Crazy new shopping site

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Do they charge 75 cents even for bids on the penny auctions?

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I'm watching that TomTom Go. It got down to six seconds, and then I guess so many people put in last-second bids that the clock bounced back up to 12 MINUTES!

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

amazing, why didn't I think of this?

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

amazing, why didn't I think of this?

I thought it was pretty brilliant, too! Plus, who's to know if they don't REALLY get last-minute bids, but they turn the clock back anyway?

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

This is much more like buying a lottery ticket than an auction. Pure luck if you happen to "win". I suspect this will not last long -- people will soon realize that their "bid" $$ are just subsidizing the bidder that happens to win the lottery.

Novel concept (for the developer), but no thanks.

Kurt

[Elan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Elan]

It is a clever concept. It will be interesting to check up on periodically to see how it evolves.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I have not been watching this site but I just saw this , What a joke a Nikon $500 camera just sold for $1.76 Auctions | Cheap Nikon D90 12.3 MP DSLR Camera with 18-105mm Kit auctions - bid & win on Swoopo

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

Interesting; they are selling cash.

You can bid on $500. Last sale was for $30.69. So they ‘sold’ on the auction $500 with each bid costing 75 cents. If they start at $1.00 (and I don’t know where they start) the $500 went for $29.69 over the starting price. If my math is right, at 75 cents per bid with a penny increase, that is about $2225 to the company to sell the $500. Wow, what a mark up, what a profit.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Very clever but yes, it is like buying a lottery ticket hoping yours is the last ticket bought.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

amazing, why didn't I think of this?

I thought it was pretty brilliant, too! Plus, who's to know if they don't REALLY get last-minute bids, but they turn the clock back anyway?

Why are we always a few moments too late!

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

Interesting; they are selling cash.

You can bid on $500. Last sale was for $30.69. So they ‘sold’ on the auction $500 with each bid costing 75 cents. If they start at $1.00 (and I don’t know where they start) the $500 went for $29.69 over the starting price. If my math is right, at 75 cents per bid with a penny increase, that is about $2225 to the company to sell the $500. Wow, what a mark up, what a profit.

Actually, they start their bids at $0. The "penny auctions" are the most lucrative for the company. For each bid placed, they will be collecting 76 cents (75 cent bid plus the 1 cent increase in the auction). But because the auction price goes up so slowly, more bids are made!

Just doing the math, for a penny auction, the amount of $$ collected is 76 times the final bid. In contrast, a normal 15-cent auction only brings in 6 times the final auction price. The real money is in the number of bids, not the final auction price.

Just to drive that point home, if there were two auctions that both ended at $50, the normal (15-cent increment) auction would have brought in $300 to the company. The penny auction, in contrast, would bring in a whopping $3800!!!

And not only do they have auctions for cash, they also have auctions to purchase more "bids"! (which of course can only be "spent" at their website) They are literally printing money here!

No wonder they call it "Entertainment Shopping". It is just a glorified online gambling site.

Kurt

[sonomom Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sonomom]

So has anyone had any success with this auction?

[m61376 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close m61376]

What a gimmick! The buyer can get a great deal, but hundreds of dollars are wasted by other bidders and the site is getting way over retail for most items.

[catwgirl Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close catwgirl]

I kind of have to wonder if this is legal??