?" And they say "exactly." And you groan and roll your eyes.
2)Maybe One-Per-User is really "One-Per-List." So when one list gets too long they make a new list and it all starts again. I mean, we obviously know DD wants to make max dollars, but still come across as very fair. So they want people to keep coming back. So they have created loopholes
3) Their system doesn't track that well. I find that one hard to believe.
Why do the same players go after very similar items? Shouldn't they be satisfied with winning one mac computer already?
This is how the world works. It's not always fair. People do what they want. I think that after awhile, the players who have already gotten all their Hamilton Beach gear, bean bag chairs, giant giraffes and PS3 systems get bored and wait for a new item so they have something to go for. I think it is about the win. Or about Christmas presents or birthday presents. Everyone wants a deal. Even if they already got one.
I personally have a different moral code for DD (not that i've thought about this until about 2 seconds ago, but i like where i'm going with it). I don't go for things I've already won. Well, at the way beginning i did, but now, it's a one shot win for me. i don't need a bunch of cameras and computers. However, maybe i would have more friends if i gave them all mini-netbooks and ipods. hmmm......maybe my family members wouldn't have gotten sick about me talking about dealdash if i consistently gave them rad stuff....
And maybe people who have money to spend just like to get lots of stuff for cheap. Isn't that the 99 cent store phenomenon? Don't you always end up getting more stuff there just because it is 99 cents? I do. Because it makes me fee like i have dough. (although isn't it false advertising to call it a 99 cents stores, and then stuff is not always just 99 cents? That's crap).
After a while, you're sick of seeing the same old stuff up for auction, so when you have a new item pop up everyone goes a little bit ca-razy. (actually i usually say "crazy" as a 3 syllable word. I don't do it justice unless i say "ca-ray-zee." Yeah that is much better).
HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF DEALDASH TO NOW?
I'm calling on my long time player friends to pitch in on this one....that's LadyK, Proto, Drummerboy, Pennywiser, MyPreciouS, AbbyGirl, and i guess anyone who actually reads this. I shouldn't be too picky about that.
LadyK will jump in on this. She does a great job. (was that pressure? i didn't mean to put pressure on you).
I've noticed the obvious:
1) way more bid sales
2) 300 and 600 bid packs are no longer One-per-User (maybe because there really is no justifiable loophole for this one).
3) Major increase of hop-ons/jumpers/froggers or whatever your term of choice is.
I want to hear what some long time players have to say....let's wait and see.....
Heee Heee... Saw my name in RED and thought why is he calling me out... LOL
ReplyDeleteYes I guess I can do a little chiming in...
Hmmm How is DD different?
Well you took several of my answers but I have a few more but I'm sure not all of them so the others will have to pitch in as well. Several have been around longer than I...
The LOOK... The BID BUTTON used to be active at all times on ALL auctions. This was easy for the BIG BOYS and GIRLS to "TAG" the items they wanted. If you saw their name in the list of bids before the active bidding was to start, and you knew who they were... You most likely chose another item. DDash has now put restrictions on those buttons to not start until 30 seconds remain until active bidding begins. This prevents "TAGGING" and loss of income for DD because many would NOT go in an auction due to a main player already showing interest.
The PLAYERS...
# 1...Yes, the seasoned players have changed the way they play and
# 2... Some have left DD all together ~or~ they have deleted the old account, created a new user name and have joined again so they can change the way they used to play without being called out!
The RETAIL PRICING... The BIN features retail pricing was very close to the actual price but over time has slowly creeped up to be 1, 2, 3 and yes even 4 times the actual retial price. Why? My guess is because you are not only buying the item, you are also BUYING the BIDS back. Yeah they say use the BIN feature and get your bids back but they don't mean for FREE... There is padding in those retail prices that allow you to buy back those bids at a major discount but they are not FREE... like most assume! Bidders forget this when they complain about those high retail prices on the BIN. I'm guessing they do this so you will need to stay on the site and not just use up your bids and go elsewhere and forget about playing on DD. If they give you the bids back to your account you are almost sure to stick around and play and even buy more bids at regular prices to keep bidding.
