BidKat: A New Way to Auction (Online)

 

BidKat: A New Way to Auction (Online)

                 

Bidkat is a new take on online auctioning, that helps you with the hardest part of any auction, and that is, negotiating a price. From what I could find out, it pretty much is a third party service that creates a Craig’s List listing (kind of redundant) for your product, but then again this was according to commenters on LifeHacker.com.

How it Works:

·          

F  First find something worth selling.

·     Next create a profile of said product at BidKat.com (this part is free)

·     All you have to do is spread the link around to sites like Craig’s List, Facebook, and Twitter to name a few.

Sit back and wait for the item to be sold. That’s what they say on their site (I’ll provide a link to it at the end in the sources section).

Skeptical

 My question is what’s in it for them? The site is too new and there isn’t much information offered on it, or the web for that matter.

What I Found Out

They seem to offer an ability to buy an upgraded service but even looking through their terms of service and their website; I can’t figure out what they could be. I’m guessing more in-depth analytics, and maybe an auto-posting feature on sites that they have on a list. There are extra services that the site provides for a fee such as; advice on how to garner more hits on your item thus increasing the chance of selling it, and will be expected to be paid for before-hand and not after a sale.

Things to Keep in Mind

                This came directly from the terms of service page, and is just a few things to keep in mind   when and if you decide to use their service:

·         Do not use their site as a promotional tool for your own site

·         They have the right to terminate and ban any item during any stage of the selling process without needing to give a reason.

·         No pornography

·         You can’t use their service to sell pirated/stolen goods and properties

·         Upgrade fees and paid services through BidKat are non-refundable

·         Don’t mislead your sellers

·         Don’t use their services to “spam” or vice-versa

·         When posting your BidKat profile to third party sites (like Facebook, Google+, and what not) it is up to you the seller to make sure that your item complies with their guidelines.

·         Make sure your product doesn’t infringe on any copyright laws, this is relevant if you use Google or another search engine to find a picture of your item instead of using one from your personal collection. 

My Impressions

  I like the fact that you’re not limited with the number of items you can auction up at any one time. There is also the fact that the items don’t have a time limit, and you as the seller can terminate the sale at any time. That is one thing I hate about EBay that if you choose anything other than the standard 7 days, you have to pay extra, sure it’s not really that much, but you still have to pay extra. For me this is always a problem since I do most of my work at night (I’m an insomniac) and so I tend to sell things at 2 or 3 AM when any sane human being is asleep.  I also have that feeling that if I only had a little bit of extra time my item would have gotten the proper exposure it needed to sell. They suggest a price for you, and to me that seems to be the hardest part.

              

  As a whole, I’m intrigued by the site, sure it’s in its infancy but it seems promising.  I like the fact that it’s free and there isn’t any time limit. I hope that it remains free even when and if the site picks up in popularity. It always seems that every time you get in on something at the “ground floor” you end up paying for it later on down the line. Maybe they might use advertisement to supplement them, but right now the site is pristine and free of any weird third party ads; you know the ones that mimic the item you searched for on Amazon. How many ads for rechargeable AA batteries do I need, sometimes it’s just creepy.

Source:

BidKat.com

Catie Keeler is the primary researcher and writer for mortgagerates.info. Her most recent accomplishments include graduating from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill with a degree in business and communications. Her current focus for the site involves mortgage refinance rates and maryland mortgage rates.