Gamebid from Game

batvink

Hi,
Game have started a new site called Gamebid, where you pay to place a bid on an item. The lowest UNIQUE bid then wins the item, and then must pay the price that they bid.

Bids vary in price, but right now 3 of the 4 auctions cost £1 per bid. Users can place multiple bids.

This is akin to the scam auction sites seen all across the internet these days. I expected better of a high street retailer to enter into what I consider the scam-auction market. This is the email I have sent them, I hope anyone else who feels strongly about this demise in ethics and standards will do the same.


Game is one of the brands I trust, and find that I can buy from in confidence. I was extremely disappointed to see that you have joined in the scam that is pay-bid auctions. Being one of the people that is quite aware of the money that is made from this scam on your loyal and trusting customer base, I must tell you that I have lost the trust I have in your brand. This venture is nothing but a money-grabbing scheme, from the people that you should be respecting. I don't see any notification anywhere that this is basically a lottery, with very little chance of winning.

I hope you take my comments seriously, as someone who is otherwise quite a happy customer of yours.

AllSeeingEye_2

Whats the scam? It tells you exactly what it is. It's obvious it'll be hard to win but someone will. That could work in peoples favour as it might put people off bidding therefore increasing the chance of winning.

I don't see why because you don't like a concept that then makes something a scam.

A scam is when people are mislead; Are people mislead here? No.

Also if your an otherwise happy customer just use their normal system and not the new site.

uganda

I don't understand why this is a scam either, though I also don't understand why AllSeeingEye is so confident it isn't when it's been explained so poorly.

Batvink, can you explain clearly why it is a scam rather than a straightforward promotion?

AllSeeingEye_2

uganda wrote: »

I also don't understand why AllSeeingEye is so confident it isn't when it's been explained so poorly.

This isn't new, many other sites use this concept, that is why I'm confident of my understanding of the system.

This is an example of another site that uses that system, the concept seems straight forwards to me. http://www.bidandclick.com/How-it-works

spuds_2

I don't think it is a scam, but it is disappointing to see a big brand like Game getting into what is basically gambling. My local radio station does lots of 'competitions' like this. The cost of entry will far, far outstrip the cost of the prize so it is basically a big money making exercise for them.

It says bidders must be over 18 and provide proof of age and ownership for phone bids - I don't see that they will check this unless you win, which might well mean they take thousands off kids at £1 a text before the issue comes up.

I think the deregulation of gambling in the UK has been a big mistake and it is a shame to see Game cashing in on it, especially when a large percentage of their customers must be under 18.

BigNige

As people who have read my previous posts will well know, I am a big fan of lowest unique bid auction sites and I always try to point users to the good ones when they come out

Batvink - they are definitely not a scam at all. I don't understand where the problem is? Game don't seem to be misleading anyone here. I am sure a company with such a reputation as GAME would not touch it if it was scamming people.

Batvink - do you realise this is not a lottery? Its a game. And as for very little chance of winning... since I started playing reverse auctions I have won a Plasma TV, games consoles, mobile phone and a few other prizes. And I don't spend thousands to win them either.

I would be much more concerned by the penny-auction sites springing up (like Swoopo which are more dubious)

Just because you don't like the concept of the lowest bid, is that a reason to completely shoot down GAME as a company?

uganda

AllSeeingEye wrote: »

This isn't new, many other sites use this concept, that is why I'm confident of my understanding of the system.

This is an example of another site that uses that system, the concept seems straight forwards to me. http://www.bidandclick.com/How-it-works

Fair enough, thanks for the explanation, but the gumph on that link doesn't explain if there are any other costs. If I posted a bid of, say, 9p, and that turned out to be the winning bid, would my game machine or camera or whatever have cost me 9p?

Obviously not, one would have thought. Is it going to cost me a £1 text? If so, that seems reasonable (though a bit tacky in my view) - laying a bet of a pound and possibly winning a camera. The company makes much more than the amount of the camera from the texts, you get a camera for £1.09, a good day's work for everyone. The losers have just lost a quid.

But is it just a quid? It doesn't explain.

Anyway, I do agree it doesn't appear to be a scam, though you wouldn't catch me taking part in anything like this.

BigNige

the way these things work is pretty straightforward

you are competing with other users in an auction in reverse, so instead of bidding high, you have to bid low, to calculate what you think will be the lowest unique bid.

When you place your bid (lets say its 9p), you are told usually by email or SMS if your bid is unique or not unique (or even the lowest unique bid). Some of the sites I use even tell you on screen

• Lets say you are the lowest unique bid with your bid of 9p, but then I come in a few minutes later and also place a unique bid of 5p, you will receive a message update to say your bid is "no longer the lowest unique bid, but is still unique".
• Then lets say someone else then places a bid of 9p, it knocks your bid out, cos your bid isn't unique anymore.

What I like about these games, as opposed to lottery, gambling or casino or competitions, is that when I place my bid, the game isn't finished. They let you know if your bid changes from unique to not, or unique to lowest unique bid etc etc

Because of that you are in control of the game, rather than relying on a lottery machine or a bit of casino software to decide if you are going to win or not.

By doing this, and placing a few bids strategically, I can often figure out where the lowest unique bid is. For me its a fun game.

For each bid that you place these sites usually charge you an entry fee (50p, £1 or £1.50). Some offer free bids, special offers, 2 for 1's etc. There was one a few weeks ago that was totally free to enter.

Some sites dont make you pay the final winning bid price, others do. I don't know if these guys do, but it should say in the Ts and Cs

So lets say you had to pay the winning bid amount - and you entered an auction for the camera and placed 3 bids for which you had to pay £1 per bid, and you won with a bid of 9p, your total outlay would be

3 x £1 bids = £3.00
9p winning bid = 9p

Total = £3.09

Hope that makes sense

batvink

I think people are unhappy with my use of the term "scam", which may be a little strong (although sums up my own personal feelings). However, what I would like to point out is:

1. There is no indication of your chances of winning, or the expected number of entries. You will recall that TV competitions were pulled up on this as an additional issue to the rest of the problems. They must now indicate the chances of winning.

2. Calling this an auction is misleading. It is not a reverse auction either. In a reverse auction the winner is the person that commits to buying first, and cannot have their claim to the goods revoked by somebody else bidding the same amount. It is purely gambling, but without any odds presented.

Auction - a publicly held sale at which property or goods are sold to the highest bidder.

My main point is this though, as Spud picked up. Game is a high-street brand and it is using it's brand power to open up a covert gambling site. Being a gaming site, the target market is also young, and I think that ethically they have made a bad move.

sammyjenks

Another site is mutantauctions.com

Steve - The chances of winning basically depend on how many people there are bidding. But i would assume that you could work it out somehow by looking at the average price for which products sell for. But Bignige explained it pretty well me thinks!