xbids

xbids Auctions you can't win, and you pay anyway! Internet

7th of Nov, 2010 by User202464

This auction site looked good in an advertisement I saw. I signed up for a free and temporary account. A credit card number was required for this free account, because, afterall, you may win a bid and buy something. WRONG. My credit card was charged the full sign up amount ($75) anyway. It didn't take much to see what the game was. A bunch of people sitting at their computer issuing 1 penny bids on an item. When it gets down to 10 seconds left, each time a bid is made, it bumps the timer up to 15 seconds. So, as long as at least two people are bidding, it doesn't end. Each bid costs 60 cents. Check out this calculation:
Amazon 3g Kindle, listed as $219.99. Sells everywhere else for $189. Yesterday, I was watching one that was at $15.00 (roughly). I made well placed bids, and gave up when it reached 24.42. Even though I entered at the 10 second mark, this auction was still live 2 hours later. It eventually closed at $35. +. $35 * 60 cents = $2100. That's how much people spent in bids on this item. Plus the auction price of $35.00 ... this company took in $2135 for a $189 item. Pretty slick, huh? Even if it had closed at $5.00, that's $300 in bids: a total of $305 for an item that retails for $189! I thought, "this is pretty good, I should open a site like this. Trouble is, I can't get my morals to fall that low.

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