brvheart 1,752 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Have you seen this site advertised?http://www.quibids.com/It's the site that people buy Ipads for like $8 and new cars for like $500.Every bid costs $0.60 to make, and people literally can. not. help. themselves.Every product is brand new. The site is a reseller. When people bid the timer adds 20 seconds. So every item is in a perpetual state of almost being finished, which keeps bidders rabid.Let's take the IPad for a second.If an IPad sells for more than $8 the site is making money. Every bid increases the price of the item by 1 cent. So if an IPad gets up to $8, that means that 800 bids have been placed. 800 bids x 60 cents/per bid = $480.On top of that, the winner then pays the winning amount, in this case $8, and they also pay shipping and handling.Then the site can advertise... "HEY, SOMEONE JUST BOUGHT AN IPAD FOR $8!!!". Of course, many many auctions for IPads don't end at $8. In fact, I saw a few that were in the $40 range and still going higher.$40 = 4000 cents = 4000 bids = 4000 x 60 cents = $2400 and counting, for the site.These people are geniuses. Right now:Sony Bravia 60" LED LCD HDTVEnjoy Full HD 1080p, incredible contrast and smooth motion performance with the slim Edge LED backlit Sony Bravia EX700-Series LCD HDTV.$102.37 ($2600 value)00:00:08 remaining102.37 = 10237 bids = $6142.20 has already been spent on bids, and this is no where close to being finished.These people are printing money. Link to post Share on other sites
FCP Bob 1,312 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 There are other scam sites like this out there including ones where you buy a stake in a poker player's results in tournaments. Total scam. Link to post Share on other sites
mrdannyg 274 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 This is amazing. The only issue for them will be lack of barriers for people to undercut them, though advertising will help.Oh, and bad publicity when people start throwing themselves off buildings for spending $1000's of dollars on bids for a $20 IPAD, or missing that ONE EXTRA BID that could've won them a laptop for a couple bucks, or an auto-bidding option costs someone $7k.Countdown until Scram figures out a way to exploit the site, and ends up winning half the auctions on a single bid: 3 days. Link to post Share on other sites
solderz 0 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 These have been around for a long time. They are just another in a long list of copy sites. I think Beezid is the biggest in the US. Swoopo overseas. They are all considered scam sites. Link to post Share on other sites
Skeleton Jelly 2 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Every bid costs $0.60 to make, and people literally can. not. help. themselves.Sounds like the Bazerman Auction in action. Link to post Share on other sites
ajs510 122 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 These have been around for a long time. They are just another in a long list of copy sites. I think Beezid is the biggest in the US. Swoopo overseas. They are all considered scam sites.Beezid has TV commercials now...I can't comprehend how they are considered legitimate business but the USDOJ is gunning after online poker. Link to post Share on other sites
dna4ever 2 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Sounds like the Bazerman Auction in action.I have shit like this Link to post Share on other sites
ajs510 122 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I have shit like thisI usually shit without an auctioneer present. Usually... Link to post Share on other sites
speedz99 145 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 What about that is a scam? Link to post Share on other sites
vbnautilus 48 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 What about that is a scam?It's very hard to actually win the auctions, but very easy to spend a lot of money trying. Each time there is a bid, the amount of time on the auction is slightly increased. Most people spend money buying bids and never get any merchandise. Link to post Share on other sites
hank213 1,823 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Seems like the strategy would be to bid late at night and would only be even remotely viable if they have multiple simultaneous auctions for the same item. It would still be a roulette type strategy with a negative expectation. Link to post Share on other sites
AmScray 355 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I own a really good auction domain name.That is all. Link to post Share on other sites
brvheart 1,752 Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 Seems like the strategy would be to bid late at night and would only be even remotely viable if they have multiple simultaneous auctions for the same item. It would still be a roulette type strategy with a negative expectation.This is the case. They almost always have a $200 Wal-Mart gift card ending, and usually they go for about $30. As recently as Saturday, a $200 Wal-Mart gift card sold for $0.05. It's simple luck to win it that low. It was won at 1:30 am. Link to post Share on other sites
speedz99 145 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 It's very hard to actually win the auctions, but very easy to spend a lot of money trying. Each time there is a bid, the amount of time on the auction is slightly increased. Most people spend money buying bids and never get any merchandise.So, again, what's the scam? As far as I can tell, it's no more of a scam than any other form of gambling as long as the rules are clearly stated on the site. Link to post Share on other sites
brvheart 1,752 Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 So, I just made my very first bid. I bid 1 cent on a $10 Dillard's gift card + 20 free bids. I won. There is currently the exact same item selling, and it's up to 60 cents and rising.On my auction Quibids lost money. 1 bid = .60, shipping is $2. So they are making $2.60, and they are giving me a $10 Dillard's gift card and 20 free bids worth $12.The other auction just ended at $0.72. Quibids will receive 72 bids x .60 = $43.20 Link to post Share on other sites
ezelisko 0 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Has anyone successfully received anything from them? I am kinda curious now. Quality good? Was it legit? How do they receive the merchandise? Link to post Share on other sites
vbnautilus 48 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 So, again, what's the scam? As far as I can tell, it's no more of a scam than any other form of gambling as long as the rules are clearly stated on the site.I don't think its a scam in any legal sense since the rules are there to be found, but I think people regard it as a scam because thrives on suckers. The implications of those rules are not immediately clear to the unthinking masses. The system profits by leading people to believe they will be getting an iPad for $4 when in reality the vast majority of them will end up spending $50 and getting no iPads. Link to post Share on other sites
brvheart 1,752 Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 Has anyone successfully received anything from them? I am kinda curious now. Quality good? Was it legit? How do they receive the merchandise?They have an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau in Oklahoma, where they are based. I'll let you know when I receive my gift card.ps. Speedz is right, it's not a scam, but VB is also right, it thrives on people being retarded. Joey's link says it all. Link to post Share on other sites
Skeleton Jelly 2 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 ps. Speedz is right, it's not a scam, but VB is also right, it thrives on people being retarded. Joey's link says it all.Yes, people are stupid and part of Quibids success is due to that stupidity. But that's not what the link is suggesting. Bazerman would do this experiment in the Harvard Business classes he taught. I don't think most students at Harvard are retarded. Link to post Share on other sites
Governator 54 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 These have been around for a few years now, they aren't scams but any person who doesn't read the fine print will feel they were scammed. It's all about using the word bid and how it's used in the marketing. You aren't bidding but rather betting but site's don't market it that way which makes it scammy. Link to post Share on other sites
speedz99 145 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Meh, potato tomato. Link to post Share on other sites
ShakeZuma 585 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 man, the more I think about it, the more I am absolutely in love with the idea of this site. I almost want to make it my mission to figure out the absolute best way to exploit it. like only bidding on smaller items at 4:30 in the morning or some shit.I can definitely see why speedz was automatically defending it too. (haha jewish!) Link to post Share on other sites
speedz99 145 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 man, the more I think about it, the more I am absolutely in love with the idea of this site. I almost want to make it my mission to figure out the absolute best way to exploit it. like only bidding on smaller items at 4:30 in the morning or some shit.Of course, that'll mean you have to be up at 4:30 in the morning just to save a few bucks on crappy little items. I'm sure the big things always get jacked up. And if they don't, smart money says the websites have ringers out there making sure it happens. Link to post Share on other sites
ShakeZuma 585 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I'm up at 4:30 anyways and I love crappy items! Link to post Share on other sites
speedz99 145 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I'm up at 4:30 anyways and I love crappy items!Like what?! Link to post Share on other sites
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