uBits

Bidding Rules, Reserves and Increments

One of the biggest confusions new customers have on uBid is fully understanding our bidding rules. We know it gets complicated with all the new auction sites popping up overnight, and the last thing we want is for something to get between customers and our deals. We want to keep the competitive, fair auction environment for all users that we have cultivated over the last 15 years.

With that in mind, let’s get down to some bidding basics.

Bidding: To get started, users must first register with uBid.com and sign into your account. Once logged in, users can bid on any item listed for auction. See something you like? Place a bid. You’re winning! Auctions are fun.

Increments:  Bid increments denote the dollar amount offered each time a bid is placed. Each auction has a minimum bid increment value. For example, if your current winning bid for an auction is $5 with a minimum bid increment of $1, the next bidder must bid at least $6 to beat you. Many of our auctions allow bid increments of just $1. 

Outbid: Once you have placed a bid on an item, keep your eyes open. Someone can outbid you for the item you want. This is a decidedly less enjoyable experience. If someone does outbid you, don’t despair, you can revisit the item and keep bidding up until the time the auction closes—which may include overtime. The highest bidder at the close of an auction will win the item and move forward with the purchase. And don’t worry, unlike other bid sites, uBid never charges customers to bid on items, so customer’s who don’t win the auction are NEVER charged anything. 

Reserves:  Some bidding sites allow what are called reserve prices. In this case, sellers are allowed to set a minimum price they are willing to sell their items to bidders for. If an item is not sold for that price, then the seller is not obligated to sell the item. Where’s the fun in that? uBid does NOT allow reserves on our website. If a product starts at $1 that means someone can buy it for $1.

That’s it. Easy and fun. We really love when our customers get good deals. We are the marketplace for winning. Happy bidding, everyone!

For more information on bidding and other uBid policies, please visit our website FAQ section. Additionally, our customer care team is available via phone, email or live chat to help ensure an optimal bidding experience.

Kick off the New Year with a uBid vacation!

Mountain Vacations is the second of a five part blog spotlighting the different types of vacation packages now being offered to uBid customers.  For high altitude at low rates, bookmark the uBid daily travel auctions for a chance to win a 7-night stay at one of Americas top mountain resorts.

Surrounded by forest and the scented smell of pines and spruce, America’s best mountain resorts are therapeutic retreats for on the go families. There’s no better place to leave the challenges associated with everyday life behind and relax in a gorgeous outdoor setting.

Wintertime mountain vacations:  Whether you’re ready to shred on fresh mountain powder or just looking to make it down the bunny hill, we’ll help you find the best ski resorts for your skill. Popular destinations like Canada, Utah, Tahoe, Poconos, and Colorado offer luxury resorts, ski lessons, and plenty of fun for the whole family. Take in the mountain beauty from the back of a horse-drawn sleigh or even set out on snowshoes, there are many ways to enjoy the mountains winter wonderland.

Summertime mountain vacations are filled with a myriad of nature activities. Pack a lunch and hike around countless mountains and ravines, snap photos of a bald eagle perched on a limb, or pick your favorite wild flowers along some untouched wilderness path. Listen to the birds as you slowly kayak along lakes and streams or feel your adrenaline rush as you raft down river rapids. Fly fish for trout and walleye, bike through a mountain gorge or ride horses through an open meadow.  All just part of what mountain vacations can offer.

When in town you will discover quaint shops in historical districts nestled against charming eateries.  You can celebrate local events and festivals or just snuggle with the one you love by the open fire and a mug of steaming cocoa.  Whatever season you are looking to travel, a mountain vacation will help answer nature’s call, so start planning your next mountain vacation today.

Have you taken advantage of a uBid trip recently?  Please tell us about it! Write a review so we can share your vacation experiences with fellow travelers.

Write a Review Now!

Find the Best Vacation for You

This is the first of a five part blog spotlighting the different types of vacation packages now being offered to UBid customers.  Part one focuses on Florida vacations.

Does your ideal vacation feature endless days spent worshipping the sun on a gorgeous beach? How about pristine beachcombing by day and sampling the some of America’s most cosmopolitan cities by night? Or maybe, you just want to escape to a secluded wilderness, where wildlife still roams free and the land is unspoiled by human hands. It doesn’t matter what your ideal vacation is, we have Florida vacation packages designed to meet your every need.

