There is nothing more exciting than participating in an auction when you bid to win!

A bid to win auction is one where one person or company has something to sell but isn’t sure of just how much he can sell it for. So he holds an auction where those who want to buy the item places a bid on it, the person who places the highest bid, wins the auction. According to the dictionary  “a bid is the highest price a prospective buyer is willing to pay for an item at a given moment.”

A bid to win auction might have many bidders involved. Bidding increments are set prior to the auction and can be as low as a penny or much higher, perhaps $500.  At least two participants are needed in a bid to win auction, bidders may know other bidders or the bidding can be anonymous.

Win to bid auctions also may have a “reserve price”, this is actually the lowest price the seller will accept and is usually the opening bid. Win to bid auctions used to be primarily used for the sale of paintings and artworks, but with introduction of the Internet, and sites like http://www.bidfriends.com and similar sites  one can conduct an auction for just about anything. Generally, these are win to bid auctions with specific rules and mimic traditional auctions. They can be great fun if one is trying to find some obscure item, or the newest in electronics. Many times, in a win to bid auction the last few seconds can be very exciting. One gets quite a charge by being the winning (high) bidder for their prize that they otherwise might not be able to obtain.

Auction sites like bidfriends sometimes make bid to win auctions a bit different. For instance, on yellmann one can only bid in increments of $.15. Also, on http://www.bidfriends.com the bidding controls the timing – each bid extends the auction by so many seconds.

Bidders should make sure that they are familiar with the item they are trying to win in a Bid to Win auction. They should also carefully check the auction site out before bidding. Finally, the keen excitement of the bidding war gets your adrenaline going, make sure you have set a limit for your bid and stick too it. Otherwise, in all the excitement of a bid to win auction you might pay more than you can afford or more than the item or service is worth.

Bid to Win auctioneers (the person running the auction) is paid by commission on the sale.

Another type of auction is known as a reverse auction. The Encyclopedia describes a reverse auction as:

Reverse auction is a type of auction in which the role of the buyer and seller are reversed, with     the primary objective to drive purchase prices downward. In an ordinary auction  buyers compete to obtain a good or service. In a reverse auction, sellers     compete to provide a good or service by offering progressively lower quotes until no supplier is     willing to make a lower bid.

There are numerous reverse auction sites online. Originally started as a means of B2B procurement, there are now numerous sites for reverse auctions for consumer products. Where as in a bid to win auction, the seller attempts to get absolute highest price for an item. In a reverse auction, the buyer attempts to purchase the item at the lowest possible price. It works thusly, the seller sets a price for the item he wants to auction. Buyers, instead of using the starting price as the low point in pricing of the auction item, use it as the high point. Bidders in a reverse auction than submit bids below the starting price.

In a reverse auctions the bidders are not the buyers, they are the sellers. A reverse auction is won by the seller who is willing to accept the lowest price for a particular good or service. The reverse auction ends, when sellers stop bidding. In general, the lowest bid is the winning bid.

Whether you participate in a bid to win auction or a reverse auction it is a fun and exciting way of getting goods and services. And, usually, you get them at a good price.

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