While we’re happy about the new badge system for auction companies, including the gold ribbon for a strategic partnership, we’re hoping that Proxibid may soon honor or reward the lifeblood of its portal: the bidder.

Bidders on eBay get stars and, more important, eBay Bucks. Teletrade bidders get Gold Rewards. We know Proxibid has much to handle, coordinating all those auctions; but sometimes we feel that all Proxibidders get are credit card bills, email blasts, and reminders to spend more.

Maybe we’re biased. We do bid a lot now and then. But let’s look at it from the auctioneer’s perspective. While badges and partnerships are good for bidding, the portal is relying on auctioneers to offer specials–and we’ve seen far too few of those lately. In fact, it’s been months since we wrote about that in this post.

In the past Proxibid gave away prizes. That was fun. But it also was a promotion and did little to encourage return bidders and ever higher rollers.

Here are some suggestions:

1. For each new registrant, award $10 in Proxibucks.
2. For each $1,000 spent on the portal each month, award 1% cash back on the next single auction purchase of $500 or more.
3. For each $10,000 spent on the portal each quarter, award 2% cash back for the next single auction purchase of $1,000 or more.
4. For each $100,000 spent on the portal each year, award 3% cash back.

If Proxibid doesn’t want to do cash, then offer free tickets on this Proxibid site.

We think encouraging return and ever higher bidding will be a bonanza for Proxibid as it has been for its rivals. (This week’s posts are sponsored by Teletrade; watch for its specials announced tomorrow–a chance to win gold coins for everyone who bids in the auction.)

We appreciate Proxibid’s focus on quality control. And we honestly feel this is the a terrific place to purchase coins and find bargains. But it’s time to honor bidders with something more than “Congratulations! You are approved to bid in this auction” 🙂

Proxiblog is an independent entity with no connection to the auction portal Proxibid. Our intent is to uphold basic numismatic standards as established by the American Numismatic Association and the National Auctioneer Association and to ensure a pleasurable bidding experience not only on Proxibid but also on similar portals such as iCollector and AuctionZip.