If you seek fun and excitement as well as relaxation, a Florida beach vacation may be just right. From the sugar white sands of the Gulf Coast communities to the stunning blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is home to some of the best beaches in the country.  We list daily auctions for a chance to win a week at some of the Florida’s nicest coastal areas, so check back and check often.

While officially named the Sunshine State, Florida’s sunny skies are only part of the appeal.

There’s no better way to bring the family together than with a 7-night vacation to Central Florida to visit the magical world of the Disney, Universal Studios, SeaWorld or any of the other popular theme park tourist attractions.  Excitement, laughter and ear-splitting shrieks are the soundtrack to Florida’s world class theme parks and offer family-friendly fun, thrills, animal encounters, and much more - the hardest part will be deciding which one to visit first. 

Start planning your next Florida vacation today!

Through daily uBid travel auctions you can win your next Florida trip for just hundreds of dollars, so check back and check often to determine which vacation is most suited to the type of experience you are seeking. Theme parks, rest and relaxation, exciting nightlife, sun drenched beaches — it’s all accessible in Florida.  

Have you taken a uBid trip recently?

Tell us about it! Write a review and share your vacation experiences with fellow travelers.

Write your Review Now!  

New RedTag shops at uBid.com

RedTag fans rejoice! In addition to our daily deals and flash sales, RedTag will now consistently offer three fixed-priced shops, including Apple products, Jewelry and Watches. All items are offered at well below market value to provide you with some of the best discounts on the web. Browse our new shops to find some great fixed-price holiday options!

Shoppers can now choose from sparkling pieces of jewelry at close-out prices on RedTag. The site hosts a beautiful selection of rings, necklaces and much more. Get luxury looks for the whole family with quality watches from the hottest brands, including Invicta and Seiko in both men’s and women’s styles. Visit the new Apple store on RedTag and get great deals on iPads, laptops and desktops for home, office or just for fun! RedTag now offers more shops to give customers more options and more chances to snag a great deal.

Still searching for great deals for the holidays? Check out the uBid Holiday Gift Guide for last minute deals on items, including cameras, laptops, and toys! Remember there are only a few days left to take advantage of great deals from uBid and RedTag for the holiday season: To receive purchases by Christmas Day, the final day to ship purchases is Monday December 17, so keep that in mind!

uBid’s Buy a Toy, Give a Toy to Toys For Tots!

Help us make the holidays brighter for children less fortunate this holiday season – uBid.com and RedTag recently kicked off our “Buy a Toy, Give a Toy” toy drive, benefiting Toys for Tots. Did you know that 22% of children under 18 in the US live in poverty?* That’s a sobering statistic and it most likely means that toys and games are not high on the priority list for these families at this time of year. We want to help put some smiles on faces and make the holidays a little brighter by making sure as many kids as possible have a gift to open on Christmas. It’s easy for you to join us in support. For every toy you purchase on uBid or RedTag through the end of the year, we’ll donate one to Toys for Tots!

Our goal is to donate 3,000 toys to Toys for Tots by year end so we’ve stocked our site with highly sought after toys - all you need to do is take care of your holiday shopping list while supporting a timely and worthy cause, all without leaving the comfort of your home!

The link below will bring you to a great selection of toys available on uBid, which includes popular brands like Mattel, Fisher Price and Lego. You’ll find all price ranges, age ranges and toy types are represented. You can bid and win in an exciting auction style toy listing or in many cases, simply just uBuyNow! Every toy you see on either one of our sites is eligible for the toy drive, and be sure to check video game consoles in our Electronics category too!

Be sure to visit RedTag the week of December 10 for a big Toy Event as well - if you’d like an Event reminder, sign up for RedTag email alerts!

Tis the season to give (back) and we hope you do, too. Happy shopping!

*SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010, Report P60, n. 238, Table B-2, pp. 68-73. 

http://www.ubid.com/sporting-goods/toys-games/?tots/?uwb=BlogZW

uBid Getaways – A great way to take a break and get a deal at the same time!

Luxury worldwide resort destinations auctioned daily…check back/check often for great deals!

