I Got A Kindle For $1.21

How is that for a headline. But it is true–kind of.  There is a new company I discovered locally called CityCents.com and the best way I can describe them is the child that would result if eBay and Groupon hooked up!

I will preface that my total out of pocket on the new Kindle was $32.15, but I am not complaining and I wanted to share it with you before it is really discovered.

They do not do a great job of explaining the process on their site, so let me give it a shot. You buy “bids” for 70 cents and they come in various quantities.  Each time you place a bid (either initially or to re-bid) it will use one of these “bids” and essentially cost you 70 cents.

All auctions start at $0.00 (yup, that is zero) and they all increment by $0.01 (yup, that’s a penny). To prevent swoopers from coming in at the last second, any bids received in the final 30 seconds will extend the clock to allow people to bid again or join in the bidding (they make more money at 70 cents a pop) and when it gets down to zero with no more bids, the deal is done.

They do not have a lot of inventory like eBay, but the stuff they have is useful and they put up new stuff daily. They have local and national items; but currently the only local items are in the Baltimore region, but they are looking to expand to Philly, New York, Boston, and Washington DC very soon.

Here are some recent winning items and the price paid:

• $10 Target Gift Card $0.38
• $50 BP Gas Card $1.10
• iPod Nano 16GB $.07
• My Kindle $1.21
• iPod Touch $6.27

You get the idea. Just keep in mind that each bid you make costs you the penny (to place or increment the amount) plus 70 cents to actually place the bid. There is also a shipping charge on each piece as well, so you want to figure that in on your cost. But for me, a $31 Kindle is a bargain. Plus, my daughter will be happy since I will no longer have to mooch off of hers!

Check it out and give it a go if there is something that interests you. It is a local company (to me), and in this day, when we can save a buck or many–I am all for it! And right now, while it is still undiscovered, the competition is light!