Full FeedPay to bid? Meet swoopo.com
New to the US market is swoopo.com an auction site, but not one like you know and hate love like eBay. No, swoopo is a very different and interesting concept. The price you pay is the cost of bidding plus the ending final price. Confused?
Each bid costs $1. Yes, you pay to bid. You can buy bids in groups of 20 up to 500. So every time you bid, you are charged $1. Now the flip side of this is the prices are very low on goods. For example, a 2nd gen 8gb iPod touch just went for $73.80 (final sales price, who knows how much that person spent in bids to claim it). They seem stocked with lots of gadgets, laptops and even jewelry.
But wait, there is more
It gets more interesting. The rules are bids are increased in $0.15 increments. So, that iPod grossed the site $565.65 (final sales price divided by the number of bids plus sales price). Each bid pushes back the auction timer 15 seconds giving others a chance to respond to the bid. Bidding starts for each product at $0.15, which is figured into the above equation.
It looks like the company will do OK. Getting paid $565.65 for a $229 product says there is some power in this model.
Scammers?
Like anything though, some people believe it is a scam.
“This site is a complete joke! It is just a big SCAM. I stared at the counter until it went down to 1 second hit bid, and NOPE I didn’t win…”
One commenter on that complaint site says swoopo isn’t a scam, and he himself had won several laptops at amazing prices.
Buyer beware. Let us know in the comments if anyone gives this a whirl. Math majors only, please.
Site [Swoopo.com]
Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - 
Subscribe to our feed
Black Friday 2009
Black Friday is almost here! Gadgetell's got you covered with all the latest news on who's offering the best deals. Dangerous crowds? You're on your own.
Palm Pre Information & Updates
Palm just introduced their next-gen smartphone, the Palm Pre, and next-gen operating system, Palm webOS. Gadgetell's got the latest Pre and webOS information and news for you right here.
Sorry, copied the wrong link, here’s what I was referencing:
http://www.swoopo.co.uk/auction/300-freebids-voucher/129217.html
on January 8, 2009 at 10:38 AM - LINKJared,
Hi! Thanks for the speedy response. Just to play devil’s advocate, here is what I think they might be thinking. Say, they put 200 $ into it and want to give it. Well, don’t give up right? You’re already 200$ in. If you stop now, you’re out 200 bucks. So, if you bid up to $100 over the 300 bid voucher, you only lose out $100 instead of the $200 when you first give up. That’s how I can justify that auction. Though 1000+ bids is shocking. Thoughts on my theory of that?
BTW - nice data :)
Cheers,
on January 8, 2009 at 11:55 AM - LINKDave
Dave,
The theory does make sense, but it’s still a bit difficult for me to swallow. There has to come a point where your brain kicks in a makes you realize you need to cut your losses. I have seen the same names bidding excessive amounts on several products, and those are just the ones people win. Who knows how much they are bidding on ones they lose? Those people who are unable to make this realization I would probably expect to have actual gambling problems.
I agree the theory makes sense to a certain point, but where is it that point? At what point do most people realize that in those situations they need to pull the plug? I suppose that would be an interesting experiment in its own right.
Also, that data isn’t mine, it’s a few responses after I posted my link, which is why I accidentally copied that link instead of the one I intended to.
Looking back, there is one aspect of this site which I would agree could be considered a scam. The fact that they have people from different areas in the same bidding pool for different items with different SRPs, and only give out the item the winner was bidding on. There’s examples of that all over, just get the auction # and look at the different regional websites. This will usually be for the bigger items like tvs and laptops.
Since there is no mention that you are bidding against people bidding on different items, unless you check out the other sites, you have no idea what other people are bidding on, you think they are all bidding on the same item as you, which changes your bidding plan, and if you even decide to bid at all.
Quick example: same bidding group, two different items. To make matters worse, it’s a penny auction, which means that the bid amount is actually different, yet the same.
http://www.swoopo.com/auction/sony-vaio-vgn-fw285j-b-16-laptop-vista-/139782.html
http://www.swoopo.co.uk/auction/hp-pavilion-dv7-1135-17-laptop-vista-/139782.html
The US is bidding on a Sony VIAO, the UK on a HP Pavilion. SRPs are close in terms of value, but look at the current bid amount. For US bidders, each bid raises the price by $0.01. Makes sense, it’s a penny auction. For UK bidders, however, each bid raises the price by .01 pound. Currently the bid is at both $23.92 and 23.92 pounds, the equivalent of $36.46. This gives the US bidders an advantage because the bid amount will take longer to reach the US item’s SRP than the UK item’s SRP.