At Auction, a leading provider of business to consumer managed auction services, partners with a leading property management firm to provide daily $1 start bid, no reserve auctions for hundreds of domestic and worldwide resort destinations.  All vacation packages are auctioned through uBid.com and provide consumers great vacation deals and a winning auction experience!

uBid Getaways offers daily auctions and a chance to win 7 night accommodations in a fully furnished condominium-style resort.  You will enjoy a fantastic array of amenities such as full kitchens, dining areas and greater sleeping capacity than traditional hotel rooms.  While these are timeshare resorts, neither you nor your guests are required to attend a sales presentation, so take advantage of great values and win your next vacation today!

Choose From Top Getaway Destinations: Arts & culture, beaches & coastal, ski & mountains, gambling casinos, theme parks, and outdoor adventures. There’s a choice for every taste!

Reservations and Booking Terms: It’s so easy to make your one-stop reservations! Booking must be made within 180 days of your win date, through the At Auction Concierge Booking Center at 800-322-7315 ext 4806 or via email at travel@atauction.com.  your stay must be completed within 12 months from your win date, and vacations can be booked 180 days in advance. With all vacation packages, peak travel periods are blacked out and booking is on a first come first served basis. All dates are subject to change and additional information may be provided at the time of booking.

Note: (*must be 21 years old to check-in.)

Flat Rate Fees: Industry standard for condo rentals is to charge actual usage and service fees in addition to the base rental. Typical charges, fees and assessments include; cleaning services, limited damage waivers, weekly water and energy surcharge, accommodation and maintenance fees, various taxes and occasionally resort fees.  As part of our auction service we have negotiated a flat rate fee with the resort you will be visiting. The flat fee for travel packages depends on room size; studio, one, two or three bed room condos and range from $190 to $240 due at the time you book your reservation.

Stop by and bid on our Travel Packages often – new and exciting trips are added often! If you ever have questions about our Travel Packages, feel free to contact Customer Care!

Black Friday/Cyber Monday on uBid and RedTag

Cyber Week Rules! Whether you’re grabbing a few presents for yourself or getting your holiday shopping out of the way,uBid.com has a variety of great items to meet all of your shopping needs. This year, in addition to amazing deals offered on uBid.com and our sister site, RedTag.com, we are featuring two big giveaway events on our site each weekday of Cyber Week! We’re offering the chance to win two coveted holiday gifts this season – the brand new iPad Mini and WiiU. 

 uBid.com: Win a free iPad Mini on uBid.com! Enter between Cyber Monday, November 26 and Friday, November 30 for your chance to win the newest mini tablet from Apple. For your chance to win, simply visit uBid.com and click the link on the home page to submit your entry.  One iPad Mini will be given away each weekday of Cyber Week, so you have five chances to win a new tablet (you can only win once, though!). Visit the website, and enter to win. It’s that simple!

“Freebies RedTag Style!” Starts Cyber Monday, November 26 thru Friday, November 30, RedTag.com will give away the highly anticipated Nintento WiiU! All you need to do for your chance to win is go to RedTag.com and click the home page link to submit your entry info!  Like the uBid.com giveaway, to win the WiiU, simply enter your information and you’re in! One WiiU will be given away each weekday of Cyber Week, so you have five chances to win!  Make sure to read through the details so you are familiar with all the sweepstakes terms.

Of course, in addition to our big Cyber Week sweepstakes giveaways, uBid.com and RedTag.com will offer big savings opportunities on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

-Black Friday, uBid.com offers “3 Days, 3 Ways” promos with awesome featured auctions lasting 24, 48 and 72 hours on great gift items. 

-Black Friday, RedTag.com will feature 3 Crazy BF Events - Tablets, Jewelry Electronics - rock bottom prices on a variety of items everyone wants!  

-Cyber Monday uBid.com hosts 16-hour “Cyber Crashers!” auctions opening every hour starting at 8am CDT. 

-Cyber Monday, RedTag.com will offer 9 fixed-price “SiteBusters” Deals beginning at midnight CDT and running through the evening - Hourly limited time and quantity deals opening and closing throughout the day and so be sure if you see something you like you jump on it because it might not be there long! Also make sure to stop back often so you can see the newest deals rolling! 

