Summary Bid-up.tv is an interactive auction channel featuring on Sky Digital (647), Freeview (24), Ntlworld and Telewest. It is the sister channel of pricedrop.tv (see my review dated 1/1/2004) however, it has been established for a longer period of time and was one of the first live auction channels to be created on television. There are approximately 6 to 10 auctions each hour, with the channel operating between 8 am and 1 am, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. All auctions start at either a £1 or a higher amount set by the channel.
How does it work? Bid-up.tv is very similar to a traditional style auction where the highest bidders are successful. In the vast majority of auctions there are more than one item available to be bought meaning that multiple bidders will be successful. Basically bidders are free to bid whatever amount they wish as long as this is the same or higher than the value of the ‘bidup from arrow’ (described later) displayed on screen. At the beginning of each auction the presenter introduces the product by giving viewers some basic information about it. On their television screen viewers are given several pieces of information. This includes: unique telephone number for each auction that viewers need to ring if they wish to make a bid by phone guide price (recommended retail price – giving a very rough estimate to the value of the product on sale. However, this figure is often very inflated on what most people would pay for the item) quantity (number of items in the current auction) GB mainland post and packaging amount (This is the amount that a successful bidder has to pay on top of the amount of their bid. This figure is quite high at being normally £6.95 or above. This is for standard delivery within 5 working days.) bidup from arrow (this informs viewers the minimum price they will need to bid in order to be successful. However, this figure can jump by several pounds at once meaning that is wise for bids to be made £5 to £10 higher than this amount. This amount only begins to increase when there are more bidders than quantity available in the auction.) scrolling information bar along the bottom of the screen containing some detail about the product itself. During an auction the important thing to watch is the amount of the bidup from arrow. Bidders need to make a bid at or greater than this price. If however, the value of this arrow is £2 higher than your bid then you have been eliminated for the auction and need to bid higher if you want to get the product. If several people all bid the same price and there are not enough products available in the auction to supply to everyone then the first people to bid the amount get the product.
How do you make a bid? You bid in an auction by phone or on the Internet. To bid by phone you simply ring the number displayed on the television screen, which is unique to each auction. The cost of the phone call is 75p per minute, which is worth considering when deciding how to bid. When your call is answered by the automated system you are told what product you are bidding for and you then enter using your telephone keypad the amount you wish to bid in pounds. For example if you wanted to bid £10 then you would press ‘1’ then ‘0’. You then press the ‘#’ key and your bid is read back to you. Then you press the ‘1’ key to confirm your bid, which legally binds you to paying for the product if your bid is successful. Then you end the call and this entire process takes approximately 40 seconds. If you do not wish to increase your bid then you wait to be called back by a call centre operator on the phone number that their system automatically stored when you placed your bid. The operator will ask for your delivery and payment details. If however, you need to increase your bid then you have to ring back the number and go through the same steps as before. To bid by the Internet you need to visit their website at www.bid-up.tv. Here you register your payment and delivery details to be used in all your orders before you are allowed to place a bid. All bids made by their website are known as max-I-bids. This means that you enter the highest amount you are willing to pay. However, if the ‘bid up from arrow’ does not reach this amount then you pay the lowest price that as a phone bid you would be successful at. For example if you bid £60 but the value in the ‘bid up from arrow’ is £40 then you pay £39. The three main advantages of bidding online are you don’t pay the cost of a call in order to bid, you can get more detail about the product and you will not pay more than you have to, unlike what can happen on the phone line where you have to pay the exact price you bid.
How do you pay? You pay by the main credit/debit cards including Visa, Mastercard, Switch, JCB, Solo and Delta.
Returns and refunds If you are unhappy with your purchase then you can return it at your own expense to the company in as good as new condition for a refund, excluding any delivery costs as long as the customer contacts the company within 14 days after receipt of their order. If however, the item is faulty on receipt then post and packaging will be refunded on top of the cost of the item.
Useful advice It is possible to make savings on items as long as you know what a product is worth and do not pay more than this amount. Therefore it is worth going on their website to view forthcoming auctions within the next 24 hours. Also if the amount you have to pay is greater than the items true value then remember that the vast majority of auctions are repeated later in the day or on the next couple of days. Finally it is worth picking the best times of when to place a bid. This is because like any television channel more people watch at certain times of the day meaning that more people are likely to bid resulting in a higher price you end up paying. Therefore it is worth placing bids on auctions featured early morning or late evening.
More details
Content Update
Very often
Security & Privacy Statement
Satisfactory
Search Facility
Average
Bid Tracking Function
Satisfactory
Ability to Customise
Poor
Customer Service Support
Satisfactory
Client Number / Order Number
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