Say the bid exceeds $1049 US? The UK group will be bidding on an item that has already exceeded its value, while the US bidders are bidding on an item that is still only at 65% of its value. US bidders, especially those who haven’t placed bids yet, are content to keep bidding on their item, while UK bidders, especially newcomer to the bid, will abstain from bidding since the item has already exceeded it’s value.
The odds of that scenario occurring are low, yes, but it still has an effect even while the bid is low. The higher that bid goes, the more of an effect it has, as the difference in percentage of retail cost increases.
on January 8, 2009 at 02:36 PM - LINKI have seen auctions where it has been the opposite as well, a non-penny auction where the SRPs of the opposing items are the same number, which obviously means not the same value due to the difference in currencies. This causes issues once again, as pound auctions will increase by .08 and dollar auctions increase by .15. Bid values are different, but for the “same” auction. Tough to justify that as being honorable. Unfortunately, I know little about business ethics, so I can’t say whether that’s considered a scam or just good business.
Hey,
There is a clause that has been added by Swoopo that says you might not get the same product that you bid for on the site, but will receive one for nearly the same value (greater or less is not defined). I totally agree that some sense must kick in, but then again, there are some people out there that are just not going to get it.
DON’T BID IF YOU ARE LOSING MONEY PEOPLE!!!! :)
Unfortunately those caps only reach as far as this page. I am hesitant to comment on the exchange rates. Again, I agree with you, but I’m trying to discover why Swoopo seems it’s ok. 1) They dont’ have big enough audience for a national auction so they have to go international. 2) Maybe they just see it as bidding in increments and never think that the exchange rate should be such a big deal. I know one party will always be getting a better deal and will be operating at less of a cost.
Yeah, that upsets me now. :) I think it might be a good practice to google a screen name on Swoopo to see if you can find out where that person is from to know if you are at an advantage or not. It’s trendy for people to use the same screen name across many different websites. :)
Hope that helps :)
-Dave
on January 8, 2009 at 04:02 PM - LINKI can vouch for the fact that they do ship what you win. I ‘won’ a Canon Rebel XSi with starter lens (available elsewhere for $700 at that time) and it was delivered (via Amazon) around 20 days later. I wasn’t happy with the fact that I’d blown close to $1000 totally on the site (including on this item) before I actually won, but then I’d only blown $500 on the item itself, so there must be a few lucky souls who’re actually making some gains. I’ve never gone back to the site since then; I’ve learnt my lesson the hard way. Dave’s right on people getting way too carried away when they’re trying to recoup atleast some of their losses; you see that in casinos all the time.
on January 8, 2009 at 07:01 PM - LINKi think swoopo.com is the place you lose money.
on January 10, 2009 at 03:39 PM - LINKwhen you bid, you add more seconds to the auction.
but who won?
i doubt.
leave it alone
****I’ve read every comment posted up till date****
First off I’d like to tip my hat off to the people at Swoopo.com, the evil geniuses, for their very slick and profitable idea.
I signed up with Swoopo two days ago. I didn’t do much research at the time, because I was enticed at the “cheap” pricing one could “win” from their site. Nonetheless, I only paid for the lowest amount of bids, so my loss is relatively small. Anyway, I have fully recognized and understand the gray that this site stands within.
All I really have to say is that I hope this site will be just another enron/worldcom/etc. waiting to be exposed. Sadly enough, it won’t happen any time soon. The upper management knows very well of what their company is doing, but can you blame them? No, not really…after all they are not forcing anyone to join their site, it is really for the buyer to beware.
Overall this site made me laugh, anyone with enough sense to know that this site is either too good to be true, or wants to actually save money and not blow it for an opportunity to buy something will stay far far away. For those members who choose to throw gamble their money away, all I have to say is tough luck…you deserve what you get, or better yet what you won’t get.
