Penny Auction Websites

aidrenegade

Just done a search here on MSE for 'penny auction sites' but didn't find any info. I have found the Penny Auction Watch forums to be useful as they soon spot the fraudulent / scam sites. Less established but still useful is the Penny Auction List site for sorting the good from the bad sites.

Personally I don't spend too much time on the big penny auction sites like Madbid & Swoopo as theres too much bidding competition & it's real easy to spend lots on bids. Instead I look for new launches where there will be less competition, Although Madbid does have rookie auctions for users who hav'nt won any auctions yet. I won a little usb flash drive in a Madbid rookie auction & thats it.

Newest site I've found is called Youbeedoo. I've won a camera auction here, just waiting for it to be delivered. For the record, I don't own or work for any of the sites listed. I just thought there should be some info listed on MSE as these penny auction sites are springing up every week. Some site owners use shilling (bidding on own products) to bump up the price which is illegal. Some are slow shipping.

I use the auction watch sites to help figure out if a new site may be legit or not by looking to see if the owners have been interacting with the forums to get help with site testing etc before launch and to read discussion & reviews on the sites.

Finally don't spend money you can't afford to lose on bids! Set yourself a limit as to what you're prepared to spend & stick to it. This means hide your credit card, sometimes these penny auction sites can become a bit addictive in the excitement of a bidding dual with other bidders on a auction product.

Crowqueen

Hi Aid - hey, you're from Reading too .

I had a look when one came out but you're right, these places look like a minefield.

Some do offer free bids but the shipping prices looked exorbitant and I never used any of mine. I don't have a huge amount of money and couldn't really be tempted to pay some of the shipping costs, attractive as the overall deal would have been.

aidrenegade

Crowqueen wrote: »

Hi Aid - hey, you're from Reading too .

I had a look when one came out but you're right, these places look like a minefield.

Some do offer free bids but the shipping prices looked exorbitant and I never used any of mine. I don't have a huge amount of money and couldn't really be tempted to pay some of the shipping costs, attractive as the overall deal would have been.

High Crowqueen (from Crowthorne??) Well, I got the camera, a nikon L22, all in for about £25 & it retails for £65 - £75. Ha! A Madbid ad just showed on the virgin1 channel as I typed... Yoobeedoo works different to the other penny auctions. When following / bidding in an auction it shows you exactly what you've spent & what your real saving is if you win. Plus they do this bid blocking thing where you watch the auction value of the product come down in price as higher bids get cancelled out as more bids are placed.

Crowqueen

aidrenegade wrote: »

High Crowqueen (from Crowthorne??) Well, I got the camera, a nikon L22, all in for about £25 & it retails for £65 - £75. Ha! A Madbid ad just showed on the virgin1 channel as I typed... Yoobeedoo works different to the other penny auctions. When following / bidding in an auction it shows you exactly what you've spent & what your real saving is if you win. Plus they do this bid blocking thing where you watch the auction value of the product come down in price as higher bids get cancelled out as more bids are placed.

No, not Crowthorne; Swallowfield (near Arborfield/M4 Junction 11). But I know what you're thinking . I have a dormant eBay posting id called swallowfieldamazon but haven't used it in three years and have long since forgotten the password. The crow is my totem, as in Native American lore.

Cool. Glad they actually work. Probably more likely to be genuine rather than fakes as well. Might use them in future to get a cut-price laptop or something like that, but would need to make sure I have enough saved.

macfly

Saying you don't own or have an interest in these sites doesn't make it so. Penny auctions are a huge con for the stupid or desperate. You've searched for info? No you haven't.
Spamming is not allowed.

Crowqueen

macfly wrote: »

Saying you don't own or have an interest in these sites doesn't make it so. Penny auctions are a huge con for the stupid or desperate. You've searched for info? No you haven't.
Spamming is not allowed.

If the items are actually provided at a reasonable discount, even if things like shipping are exorbitant, how are they a con?

soolin

Crowqueen wrote: »

If the items are actually provided at a reasonable discount, even if things like shipping are exorbitant, how are they a con?

Not a con exactly but a tax on the vulnerable and there are loads and loads of threads already about them. Unfortunately they tend to be more attractive to the more vulnerable members of society who actually spend hundreds of pounds on trying to win an elusive laptop or whatever.

They should really be on the gambling board not the auctions board due to the nature of their risk.

Crowqueen

I see. Thanks for the heads up.

So people pay to bid, hoping for a cheap laptop, and very few people even see a return on this investment? What if you do win and pay?

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2597003
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1487121
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2497365

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/650139
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2252273

soolin

Crowqueen wrote: »

I see. Thanks for the heads up.

So people pay to bid, hoping for a cheap laptop, and very few people even see a return on this investment? What if you do win and pay?

You don't win, that's the point and if you do you've spent thousands on bids.

Crowqueen

Thanks for the explanation.

Soo: perhaps you could pass this on or tell me who to message about it, but the warning notice regarding the gambling loopholes is in need of correct grammar - No offer's should be No offers.