Ever heard of Beezid.com??
 

This is a new auction site that you pay a small per bid fee, hoever the bids start at 1 cent. Looks like some good stuff, but has anyone heard of them, Beezid.com?

Have a friend who did them or started to and she realized she was paying more for the pleasure of bidding than she was spending on the item. She got a few good deals, but on other stuff she spent way too much on bidding.

Like everything else in life, it's not the purchase price, but the total cost (in this case the bidding fees, the price, and shipping) that matter.

Not only that, but it's actually pretty hard to win. You actually have to act rather irrationally to actually win.

I heard about it about 6 months ago so I started reading up on strategies and stuff. My conclusion was it wasn't worth it.

If you wanna try it out, I recommend you do your research beforehand, otherwise you'll just waste your money.

Also, there's plenty of 'penny auction' sites out there. You're probably better off using a less-populated one. Compare them on Alexa or something. The less competition the better chance of winning (but the fewer the items offered as well).

Good luck!

In general I would beware and probably stay far away unless you know what you're doing!

I believe the first such of these sites was Swoopo that made its rounds in Germany and spread to other countries. Seems like some other sites realized they are printing $$, so they're copying their model (or maybe Swoopo is behind these too? Not sure).

Anyway, this is a game of nerve and sunk costs. Keep in mind that most people will spend money and get nothing. One person will get the payoff. There is some controversy whether or not this should be called "gambling" as you are spending money for a small chance to get a payoff. On a more theoretical level, you are taking on more risk for probably the same expected value of just buying the item, so in that sense it is gambling

Oh forgot to mention, if you are interested in the theory behind this kind of stuff and actual data, check out this paper: http://econ.byu.edu/Faculty/Platt/Assets/PayToBid.pdf

Looks like they had access to some swoopo data and have some interesting insights:
- in their model and mostly in practice, these sites generate in revenue the equivalent amount as a tradition auction
- for some reason, they found bidders for video games to be more risk-loving, resulting in bidders playing longer, leading to higher prices and revenue for the sites
- these are similar in concept to auctions that have costs associated with bidding, like having legal or consulting costs per bid. They also have some analogies to bribery-based bids :)

Interesting stuff!

Interesting link. Thanks

MisterNice

If you want to gamble, go to LAS. At least you'll get comped drinks. :D

RipoffReport.com on Beezid.

I wouldn't trust that ripoffreport link. Sounds like the angry rant of some dude who wasn't able to buy anything and just lost his money. And he's just stating the obvious... ("you end up paying the bid price + whatever you spent bidding!" well, no .... sherlock).

However, do be careful and plan your strategy well if you choose to use these penny auction sites.

Actually, if you scroll down you'll see a thread with over 30 posts, including a few that like the Beezid.com "experience"... ;)

I stand corrected.. Sorry, didn't see the long thread below it :(