I am still amazed at what happened last night! I got into this auction on bidmacs knowing I never win anything. Bidmacs is very different from an eBay auction. With eBay as you know, most (not all) products are used or if new, the prices really aren’t that far off of retail. Bidmacs only deals with brand new items, still in the manufacturers packaging, and still with all warranty info inside the box so that you can register whatever the item is that you won. Here’s how the bidding works. You first have to buy a package of “bids” and there are a number of packages you can choose from. Then once you have your package, that number of bids shows on your page to let you know how many times you can click on “bid now” for a particular item up for sale. Each bid is 1 CENT and raises the bid by a penny only. These are called penny auctions. Once you get a good feel for them, you can win brand new items dirt cheap. The idea behind it is to win the bid by being the last to bid as the clock hits 0. Should someone click bid now at 1 sec left or anything above that, then the clock returns to 20 seconds to go. Since each bid only ups the price by 1 penny, this bidding can go on a longgggg time.
Last night, in one of my regular sleepless times with a what-can-I-do-with-myself-now mode, I logged on to Bidmacs and saw this laptop up for grabs. I thought since I had bids left to work with, I’d go ahead and have some fun. Holy cow, I won! I sat there with my mouth hanging open when I saw the red flag go up saying Bidding Closed, Won by JennyD. I just couldn’t believe my eyes! I never win anything. But this is the most amazing part of all: It is an HP ProBook 4420s with a retail of $600, and I won it with a bid of……..Ta-Dahhhhh, drum roll, $27.13. Hewlett Packard mails it to you themselves and there’s not even any shipping and handling. Incredible. Here’s what it looks like:
Now this isn’t even the end of the story. I went to the page to pay my $27.13 and finished with that. Then I went back to the main page to see what else was up for bidding (yes, completely awake by now). Bidding was going strong on about 12-15 items at a time, even including LCD big TV’s. I saw someone win a 42” LCD TV for under $10. And remember, everything is brand new, not refurbished. Well, all of a sudden I saw this other little laptop thing called a Lenovo IdeaPad. I googled it and found out it’s like a little regular laptop of only 10 inches, but it does something else, too. If you want to turn it into a reader such as a Kindle or a Nook, the top swivels around and then slides over top of the keypad so that you are now only seeing the screen. You can read a book vertically, or with the flip of a wrist, change to horizontally and immediately the entire format of that book goes to horizontal with you! I swear, what will they think of next! Here’s what that little gizmo looks like:
See how it will swivel and then change to a pad? I think that’s ingenious. So the bidding is going on and I’m starting to salivate. Holy cow, I won again! Now this little thing doesn’t retail for as much as the HP, but still, the retail was $250. My winning bid and what I had to pay for it was….drum roll again….$10.61 ! It even comes bundled with Windows 7 and a bunch of other stuff. Wow. And I just want it as a reader, lol. What a night of miracles it was. Two big wins for a total of $37.74
I am still shaking my head in wonder and I haven’t closed my mouth YET. Both will be here in about 2 weeks and then all I have to do is find someone to show me how to use a laptop, LOL. I’ve never used one in my life! I’m so excited 
That is my news for now. It’s 10:35am and I need to get a move-on for the day and get back to reality. It sure was good catching up with everyone and hearing what’s been going on. I’ll be making Carole’s chicken recipe this weekend IF I can fit through the kitchen door after all of Beth’s Christmas goodies. What great friends, eh?
XOXOXO
Oh my goodness gracious, sweet Jenny! This is simply AWESOME! I'm so happy for you!!!!! ((hugs))
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised you're excited Jenny, what marvellous bargains, in fact wonderful bargains ...and all because of a sleepless night...I wish I had ones like that... ;-)
ReplyDeleteHope your chicken recipe goes well, Mmm, sounds lovely!!
I love pre-raphaelite paintings & prints, so full of life and 'other wordly' beauty, and of course Romance...I could sit and stare at them for ages....Sigh!! xPenx
Congratulations! With my luck I'd win and get nothing but an empty box with a picture of the item inside:)The only thing I've ever won was an X Box from Taco Bell several years ago. I had no idea what an X-Box was but Laura and her friends sure did. They went out of their itty-bitty elementary school minds over it!
ReplyDeleteOh,man, Jenny---that's fabulous!!!
ReplyDeleteI've not heard of Bidmac; it sounds like a pretty interesting concept; gonna look into it!
I've been working on holiday stuffage meself and have to set aside a bit of time to make a birthday present for Steve, too; time is quickly running out.
Again, I'm tickled for you and hope your winning days are far from over. Then, agaion, you'll always be a winner in my book!!!
Mucho huggos!
WOW!! CONGRATULATIONS!! I have never heard of that place but I am going to check it out. I had a laptop in addition to my PC but I gave it to my son in law. Now I am thinking of getting another one.
ReplyDeleteJust a heads up here. You have to BUY the bid packages first in order to make "a" bid on an item. Each tewime you click "bid now" it subtracts one of the bids you paid for to use. Now, if you use up ALL that package, you have to figure that $ in with what you are paying for your win, and that would be your real cost. In my case, I lucked out and only clicked a few times and won, so the price I paid really was the price I got it for. I still have almost an entire package of bids left. Make sense? Read the "How it works" on the site VERY carefully before you commit to buying a package of bids.
ReplyDeleteLol, "tewime"? Good lord, that was supposed to read "time"
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Jenny! That's the most fabulous win by anyone I "know"! Holy COW! Man, I should have been doing that during all of the times the cat kept me awake! Maybe I'd win a hot tub.
