If you have made the decision to buy a new gadget, you will obviously want the best deal. As you may have seen, MadBid’s auction prices are pretty hard to beat, so how is MadBid cheap? And how much does it really cost?

If you won an auction back in 2008, you probably would have enjoyed over 80% discount on your brand new product. Since MadBid is becoming popular, the auction closing prices are becoming less predictable. It was normal to see iPhones close for under £50 only half a year ago. Not now, sometimes the auctions close for £150 and sometimes they close for £50, but anything lower is quite rare to see. I guess it’s still quite a bargain if you look at the retail prices of top-line smartphones on the market, but it does beg the question, is MadBid as cheap as it used to be?  Well, now that the Earned Discount is fully in place which ensures every penny a customer spends gets returned, so how much does an average shop on MadBid cost?

“A good MadBid tip is to check the the Buy Now discount directly underneath the timer, this will allow you to see the value you spend every time you click Bid”

Well, assuming you will want to get your brand new gadget for an average discount of 80%, you will need to buy a credit package that will allow you to bid in auctions. Credit packages range in prices, from £17.99 to £300. Make sure to watch out for the MadBid promo codes when you register to get and extra credit boost. If you are new to MadBid, you can use promo code Starter24 to double your credits (please note that you will not be getting free credits, the value you pay will be spread across the extra free credit package).  So let’s say you buy the normal credit package of £27.99 and this money now gets turned into credits and it’s a little confusing because you Bid in credits in auctions so you do not see how much money you’ve spent. A good MadBid tip is to check the the Buy Now discount directly underneath the timer, this will allow you to see the value you spend every time you click Bid. If you are bidding in multiple auctions, it might be a good idea to check now and again your credit balance. If you are really battling out in an auction and you think you will need more credits than £27.99, watch out for the Rapid Recharge feature the next time you buy a credit package. This handy little feature will pick up any live discount codes and it will give you 10% extra credits. The best part about Rapid Recharge is, it will ensure you can carry on bidding without having to leave the auctions.

So here is an example, let’s say you have bought £27.99 worth of credits, and you were bidding to win an iPhone, if you have Rapid Recharge turned on, it would automatically top up your account with more credits which would cost another £20 approx once you run out of credits. Assuming you have this feature turned on, the total is £47.99 so far.  Let’s say you won an iPhone auction which closed in the auction for £50. That takes your spent budget to £97.99 not including shipping, which brings the final bill to £104.98. So there you go, this is what you would have paid for a brand new iPhone if you are the winner of the MadBid auction. So yes, the original £27.99 you thought you would get your iPhone for is higher than you started but considering that your iPhone will have all the seals and whistles, it’s not too bad a deal.

So what happens if you spend £47.99 after your Rapid Recharge and you do not win the auction?

Well, you will see that £47.99 in your Earned Discount section so don’t worry, that money hasn’t gone anywhere. Now if you just want the iPhone, on MadBid it costs exactly the same as it would in the Apple store, so you can use that £47.99 as discount and then add another £400 and buy your brand new iPhone. You might also want to try another iPhone auction, so you can also buy more credits with this £47.99 in the Earned Discount section (please note, the extra credits you buy from the Earned Discount section will have no monetary value, otherwise this would be a never ending cycle).

Alternatively, as you browse through the Earned Discount shop you might decide you like other products that are on there like Beats by Dr. Dre Studio Headphones that usually cost £279.99 but you can buy on MadBid for £199. With your £47.99 Earned Discount, these headphones would cost you £151 which is also good value for money, considering these headphones are ace (read the MadBid review about the best headphones for TV to see why we love them).

And that sums up the different ways to shop on MadBid. To answer your question, is MadBid cheap? Yes, if you win auctions. Is it good value for money, yes if you know the product you want. As always, we love hearing from our customers so do let us know the products you got discount on while shopping on MadBid in the comment section below.

Related to this Article
–  MadBid vs eBid, here is our summary of the different types of online auctions

–  You can find great bargains with online auctions, see our pick of the weird products you can get online

–  Still wondering how MadBid works? Read the MadBid reviews and be in the know