NEWS... We get the occassional video blog from Dave at the bottom of the Main page. We never had that before! We also get the occassional newsletter in our emails and we never got any thing like that either until recently.
Advertising... I'm sure they did advertising previously but it sure seems like I see the DDash banners on almost every search engine I use. They also have an affiliate program but it is not for it's users, it is for the mainstream affiliate marketers and only available if you are an affiliate marketer that belongs to that particular company offering their program.
Social Networks... Again they recently "FINALLY" made their Facebook active and run a weekly contest for bids and I do believe they have a twitter account but I have not yet seen them utilize this network actively yet.
I was blocked I guess I wrote too much...
ReplyDeleteHere is my post continued!...
Items up for grabs... Well they used to have different products constantly on every page but now we see many, many repeats of the same ole, same ole... Gift cards used to be on here of many different types. Lots of the ones I used to love have been taken away and replaced with very few of my interest. Last year for Xmas I was able to give all three of my kids extra Santa Bags filled with Resteraunts, BestBuy and Clothing stores galore... We don't see much of that now... but we do get lots of APPLE cards!
I have made suggestions but only a handful have ever been implemented... now I'm sure forgotten!
GAMES... Yes DDash used to play games and I'm not talking the send in a picture and be in a drawing.. We used to have "FUN" on DDash and now it is getting a little boring just bidding. I like activities other than just bidding... Give us a goal and lets have some FUN again... but we don't have that anymore. I loved the Live Talk Radio shows... and the McDonald's Style Monopoly game we used to play.. ( Remember guys and gals the LETTERS we used to have to collect when winning an item?) No more fun games! That is why I thought these penny auction sites were called: Entertainment Shopping... because we were being entertained... not anymore folks!
DEALS... Yes we used to be able to get some SUPER HOT DEALS.. now that was what I called Discount Shopping.... Not anymore due to the influx of all the new players and the bid promo's they do almost multiple times during the month and some that not all of us know about.
BID BAR at bottom of screen and FREE BIDS once you attain that next level. We never had this bid bar until a few months ago. Many new sign ups were given this before the mainstream bidders were given access. But I think we only got that too because many found out about it via friends and family that joined and had it but we didn't and spilled the beans in forums.
Their NAME... They used to be called BIDRAY but are now DEALDASH... The colors of the site were different too...
Well I'm sure there have been many more changes than those above. I'm sure I'll think of more after I have hit the submit button on this post.
For now until someone else chimes in that is all I can think of... Hope it helps you out Annon!
LadyK
Yeah Yeah... I have spelling boo boo's... I was typing so fast I do make a few mistakes now and then so ... FIX EM... LOL No wait.. maybe I did them on purpose cuz i know it bugs you so much you need to comment.... Giggle! Just kidding! 8)
ReplyDeleteYou know LadyK, I have this other weird grammar quirk where once i know that someone KNOWS they typed too fast and have errors (like myself), it doesn't actually bother me. If I know you know, then i'm ok with it. Maybe that goes against everything i say, but basically, you are completely excused. I'm a grammar hypocrite too. But i admit that constantly. or i just make my own rules. Like my lower case "i." Though i do firmly believe in that one...
ReplyDeletethanks for the input...i was not aware of the GAMES you are talking about..that would be so much more fun....
Hmmmm.......
ReplyDeleteWell, the main thing you left out Lady, and that may be because they figured out who it was, when it was, etc, etc....
There was about 15 users that won EVERYTHING!
Strange thing is, it was actually 2 people.
You still can see a few of their names on the 1per lists. The really bad part of it, was if you actually challenged those bidders, you were DONE!!!! They would have another one of the names come in and KILL YOU (not litteraly, but it sure seemed like it sometimes). Or they would get you on another auction....JUST TO DO IT!
Before, they didnt give your bids back on BIN's.
They actually deducted the amount spent, which I DEFINATELY prefer.
They did switch out bids, but at a much higher rate than they do now. So those 15 accounts, had a riddiculous amount of bids.
The biggest change now is the number of users. It litteraly went from a user list of about 40-50 accounts, that bid EVVVVV ERRR RRRY (I'm using your 3 syllable word phrasing now) single day.