Great posts from everyone, practically everyone is on the same page, that Swoopo is trying to redefine what an auction site is. Please use a different terminology such as raffle site. At least that would probably be the one descriptive and informative information to your site.
P.S. anonymity only adds to the controversy. Not being able to communicate with other bidders to verify if really another person exists is no good.
One last thing, to Mark from 01/06/09 @ 4:38A.M., actually Swoopo could and can still bot. Yes, they are surely earning enough revenue for them not to put themselves at risk, but it is possible that they may have done this in the past to garner up quick profits and members. There is also the possibility that rather than botting, that individuals are paid or given free bids in hopes of generating more bids.
Although these are unlikely, don’t rule any of these possibilities out. After all, this company IS under the conspiracy theory radar.
Sorry for the long post,
Anonymous person returning back to their beloved eBay.com
on January 12, 2009 at 08:16 AM - LINKI have tried swoopo three times now….its bogus. I found out that the item i was bidding on was also listed on their EU site. Forget that….there is enough compition already.
So I waisted $40.
Clones are popping up left and right.
The one I like the most is http://www.biddia.com (www_biddia_com).
on January 12, 2009 at 07:55 PM - LINKthey just keep up coming http://biddinmadness.com - looks like same s***!
on January 14, 2009 at 03:01 PM - LINKI just stumbled on to a swoopo-like page http://www.bidonetwo.com has any of you been there or know something about it?
on January 15, 2009 at 01:41 PM - LINKpeople get upset because they think they can get a TV for 10 bucks, but that never happens on swoopo! if you just use common sense along with some 3rd party research on the site, you won’t lose all your money. just don’t waste your bids early and use sites like http://www.swoopomanual.com for research and you’ll do WAY better.
on January 16, 2009 at 01:08 PM - LINKHello every one,
Please, stop given your money to Swoopo.com. Why?
Example:
For the phone Samsung SGH-i900 OMNIA, it cost about $700 in some where else. Now, on the Swoopo auction, this phone is bidding in penny auction; and the current bid is about $71.71 dollars = 7,171 cents. That’s mean we have bidden 7,171 times.
Each time bid costs .75 dollar.
So the actual price of the phone = 7,171 x 0.75 = 5,378.25 dollars. And, plus the amount of winner have to pay for the phone too.
This is unreasonable price for this phone.
on January 17, 2009 at 07:18 PM - LINKConclusion, we are given out money to make Swoopo rich.
They are not a fraud, but they are running an unfair auction.
Please, don’t waste your time and your money.
Dang Nguyen
Dang,
Thanks for the analysis. I would agree with you, but I do want to bring up something. It’s not costing a single person putting that in. That’s why it’s legal. It’s taking a little from everyone. If each person bid in $10.00 worth, would it be a problem? Probably not. What I am trying to get at is that while Swoopo is seeming to be scammish, it’s totally not. It’s just taking a little from each of the whole.
If someone jumped in at the last minute, and bid once, they would still get a phenomenal deal. I hope you see what I’m saying. :)
Let me know if you have any questions at my email above. Feel free to visit my site that helps out with more strategies in my ebook.
Have a good one, and definitely write if you feel otherwise!
Thanks and have a great evening!
Best,
on January 17, 2009 at 08:01 PM - LINKDave
This is a business model from the 70’s that takes after the dollar auction.
on January 21, 2009 at 02:16 PM - LINKWiki Dollar Auction and you will see how the model works for profit.
test
on January 29, 2009 at 10:50 AM - LINKIt seems that Swoopo landscape is now divided into those who think that swoopo is a total scam, and those, authors of the e-books, that think it is perfectly fine.
I actually belowng to the second team.
Why nobody is saying the carnival games are scam?! You pay $3 to throw three balls, you miss the bunny you get nothing!
Swoopo is the same way. You pay for chance of winning.
on January 29, 2009 at 03:00 PM - LINKagreed. :)
on January 29, 2009 at 03:29 PM - LINKthere are a hard core of pro punters winning consistently at Swoopo.co.uk/de/at/com (when they are allowed to, given the policy of only allowing 8 wins per user per month, assuming these users haven’t managed to set up multiple accounts) by spending sums on “Bid Butler” pre-booked bids far above what “amateur” punters are going to pay out. They are very clearly winning cameras, laptops, car navigation systems and expensive expresso machines in some cases in double digits per person. They are easily located by googling their Swoopo user names + swoopo.
