I found this great blog post on BidFire's blog. Below is BidFire's suggested tips and strategies.
Tips and Strategies January 13, 2011
At BidFire, we've come up with a long list of tips, meant to help you get familiarized with our site, bidding and developing strategy. Some of these may help you when bidding but keep in mind, they do not provide any guarantees of winning an auction. Remember this is a game of skill and to get the best deals you should know the game inside and out!
Get to Know BidFire
We suggest that you get familiarized with our site by watching a few auctions and noticing how other bidders place there bids. After watching a few of the Auctions in the CampFire View you will start to get the feel of how things work and how people bid.
Watch the competition. Follow certain users and take notes on who they are, when they bid, what they bid on, and how often they win.
Read FAQ’s & Watch the Video Tutorial
Read all the FAQ's and watch the video tutorial.
Review the Closed Auctions Section
Check out auctions that have ended. You can find our Closed Auctions Section on the main page above the Auction Grid. Click on the "Closed" button to review the auctions from the previous few days.
Once you’re in the Closed Auction section you can page through all the closed auctions by clicking on the page number or the next button at the bottom of the grid.
Look for patterns on specific items you're interested in, look at the closing price and who won the auction. This will give you an idea of how many bids you will need to win and who you will go up against.
Timing is everything!
Timing is everything! The time of day, the day of the week, & the time you place your bid.
The time of day is very important for getting the price you want and narrowing down the competition. Check auctions throughout the day and notice how many bidders appear to be competing for each auction. Certain times of the day have less people bidding on auctions then others. Remember if it looks like there are only a few people bidding on an item, there probably is only a few people bidding on the item.
Always be sure to bid before the last 5 seconds of the countdown to ensure that your bid registers!
There are so many auctions, which one should I bid on?
Picking your auction carefully is crucial to your success. If you're new to Competitive Shopping, try starting with smaller auctions before diving into the big ones. These auctions are our lower risk auctions, there are less people bidding on them and therefore they are easier to win with smaller amounts of bids.
Our Featured Auctions are high risk/high reward. They have the most people bidding on them using high amounts of bids, these auctions can be won with just a few bids and this happens all the time, however, this strategy may not be effective. You must go into these auctions preparing to place a significant amount of bids in order to win!
Surprise Auctions can appear anytime throughout the day, a lot of the time these auctions appear out of no where and whoever spots them reaps the benefits. Sometimes we’ll announce the Surprise Auctions through Twitter, and sometimes we won’t so be sure to refresh your screen occasionally if you want to take part in these Surprise Auctions! Here’s a little hint....These auctions usually appear on half hour, 20 minute mark, or 15 minute mark, however they could be at anytime.
Following us on Twitter keeps you ahead of the game by getting last minute Auction Updates and Surprise Auction Notifications!
When should I place my bid?
Place your bids using a certain strategy. Bid first, bid late, or always counteract. Change up your bidding strategy occasionally to keep other users on their toes, remember that they are doing their homework also. Most likely other members of the Firing Squad are keeping track of the way you bid just as you should be watching them.
A common newbie bidding tactic is to wait until the last second to bid. Does this work? Not really. When it's over, it's over, and the auction will not accept any more bids. Respect the clock, bid early and often, or risk losing out on your deal!
Watch the timer and bid no later than the last 5 seconds to make sure your bid has time to register. If the counter seems to be reaching zero pretty often, it can mean that there are few users bidding on that item and this gives you an edge by increasing your chances of winning.
It's always a good rule of thumb to try placing a bid even if you are shown as the current leader. When you are the current leader, the bid will not register, however, if you place a bid and it registers, this could indicate that the timer on your computer is not isync with our servers. Refresh your browser occasionally to make sure that we are all on the same page.
Realize that winning is all about knowing your opponent & knowing when to place your bid.
Watch the clock
Watch the timer at all times. The timer will start at a set countdown, usually 30 seconds. The timer reset is shown in the top left corner in the CampFire View or in the bottom left corner of each auction on the Auction Grid. The clock will reset everytime someone places a bid under the set timer countdown. Watch what time other members place their bid.
Depending on the action, at times we may switch the timer countdown from 30 seconds to 20 or 15 second resets. If we decide to change the timer reset we will announce it over Twitter, which will update the Twitter feed at the top of our site, so be sure to read the Twitter feed!
Don’t Bid too Late and Miss your Chance to Win
Don't bid too late and miss out! You may want to wait until the very last second because you think someone else is going to bid, when all of a sudden you try to place a bid and the timer runs out. To ensure that your bid registers, be sure to push the bid button before the clock dips below 5 seconds.
If you do miss your chance to win, keep your eye open for that product again, it shouldn’t be too long until it goes up for Auction. You can also request what auctions you would like to see by sending an email to wishlist@bidfire.com
Determine how much you are willing to spend on each auction
Don’t go into an auction thinking that you’re going to win with 1 bid every time because most likely you are not. This does happen all the time however, this is not a good strategy to live by. Set a realistic amount of bids that you’re willing to place for each auction.
Our Firing Squad (you, the users!) get amazing deals every day. Every item on BidFire sells at rock bottom bargain prices, but it’s better to start on some of the lower priced products and work your way up. Cheaper products tend to have fewer bidders and therefore are more likely to win. Once you get the hang of BidFire and develop your strategy, you're more likely to win the major items.
When you purchase larger BidPacks you will get better deals. If you have a large amount of bids in your account you won’t run out of bids as quickly when you're in auction and miss out on getting the deal you were bidding on.
And don’t forget to keep track of your winnings and your budget. The more information you track the better!
Should I bid on more than one Auction at a time?
This is up to how comfortable you are with our site and competitive shopping in general!
Try to concentrate your bidding on one or a few items. Placing bids randomly is not a good strategy. There are better times to bid, and better days of the week to get better deals. The number of users online at any time changes from minute to minute, hour to hour and day to day. Use this to your advantage.
Should I bid on BidPacks?
Winning BidPacks is a good way to get a discount on bids! We run BidPacks all day long and you can win them for just a few bids a lot of the time. BidPacks are also good auctions to jump into and get your feet wet. However, watch out because at times these auction turn into turf wars. This is a good arena to show who’s boss.
If you have some helpful tips that you'd like to see added to this list, feel free to contact our Support Team and let them know.
