The Penny Auction industry is on the decline - there is no question about that. Here's a Google Trends report for search volume of the phrase "Penny Auction:
The volume peaked in 2011 and never really came back. That was the time where every Tom, Dick and Harry thought starting a new penny auction site was the way to riches. However, like any business, this is hard work and you cannot slap together a site with a pre-canned script and expect to make money. A number of scams and
popular sites closing down didn't help either. It was probably a fatigue, but the industry never saw it's previous highs.
The one good thing with the drop in popularity of Penny Auctions is that now you there is less competition with other bidders and indeed you can end up winning some cool items. I remember times when popular items like iPads would go on for more than 24 hours, which is insane. That madness has reduced and therefore dedicated bidders can now hope to win some good items using
Penny Auction Strategies.
Anyway, here are the list of surviving penny auction sites that have been around for a while now and saw the downturn in the industry but are still in business and have no intention of closing down. They are doing something right, obviously.
#1 QuiBids: Yes, this is still on the top of my list. QuiBids is the largest penny auction site in the world and it's crown is certainly well deserved. It has kept it's cool and flourished where others have floundered. It has a very strong commitment to keeping bidders happy and always has a Buy Now option so you don't have to lose any money at all. The QuiBids store is a great new resource that has helped the company survive and
sometime the price is less than Amazon!
See how QuiBids does on the Google Trends for the search word 'QuiBids': It's peak is after the crazy 2011 period.
#2 Beezid: Beezid is well known for making penny auctions more popular than the niche of bidders. They run
commercials, even today, on TV which is a strategy that didn't seem to have worked out too well of QuiBids but Beezid has perfected marketing. They have special events and extraordinary promos that keep bidders in the loop and wanting to come back.
#3 HappyBidDay: This has always been a surprise entry. On the surface, this site looks like any of the thousands of penny auction sites that had been around during the boom times. However, the business end is extremely dedicated and the site has only grown in popularity over time. It's almost incredible what you can accomplish if you're dedicated to your business and can stick through the tough times. As the business flourishes, bidders are rewarded with great deals, special promos and all the other goodies.It recently broke the Alexa traffic stats to be in the top 15,000 websites visited in the entire US.
#4 PennyGrab: PennyGrab was a late entry to the world of penny auctions and it doesn't run traditional penny auctions, rather running the
timerless penny auctions. It has done surprisingly well and was always a well run penny auction company.
#5 DealDash: DealDash is another popular penny auction site that has seen ebbing and rising fortunes even during the boom times. However, the site has kept true to its word of serving the consumers first and therefore was able to survive. It has a loyal customer base and they didn't seem to have defected because they got all the good deals here.
What are your favorite penny auctions?