How I Saved $168.17 On A Recent Purchase!

Are you looking to save lots of money by getting huge bargains on merchandise? I don’t know many people that would say no to that question, but I want to make something clear right from the beginning. I’m not an advocate for mass consumption, especially just because you are able to get a huge discount. I am of the opinion that if you need something, it’s just really nice to save money in the process.

Today, I am going to share something with you that I have found to be a great resource in helping my family and I save money on things we are already looking to buy. I must warn you though, this is not a method that you can just jump into without knowing how it works. As with any major purchase, you must do your homework in order to make the best decision come time to buy, or in this case bid.

I found a really great auction site.

Recently, my wife and I decided to start the very popular P90X workout program. As we have embraced a more active lifestyle, we became interested in a device that would help us track our progress among other things. In taking on such an aggressive workout program my doctor recommended that I purchase some kind of heart rate monitor. As many of you know I also love hiking, and learned about GPS watches that track altitude, GPS location, mileage, heart rate, and much more. Coincidentally, I was introduced to a line of performance tracking watches developed by Garmin. Garmin created the popular Forerunner series so I started looking into purchasing one.

I checked website after website trying to compare and see exactly where I could find the absolute best prices. Anyone familiar with these GPS wrist watches knows that they can be a bit pricey. For what I was looking for, the prices seemed to be anywhere from $150-$500.  That’s when I came across Quibids.com. On the Garmin website, the suggested retail price of the model I ended up buying is $199.99. According to that price, I saved $168.17!!

Important to note: I did my homework on both the GPS watches, and the Quibids website before I was ready to purchase. I cannot stress how important this key component is when buying products, but especially when using an auction site such as Quibids. Even the website stresses this fact!

Here’s How It Works

For starters, I would highly recommend checking out the Quibids 101 tab on the home page to familiarize yourself with how it works. STUDY the information there! I will summarize as best I can but please don’t rely on me completely. My goal is simply to introduce you to the process by giving you the basics.

First things first! DO YOUR HOMEWORK and become familiar with the process!!

When you’re ready to start bidding you go to the site and purchase bid packs as follows:

• Baby Bid Pack – $27.00 (45 Bids)
  
• Beginners Bid Pack – $45 (75 Bids)
  
• Standard Bid Pack – $180 (300 Bids)
• Premium Bid Pack – $360 (600 Bids)
• Ultimate Bid Pack – $480 (800 Bids)

Even though you may feel like you are ready to start bidding I would still recommend (just as the website does) bidding in the beginner auctions. These auctions consist of low dollar items that you can often get for less than $1.00. For instance you can actually bid on bid packs of 25, 50, 100, and 250 bids. There are $10, $15, $25, $50; even $100 and $200 gift cards too, some even giving you the option to choose the card you want after you win. My wife won a couple of gift cards to Target and Amazon.com for VERY CHEAP!

I purchased 45 bids, and won 100 giving me 145 total bids to use in the auction process. It took me 35 total bids to win the Garmin Forerunner 305!

Before the timer reaches zero, and someone outbids the previous bidder, time is added to the clock just like a real auction. (Going once, going twice…sold to the Enemy of Debt for $1.92!) 😀 This can go on for a while but it is still worth it to stick it out if you are truly in the market for that item. Almost ALL items go for WAY LESS than value price. You just don’t know. Sometimes a $400 XBOX 360 that is Kinect ready will sell for $33, and other times it will go for over $100.

The site has a great feature that allows you to purchase an item you bid on but lost, by using your lost bids as a credit. Each bid costs around sixty cents so if you are truly in the market for something, and are outbid, you can buy the item at the “value price” minus the cost of your placed bids. Does that make sense? For example, had I lost the auction for the Garmin Forerunner, I could have bought it after the fact for only $140.05. ($160.45 minus $20.40) Remember the retail cost on the Garmin website was $200 so the value price is still a great bargain.

That’s why I think it’s good to go into this with the mindset that you are willing to pay the already discounted price the site has listed. In my case, I wanted a Garmin Forerunner 305 and was perfectly happy paying the $160.45 price it was listed for. This way you don’t waste money bidding on stuff you really don’t need simply because you think you might be able to get a great deal on it. I can tell you that is a huge mistake!

If handled incorrectly, it is possible to lose big. When I won the Garmin Forerunner for so cheap, it kind of gave me “gold fever” for lack of a better term. In other words, it’s like gambling because you start to convince yourself you can win anything. All I am trying to say is be careful and know your limits! There are seasoned bidders that are willing to bid knowing that they may end up paying the value price.

GO HERE to check out Quibids.com for yourself! Good luck getting yourself some great bargains on merchandise you are already in the market for.

DISCLAIMER: If you purchase bids using any of the links in this post I will receive 25 bids for referring you. I am not affiliated with Quibids.com, nor was I paid to publish this post. I simply wanted to share my savings with you, and the site gives 25 bids for each referral which you can benefit from too.

Examples of Won Items on the Site

Here’s a wide range of items you can bid on and win! When I was in the “watching” stage of doing my homework, I painfully watched a Garmin GPS Forerunner 305 sell for thirty-three cents! It took everything I had not to jump right in and start bidding on the very next one, but I forced myself to wait just a little bit longer. The next one sold for over $40! Glad I waited.