And Lady is correct about the tagging.... I got some amazing deals, and had some amazing battles as well. But for the most part, we (most of the other regulars) would leave an auction alone, if someone we had become "bid buddies" (I use that term lightly) with.
It honestly was like a family, and we were all doinga pretty good job of winning some really great stuff.
Now the look, the prices, the ending prices, all the stupid specials for discounted bids, the EFFING GAZILLION NOOBIES, and just the general feel of DD has TOTALLY CHANGED!!
Not anywhere near as mcuh fun as it used to be.
One more thing - the "games" that Lady speaks of, were pretty frikkin cool. It was a big holiday promotion and it seemed to work pretty well.
I think you had to spell XMAS, or.....? Heck, so long ago it seems; I guess I dont remember.
But there was like 2 X's and 15 or so of the other letters.
There was good battles, and it didnt matter if your "bid buddy" was on it....EVERYONE wanted to spell it.
If you got 1 letter, you got a discounted bid pack. 2 letters an amazon gift card for like $50, 3 letters a higher amount gift card, and if you got all 4... I think they paid out $1000.
(is that amount right Lady?)
One other thing - Dave ALWAYS used to talk to us on PAW...but when they started getting rid of the regulars, he stopped because I think he was tired of getting beat up ;)
TTYS...and GoooooooooooooooooooooD LUCK!
drummerboy
Very interesting info. Thanks! Drummerboy, what was the event about seven months ago that you referred to in a recent comment? It was supposedly something that didn't sit well with long-time bidders.
ReplyDeleteWhen did the name change to DealDash?
It looked as if OKKAMS was out for some sweet revenge tonight against queenEO (a bidder I despise). It was very interesting to watch. You may recall that queenEO won an item a couple of months ago that OKKAMS was bidding on. Tonight, I think the situations were reversed, with queenEO starting early and OKKAMS coming in later. I'm happy to say OKKAMS took the prize this time, a $100 Amazon card with 100 bids.
In queenEO's About me it says she is giving all her winnings to charity and thus price doesn't matter. Why, then, does she always seem to be bidding on bid packs? Her bidding style seems very similar to another bidder I despise, Dahan. Both are from Massachusetts. Probably coincidence, but it makes me wonder.
Hey Anon - thanks for the report for last night and for asking your questions. Got us all some interesting info.
ReplyDeleteHey Drum... Yes I'd have to agree that you got those amounts right for the game. It was fun times I wish they would bring something like that back on the table. I also remember the two you referred to as having those multiple accounts and YES we did stay away from them!!!!
ReplyDeleteTimes have changed and more so recently than over the span of time.
DD411... Remember why you gave PennyWiser the Sportsmanship Award? I do... it was when I kinda defended my position on not hoppin in a few auctions a little while ago..
Guess What... ???? I've changed my tune! Screw that thinking.... Like Proto just said in PAW you have to just start Hoppin to win on DD in this time of the game. ( If you have not read PAW lately you should! - Did you know Proto have been kicked off Perm for his About Me page!!!)
So from now on I have "NO" bid style anymore...
It is either Hop On or be Hopped On!!!! Screw the old thinking I am changing my ways....
No respect anymore and with all the new fishes in the pond that act like sharks and I'm the bait... well I just may need to win one of those fishing poles and do a little bit more FISHING myself and use some that have taken it upon themselves to bite.... Well take notice - I BITE BACK......
Hmmmm am I having a bad day or what? Teee Heee
Have a nice day anyway!
LK
Anon.....sorry I am soooooooo late with my answer. But like I said in a previous post, I could not leave a comment for a couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmmmmm..........did you pay your electric bill Mr. G.? ; )
OF COURSE I AM JUST KIDDING :)
The name changed a couple of months before I signed up. However, the band of thiefs that I spoke about were all still there and winning just about everything!
It was sooooooooooooooooooo different back then.
Now it chocked full of NOOOOBS! And they make me CRAZY!
Like Lady said, I have actually changed my bidding style as well. I just dont care about etiquette any more....unless of course someone I have respect for is bidding. And in that case, ALL RULES STILL APPLY!
Take care and good luck!
drummerboy