If you are in a Swoopo auction with one of these pro regulars and you aren’t prepared to spend 100s of dollars/pounds/euros in bids per item you have almost zero chance of winning an item.
to quote statistical analysis from http://auktionenwahn.wordpress.com/statistiken/ in the period this guy observed,
“545 Kameras im beobachteten Zeitraum fanden 336 neue Besitzer. Von diesen Kameras gingen 154 Stück (28.25%) an 27 Powerbieter (8.03%).” or google translation “545 cameras in the observed period, 336 new owners. Of these cameras were 154 units (28.25%) to 27 Power bidders (8.03%). “
Swoopo’s Terms and Conditions clearly state that “Swoopo’s products and services are offered exclusively to private users and not to commercial or partly-commercial resellers. Swoopo reserves the right to exclude commercial resellers from the participation in the auctions and to close their user accounts at any time.” but equally clearly they are not attempting to enforce this. A cynic would say that Swoopo is benefiting enormously from the presence of these pro punters (and the ignorance of the ordinary punters of the pros), almost certainly more so than the pro punters collectively themselves. An even bigger cynic might suspect that at least some of these pro regulars were working for the house and not constrained to try and make a profit.
Even if Swoopo chooses not to start enforcing their “no commercial resellers” condition presumably they could make the winning bid histories and reputation of any user available to all other users (in the same manner as ebay) very easily and the current situation would become transparent.
yours
on January 29, 2009 at 05:49 PM - LINKatty
WOW!!! It’s amazing how many whiny people there are because they don’t have the intelligence enough to read first or understand the business model of the site.
I do NOT work for or have any association with Swoopo.com, but it really doesn’t take a genius to figure this out people.
No part of this site is a scam (unless maybe they weren’t sending the won products, but I’m sure that’s not the case or they’d never be able to stay in business this long). It’s a very basic and simple idea. Genius even, but like most new and misunderstood cutting edge businesses, they get to take the rap for being the first of their kind. Not an easy place to be, but I give them props.
All of you who say Swoopo is a scam obviously don’t understand enough about it, and haven’t read enough to make it work in your favor. If you knew how to read, you’d see that every part of the system is spelled out in black and white. No part of it is kept secret. You buy bid packages, you use the bids to try and win the auction. Just like any other auction, there is only one winner. You pay to play! If you don’t like it, DON’T PLAY!!! Plain and simple.
The fact that they are different does not make them bad or make the system a scam. It just makes you unhappy because YOU don’t like how it’s done. Boo hoo! Stop crying about it and trying to make it bad for everyone else.
Everyone keeps saying it’s a scam because it’s another form of gambling. That’s wrong too. It is similar to gambling, but anyone who knows what they’re talking about knows the difference. This site is winnable with skill. There are several methods you can use, but you need to know them and apply them.
The gaming commission knows all about these sites, and the reason they have NOT done anything about it is because THEY have stated it is not traditional gambling since they are winnable with skill, unlike gambling which are all typically games of chance.
When I first found the site, I was like ABBY and thought, what’s the catch. Then I did the math. Obviously, the other bidders that don’t win help cover the cost that keeps the price down for the ultimate winner. Not rocket science. Besides, even if it took me $1980.00 to win a TV that I would normally be able to purchase at the store for $2000.00, I’ve still gotten a better deal. Not a great deal, but better. Most average people are just hoping to spend a few dollars and come out with a great deal. Although possible, not very likely.
It just takes strategy and a little common sense. If you really want to win an auction, expect to spend some money, especially if it’s a popular item. Do the research, and find out when the best time is for bidding, when the best deals are, and know what you’re doing before you get into the bigger items.
Also, I noticed at the top of this page someone stated that this site was a scam because the timer went to 1 second and he didn’t win. Duh!! Read before you play!!! Every bid raises the timer 2 seconds and as much as 20 seconds, giving someone else another opportunity to place a bid, just like a real auction where the auctioneer says, “going, going, gone”!
