Thanks to this website, I’ve enjoyed a long list of inexpensive vacations. The first auction I won, back in 2000, was for roundtrip airfare to Puerto Vallarta from Dallas with accommodation in a two-bedroom condo at the luxurious Mayan Palace. My winning bid: $226 per person.

Since then, I’ve won auctions for travel packages including roundtrip airfare to Guatemala from Kansas City plus accommodation in Antigua for $303 per person, roundtrip airfare from Omaha to Belize for $354, and many upscale hotel and resort stays in places like Cozumel ($16 per night) and Puerto Vallarta ($7 per night).

I’ve won auctions where I’ve paid just $1 for a seven-night stay at luxurious beachfront resorts in both Nuevo Vallarta and Cancun.

Travel auctions aren’t for the timid, however. Once you win an auction, you’re obliged to pay up. So it’s best to know what you’re doing.

There’s more than one online travel auction site out there…and they all feature a slightly different way to play. It’s best, then, to spend some time on the website and get a feel for how things work before you join in the bidding.

For those willing to give it a go, I reveal the tips, tricks and resources you’ll need…plus four travel auction websites you should visit…in the current April issue of International Living magazine. You can subscribe now with this special link and get a subscription for just $17…and instant access to my travel auction article.