ReplyDeleteLove your suggestion as to what to do.."so, how's it goin'?" I laughed. OH..I have had cars like that too. All I can think is they will be stone deaf before a few months are up.
I love your new background!! The header is awesome!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!!Jenny I love techy toys and this is so exciting. Thanx.
ReplyDeleteCONGRATULATIONS!! Girl.. Wow. Way to go.
ReplyDeleteYou have me really really smiling.
xoxox
OH MY GOSH, I just remembered the brand name of my first computer 15 yrs ago. NO idea why it popped into my head just now. EMachine !!!
ReplyDeleteDarn, nevermind. EMachine was my 2nd computer. Drats, still can't think of that other brand. I'll be awake for days now.
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous of your new toys and especially that you practically stole them! I must admit I've never heard of that auction site, but you can bet I'll be checking it out. I buy lots of stuff on eBay, but the only used things I buy are antique type of things. That's where I've been getting beads and other fun things for my pin sets.
ReplyDeleteLove your new look here too. Now I'm off to Bidmacs.
congrats sounds a worthwhile sleepless night.
ReplyDeleteI googled it and saw where some people had some major problems with it, mainly because they didn't take the time to read the fine print before bidding. Thanks for letting me know how it works.
ReplyDeleteWhoooo-hooo,Jenny! All that fun with adrenaline gushing..then pow! You won TWICE!What amazing luck/blessings. Jenny,thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Though I can't afford the insurance(would only leave $500.00!) I appreciate you letting me know.You are a real sweetie!So glad I "met"ya!
ReplyDeleteYes, Cindy. The pkg is bought for whatever amt (diff pkgs to choose from) and each bid within that pkg is actually costing 60 cents, so each click of "bid now" on an item is 60 cents. I clicked 8 times on one item, Lenovo IdeaPad, so that's 4.80, then won with a bid of $10.61, so I actually pd $15.41 for the item that retailed at $250. A GREAT win for me (and the first was even better but only by luck), but you can see how if a person goes wild on clicking, they could end up paying a bunch of money without even realizing it. I'm fortunate because the vast majority of my bid pkg is still intact. But that's just how my head works. I read and I weigh and then decide.
ReplyDeleteWOW!!!! My sleepless nites (alot lately) have never been that exciting. At least I don't think so ;-)
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear about all of it when they arrive. I am so happy for you kiddo!
Now I am going to have ah cuppah somthin. Tea? CocOa?
Now go git some sleep and dream of sugar plums. Jist what are sugar plums???? HUGS!!!!
Wow! Way to go Jenny! I am really happy for you.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of bidmacs up until now.
Thank you for stopping by in your travels. Now I need to get some shut eye. It has be a long week.I will come back when I am not so tired. Have a nice weekend.
xx's Dianne :)
I am trying to think how anyone can profit (at the seller's end) from this. Since my belief in altruism is at its usual year-end (or christmas) low, I am wrestling with this...
ReplyDeleteBut congratulations - if you won (twice!) who cares what they are up to?
As to using a laptop, if you can figure out how to open it so the screen is exposed and not down on the keybard - then you know all you need to know - since you clearly already know how to use a computer. The only difference with a laptop is that the keyboard, workin's, and screen are all mooshed together - less cords! (None if you have the battery revved up.) I always have to attach a mouse to my laptop, because I will NEVER get used to a touchpad, which I hate - but most people don't need to do this.
Enjoy your loot!
David, here's how that site makes money, and it's a TON of money. Picture this, one bid costs you 60 cents (per click), and bunches of other people are clicking away, too, at the same cost; so, when a winner comes about, it's not what they win for (which is great for the winner), but it's all those 60 clicks that happened along the way by everyone else. So, yeah, I got the little laptop for $10, but think of all the 60cent clicks by the rest. I'd dare to say that the site made not only my $10 plus my piddly 8 clicks by luck ($4.80) but probably a couple hundred bucks in total on an item with a retail of $250. See? My win was $10.61, so that's 1,061 clicks at 60cents a click = $636.60 MINUS the retail of $250, so the site made $386.60 profit. And that's only on ONE auction. They're making mega bucks.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds confusing but Kudos to you for winning 2 in a row girl! I'm gonna go investigate this Bidmacs too. You may have started something here. lol
ReplyDeleteOh, lord. NO, I didn't want to start anything. That site is VERY tricky and you have to study it and really learn 'before' you ever lay out one dime. Kimmy, you could go broke quickly. Please be careful, sweetie. I studied that site and the bidding for months before I tried it, AND I was only lucky, believe me. Most lose their shirts.
ReplyDeleteI just visited I didn't sign up. It sounds alot like another place I've seen advertise on tv alot. Quibids I didn't sign up for that one either. They can take your money quick!
ReplyDeleteMommy said good idea to check my back and ears. My ears are normal in temperature and my back looks good from what she can see and tell.
ReplyDeleteI think I have to wait till it all exits my body. Mommy said never again.
Congratulations on your wins! I enjoy having a laptop, especially the part of being able to take it where ever I want to be in the house. The touch pad and I don't exactly get along, so I use a mouse. The Lenovo IdeaPad sounds really neat. As a reader it should work quite well.
ReplyDeleteJenny D.. No one is as sweet as you and I mean that. Thank you for lifting my sprits and putting a smile on my face. I love your header and the look of your space. Stunning.
ReplyDeleteThanks again.
Your loved by so many of us my heart sister.
Lisa