Oh and by the way, enough with the kcbidz.com. It’s boring and unimaginative. There are a hundred other sites just like it. Nothing special, and you still have to spend money for every number (dollar amount) you pick. Just like a lotto with the same chances of winning.
Anyway, good luck to those who understand the system, and have the money to make it work.
on February 3, 2009 at 04:57 AM - LINKTo the rest, I say - there are those who do, and then there are those who just complain about everything.
If you don’t think this is gaming then you are so naive. The reason they haven’t get in trouble because no money changing hands. Think of this as Texas Hold Them that you play with your vitual friends. First you exchange money for some tokens (bids) then join the fun to see who will win the bidding item (instead of pot of money). Whoever got the most moeny or make it appears that way will win the item.
on February 3, 2009 at 08:52 AM - LINKTony,
While there are some people who have the view you are mocking, how about you read their posts and realize most people acknowledge it is a good model for making money. Also, please explain how the fact the items are different is not wrong. I gave multiple explanations how the different item costs give way to advantages and disadvantages for people in certain locales. Since you apparently think this is ok, let me give a blatant exaggeration of this.
Joe is in Bids R Us building #1 on A street, bidding on a Ford Focus, retailing around $15,000. Dan is bidding in Bids R Us building #2 on B street, bidding on an Ashton Martin DBS, retailing around $270,000. Also, since it is considered a game of skill by you, let’s have Joe and Dan around the same skill level, if not being the exact skill level as each other. They are bidding electronically, and can see only the names of other people who have bid on the item (the item also is not kept in the building, just shown electronically). Joe and Dan are bidding against each other. Who do you think will drop out of the bidding every time? Dan will win every time because hit item is worth so much more. Dan can save $220,000 with a winning bid of $20,000, but Joe would lose $5,000 on that bid, so it makes no sense for him to keep going.
Now here is my question to you: Why is this ok if the prices are only slightly different? Again, check my prior post and tell me how the differences are insignificant. It still leads to the same advantages/disadvantages, just not on a larger scale. Also, before you tell me that “it’s a game of skill” and “you can still win bidding for the lower item if you’re good enough,” what if you are going against someone of equivalent skill who is bidding on the higher valued item? Well, since this is a game of skill, and he has the advantage against an otherwise evenly matched opponent, he wins every time.
So there are people who are bidding thinking they have a chance to win, which they do. The only problem is that with certain items and bid types they will always have to bid more than the item value to get it, which any sensible person would not do.
Lastly, before I am misinterpreted, I am by no means saying that ALL of swoopos auctions are like this. It is only a select few that behave this way, and there are several auctions where it is the same item across the board.
That’s one of two aspects in which swoopo is a shady business. The other is the potential for price spiking, but as they grow their client base that becomes less needed and thus less likely to be occurring. At this stage, I doubt that it is occurring, though (again, as I stated in prior comments) there are always those few instances where you just have to question the validity of the person bidding.
on February 3, 2009 at 10:19 AM - LINKThese power bidders are pretty annoying and are obviously pretty greedy! If you look at winners or certain items you’ll soon find winners that have won several digital cameras, some being the same model in a few days. For example at the moment lodame21 has won a Canon 450D last night, the same camera the night before and is also currently bidding on yes, the same model camera at the moment! With a little search on Google, recently (just what shows in the search-there are bound to be other winnings as the items he has won this week haven’t shown up in the search) he has won 5xLCD TV’s, 3xMobile phones, 4xCanon Digital SLR cameras, a Laptop, a Satnav and 2xpackages of bid vouchers. With at least 5xLCD TV’s and 4xDigital SLR cameras, he is clearly not bidding and winning them for himself, and most likely to sell on to make money on Ebay for example.
I only want 1 camera, TV or whatever for myself, so it’s frustrating to come up against the power bidders who want multiple amounts of the same item, clearly not for themselves and have hundreds/thousands of bids to use to make sure that they win them. Whether these power bidders actually have a normal job or not, I don’t know! But as said above if you come up against these power bidders, it’s best not to keep bidding against them unless you have masses of bids to use, but then doing that gives them even more of an advantage! I have noticed though that you never seem to get these power-bidders going against each other! I think Swoopo needs to do more about these power-bidders, before they take it over, as they have an unfair advantage over normal users and will make the site go downhill if they keep winning item, after item and attract less new bidders. How they manage to keep winning though I don’t know!
