Remember how it works…

Bids are "sealed". No one knows what bids have been placed until the auction closes and the bids are compared. At that point the highest bid placed wins.

You pay a small entry fee of up to £5 per bid to take part.

Multiple Winners. For most Lots there is a Secret Price above which the supplier will allow us to accept every bid, so even if you don't offer the highest, you can sometimes win anyway. We only disclose the highest bid, so you will never know what the Secret Price is. (This allows our suppliers to discreetly move inventory without undermining published prices, something else you can really benefit from).

What are the biggest mistakes that bidders make?

Don’t bid too low:

Although we usually have low minimum bids, please don't imagine that this is a lottery. Most first time bidders bid too low.

Don’t bid too high:

In most auctions we will receive a few unnecessarily high bids. However because the bidding is non-binding, these customers will usually decline! (when we call to accept their bid and ask for payment). We then contact the next highest bidder and so on (in a process we call "trickle down") until we get to the highest serious bid.

So there is no point in your wasting your entry fee on a bid that you are not serious about.

Our best advice is to bid the maximum that YOU personally are actually prepared to pay for the item in question: That way you will be in a position to say, "yes I'll take it" when we call you!

How should my bid compare to worth?

Every auction and every Lot is different, and it is of course up to you to name the price you would really pay. However, over time, the following pattern has emerged:

- 4% of winning bids have achieved 60% discount or better

- 27% of winning bids have achieved 40% discount or better

- 81% of winning bids have achieved 20% discount or better

What about the "worth" value for each Lot?

Please note that we generally quote the upper end of prices that we know people are prepared to pay, not the lowest. We always quote “worth up to…” and where possible, we quote the High Street price, the supplier’s suggested retail price or similar.

Please also note that once a lot is open for bidding, we do not keep track of price changes and you may find that cheaper prices than our quoted worth up to figure can be found in sales, stock clearances or special website promotions.

Other useful tips

• You may bid for as many items as you want and the more bids you make, the less each bid costs.
  
  (£5 for one bid, £15 for five bids and £30 for as many bids as you like)
  
  
• Bid early! In the event that two identical highest bids are submitted, the winning bid will be the first received.

Tell me about the winners?

Our top 3,000 High Bid customers have now spent over £6 million getting themselves the latest technology, exotic style items, five star holidays and exquisite weekend escapes. Why? Because they have secured excellent deals on products that cannot usually be obtained at a discount.

One of our best customers has bid in 33 auctions, won 27 times and has saved himself over £32,000! His tactic is to make multiple bids at 25-45% off and to always bid again, with a slightly higher bid, when offered a Second Chance. He will then usually have several winning bids, but it is only at that point that he actually decides which ones he wants! So for his entry fee he secures himself the option on a choice of fantastic products not normally available at discount.

Our first 80,000 signed up users have, between them, had over 12,500 winning bids. So there really are plenty of chances to win.

Check it out for yourself at the Results section on this site, where the last 2,000 winning bids are available for your scrutiny.

Conclusion

You now have the full inside story. This is a terrific secret and it works! So get bidding. Good luck!

We think this is the smart way to buy the best... at great prices!