Quibid and Swoopo.com are two relatively new “auction” sites. They claim to offer new items such as iPods, Macbooks, PS3, and other high-ticket popular purchases at bargain-basement prices through an auction-like process.
Here’s how it works – Every time you bid on an item, the price goes up (usually by 5 cents) and the auction is extended by anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds. This, in itself, isn’t too bad. At some point, someone doesn’t react quickly enough, so the last bidder wins, right?
Here’s the catch – it costs 60 or 70 cents to bid – every time you bid. So a $1000 laptop that finally sells for $200 has cost 4000 bids ($200 / 5 cents) times 60 cents per bid = $2400. Now, the winner doesn’t pay the whole 2400. He just pays for his bids. He’s probably clicked through, at a guess, 500 bids, so he’s paying $200 winning price, plus $300 for the bids (500 at 60 cents each). He got a good deal, but here’s the rub – everyone else bidding on the item has also paid 60 cents per bid – probably hundreds of bids each on average – and they got nothing for their bid money – zilch.
So unlike eBay and similar auction sites, where there are winners, but no actual losers (aside from the occasional scam or shoddy merchandise), Swoopo.com, Quibid.com and the like depend on many losers to make up for the one winner.
Beware.
I’m currently watching this auction on Quibid -
http://www.quibids.com/auction.php?id=15854
We’ll do the math later. It’s currently at about $35 – about $420 in bid fees.
2009/ 12/02 13:51 – Now at $105. So it’s still going strong, and they’ve already collected $1260 in bid fees. Most of the bidders at $35 appear to have dropped out.
2009/ 12/02 15:03 – Now 159 – they’ve collected 1900+ in bid fees, over and above what they’ll charge the ‘winner’. Not bad for a $1699 laptop.
2009/ 12/02 16:18 – Auction ended. The MacBook Pro went for $216.50. Quibid took in $2598 in bid fees, plus the $216.50 price, for a total of $2816, for a laptop that retails for $1699. Great deal for the winner, as long as he didn’t bit more than 1480 times. Not so great deal for everyone else who bid on the laptop, and thus spent $2382 for the privilege of clicking “bid now” many times.
The truth is in the eye of the beholder. Quibids requires strategy and math, and that’s it. If you can’t do either, then chances are, you’ll think it’s a scam.
I bought 100 bids for $60.
I used half those bids on an auction for an LG TV. And won! For $1.65.
$60/2 = $30
Cost of the TV: $1.65
Cost of my bids: $30
Subtotal: $31.65
Tax/Shipping: another $13
Total cost to me: $44.65.
I looked up the TV on eBay and it’s selling for around $150.
Do the math. Whether or not you get “scammed” is all relative to what you’re bidding on and the strategy you use trying to win it. If you spend $60 on 100 bids, and you use all of them on a $50 Lowe’s Gift Card, guess what? You’re a dolt.
I love reading all the “it’s a scam!” messages, filled with typos and terrible grammar. Says a lot. Yes, it’s a lot more like gambling than it is eBay. And in most cases, the house wins. Otherwise, there would be no house. But you can’t win if you don’t play.
The point is you may be saving some money if you play the game right; however the website is making a killing. I’m watching a HDTV auction being conducted as I’m typing and it’s at $125, an awesome deal – right? Well that $125 is equal to $7,560 of monies in bids – get it??? If you bid 100 times ($60 value) that is equal to one dollar at .1 cent increments. Thus, for an item to get to $126, you would have to have 12600 bids at .60 cents each – right? Now if you get the TV and you only make 500 bids or $300, plus the $126, (the winning bid) plus the shipping and handling, you did get a smoking deal since the retail value is $3,000. But I highly doubt the bidding will stop at anything less than $300, therefore the bid monies will be over 18K.
If that’s the case and Quibids paid retail (when you know they get wholesale) they made over $15K on that one deal alone – can you say scam!!! No matter what your “idiot mind” may believe or how great a deal you received, they are raping and pillaging. Let’s not even discuss the fact that they are auctioning bids vouchers, which are nothing more than are air. For example they auction a $25. bid voucher (which cost them nothing) and it goes for $5. That is an actual profit of $1500 for a coupon, nothing more. Starting to make sense…..whomever came up with this concept and website is a “thieving genius.”
QUESTION? WHY WOULD THEY RESET THE TIER WHEN SOMEONE BIDS OTHER THAN TO MAKE MORE MONEY OFF THE BIDDERS? 0.60CENTS TO BE EXACT. THATS NOT RIGHT. NOT RIGHT AT ALL. THUMBS DOWN TO QUIBIDS DUE TO THAT
I use bidrack.com and love them. i was about to sign up for quibids also. I shouldn’t. What is a swoop site. Is quibids one?
What you don’t understand is that, the point of a penny bidding website, like any business is to MAKE A PROFIT!!! If they bought the items and then sold them at the retail price they would barley have enough profit to pay the taxes on the business itself. They must do this in order to become a successful business. The whole thing is the people who bid the whole time, they waste their money, I get great deals because I bid at the right times, I strategize everything. If you strategize it you won’t end up losing money. Now you talk about Ebay and their auctions, they also make a profit off of each sale. The buyer has to pay the price for shipping and handling, but the seller never sees the shipping and handling money, that’s because half of that money goes toward shipping the product, but the other half is kept by ebay, thats how ebay makes their profit. No matter where you go, the company will make a profit, all you have to do is strategize your purchases.
Im seeing alot more complaints on this company so I would personally not use Quibids. It looks as tho many others are feling scammed by this company and are submitting complaints. Look how many unsatisfied customers they have! http://www.scambook.com/browse/index/company/10/Quibids
Sure it’s gambling and it’s fun. Just watch what you have in it & quit before you get into a biding war. Even if you do, when you reach thier (key word) value, you can still buy it & deduct your bids from the price.
HERE”S MY QUESTION: Are there bots or quibids employees bidding on items that either A don’t have many bidders or B show people winning big $ items for small bids. I saw someone win a 40in LCD HDTV tonight with 3 bids plus shipping.
I really hope they did get it that cheap! It’d keep my faith in the site & I’ll still have fun “betting” that I’ll win!
I’m new to quibids and I used 25 bids to win a 55 inch Samsung Smart LCD tv. The cost was 13.14 + 17.99 for shipping and handling. If you can do the math then I won. It’s not a scam. A scam is when you are given incorrect information so that they can take advantage of you. The site is 100% clear about how it works and the risks you are taking when you bid. I also bid on a coupon for more bids and won it for .01 + 1.00 for processing for 100 bids. Thats a savings of 58.99. I used those bids on a product that I didnt win because I got caught up in the excitement of the auction and I took it personal that I wasnt going to lose. Quibids gives the opportunity to get products at a ridiculous cost to the person who wins ad yes there are those that don’t. And what is the problem with their business model. I wish I would have though of that. If you dont like to lose, dont gamble.
Treat the site as an auction/raffle…not for everyone…some enjoy the excitement of the bidding..not a scam…and certainly fair…great business model!!! Wish I had thought of it.
All of the math in these comments is terrible. Its obviously not a retail vender but its not supposed to be.