I’ve tried bidding and got nowhere whatever time of day or night I’ve bid, yet I have seen people win with 1,2,3 or 5 bids-don’t know how they manage it though! Some people must have lost masses though, as I’ve seen them doing multiple bids on the bid butler, then coming up against another bidder using bid butler and they keep going, even several hours later the other bidder using the bid butler might have dropped out and another come in. Now they or even another bidder could be determined to win, but only one person can win the item and who will drop out first? This is, I guess how people end up paying over the odds as they think they have paid so much in bids already and put in so much time that they can just not afford to write off all that money.
I would like to know though, how do the items actually end? Because every one I’ve watched has multiple bidders and if every bid being put in always raises the seconds allowing people to bid again, how do they actually end?! I can’t believe that every current bidder who has bid (and ends up losing), suddenly decides as the seconds count down not to bid anymore? I’m sure if has to do with this freezing of the seconds. I bid on an item when it got to 1 second and I know I placed it in time, yet, the counter froze and then went to zero with me thinking I had won, but no, another bidder had won! The freezing of the counter normally seems to be when bids are placed, but I have watched a few items at the same time on the list page and have seen all them freeze at the same time and for the same amount of time when some have quite a way to go in the timer and are unlikely to have bids made on them. I’m sure this is how people actually end up winning?
on February 5, 2009 at 05:11 PM - LINKThey have found the perfect money maker. I initially bought $22.50 worth of bids and was appauled when the ticker counted down on a 40” Samsung 1080p LCD 120Hz tv that I was winning and after my ticker said ENDED another bid was allowed about a half second later which wiped my winning bid away. I bought more bids, thinking that I must figure this one out. $1000 later and one $6 Xbox game (which I’m still waiting for 3 weeks now), and I have nothing to show for it but a very angry wife, debt, and sleepless nights wondering how I could have been so stupid as to get addicted to a numbers game and noone can intentially win.
on February 6, 2009 at 09:30 AM - LINKI’ve found another site as well, that I think is the same company, it’s called http://www.BidWinFlip.com
In it you have to buy bids too but there is no extra cost if you are the winner. I have 99 bids on a tv right now and it says that I have not met the reserve. That’s $100 as it’s $1 per bid too. It claims that if I win the bid but not the reserve I get my bid points back…...hmmmmm….. I also noticed that every single person who’s won a big ticket item has not been allowed the item just their bids back. Whoever came up with these two websites should face a federal court judge and be hung.
Here’s something I got from Technologizer:
=============================================
MaddyDaddy Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 7:31 am
this is another forum that i have read through. VERY INTERESTING>>>I WAS RIGHT!!!!
He writes:
“I used to work for the company, and I was recently fired for letting a couple of friends of mine win bids. I was paid to keep auctions “alive” in order to improve profitability. Save your money people.”
This was posted within the last few days..
======================================================
IT… IS… A… SCAM.
on February 16, 2009 at 03:56 AM - LINKStay away from Swoopo!! I bid on a Canon camera a few weeks ago on Swoopo. As it was getting late, I created a BidButler (a device to place bids automatically for you up to a specified number of bids and a specified price). I authorized 200 bids, at 1 cent ber bid. My BidButler promptly bid all of the bids that I authorized, PLUS ANOTHER 20 BIDS! Not only that, but the bid price on the camera went up only about $1.80 - since the BidButler bid 220 times for me, the bid price should have gone up at least by $4.40 (my 220 bids plus the bids from the person(s) against whom I was ostensibly bidding). Not realizing what had happened, I authorized another 100 bids. This time, it used up all of 100 bids almost instantaneously, but the bid price went up only 1 cent.
When I reported what had happened to Swoopo customer service (a misnomer if ever there was one), they basically said that everything went just peachy and it was too bad that I didn’t win.
I don’t know if there is a deliberate attempt to defraud customers, or if their bidding algorithm is just seriously flawed, but I would not spend your hard-earned money on Swoopo.
on February 16, 2009 at 10:45 PM - LINK