Want to start shopping early? Sign up for our Black Friday and Cyber Monday/Cyber Week Sneak Peeks here. For more information on our holiday deals visit uBid.com. Happy Holidays from uBid.com and RedTag.com!

uBid.com and RedTag.com Holiday Policies

The holidays are right around the corner! Starting with Black Friday, November 23, uBid.com and RedTag.com will begin offering some very special holiday deals on technology, electronics, home goods, memorabilia and collectibles, gadgets and more for everyone on your list. Before you bid on or purchase gifts for your loved ones, we would like to highlight our Holiday Policies in force through the remainder of 2012:

No Hassle Return Policy: In the event that a gift purchased with uBid.com or RedTag.com isn’t quite the right fit, you are welcome to return the item. If you make a purchase between November 22, 2012 and December 22, 2012, you have until January 15, 2013 to make a return. If you make a purchase before or after these dates, our standard 15-day return policy will be in effect. Learn more about our general terms for returns at http://www.ubid.com/help/default.aspx  

Customer Care Holiday Hours:  Looking for that right gift?  Have a question about shipping? We are happy to help our customers enhance their shopping experience. For the holiday season, our customer care team is available via phone 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (CDT) Monday thru Friday, via live chat 9 a.m. – 10 p.m. (CDT) Monday thru Friday, and via the email webform 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at http://www.ubid.com/help/topic38.asp?footer.  We are committed to providing world-class customer care so don’t hesitate to contact us!

Holiday Shipping Policies and Key Dates: Be sure to keep these dates and shipping policies in mind while finishing your holiday shopping on uBid.com. To receive purchases by Christmas Day the final day to ship purchases using USPS shipping is Monday, December 14, 2012 by 3 p.m. (CDT); the last day to ship purchases made using Fed Ex Ground Shipping is December 17, 2012 by 3 p.m. (CDT); the final day to ship purchases made using UPS Ground is December 17, 2012 by 3 p.m. (CDT).

Additional Helpful Hints: Please remember that all orders require credit card authorization prior to the order being processed. Be aware that this can affect timing of shipments. To help avoid processing delays, please make sure you have a valid/current credit card and correct billing address associated with your uBid/RedTag.com account(s) at the time of purchase.

For additional questions about our holiday policies feel free to contact our customer care team. Happy Holidays from uBid.com and RedTag.com!

Overtime on uBid.com

Many of our customers have asked about our “Overtime” policy. Today, we’d like to shed a little light on that policy.

Overtime is a policy that uBid employs to reduce bid sniping. On sites like eBay, bid snipers wait until the last possible moment before an auction closes to enter a bid, with the hope of outbidding others without giving them a chance to bid back. We believe bid sniping takes the fun out of auctions, and we want to give everyone a fair chance to win merchandise.

If a person bids within the last five minutes of an auction’s close time, overtime will extend that auction by an additional five minutes. The auction’s countdown clock will then show the new time left in the auction. Each time a bid comes in during the overtime period, the clock will reset to five minutes.  Once no bids have been placed for a five minute period, the highest bidder wins the auction.

There is no limit to the number of times an auction can be extended by overtime. Bidders who are outbid during this time will receive emails notifying them that they have been outbid, but it’s recommended that bidders check back periodically before and during overtime to get a status on their item. 

For more information, please visit our FAQ section for uBid’s Overtime and other policies, or contact our customer care team members via phone, email or live chat.

Mega Auctions at uBid.com – More for Less, Every Day!

At uBid.com, we offer unique auctions to give our customers the best deals on the web. We are the only auction site to offer Mega Auctions on quality merchandise every day. Customers can find deals on everything from tablets and electronics to housewares to collectibles in our Mega Auctions.

A Mega Auction or “Mega” is a large quantity auction listing, primarily offering more than 10 of the same product. Sellers list items in Megas all at one time, and each auction starts at only $1 each. Mega auction times vary but typically last for a maximum of seven days. Since there is no top limit to how many of one product can be listed in a Mega Auctions this means there’s more chances for more people to bid and win these items for far less than anywhere else! Many of our customers have gotten deals on merchandise up to 80% off retail prices!

Megas work the same way as any other auction on the uBid site. Customers bid on the items listed and at the end of an auction the top bidders win the item. The difference between Megas and other auctions is the winning process; Megas can have winners at various bid amounts depending on when the bids were placed and how many bidders were involved.

To see what’s up this week on our Mega Auctions, please visit our website or for more info or help on the bidding process, contact our customer care team members via phone, email or live chat.