Ever since the rise of the massively popular online auction site Ebay came to be, there have been swarms of imitators attempting to achieve the same success.
And, of course, there is always a scam in the works that draws people in only to suck them dry under their noses.
Swoopo is one of the most cleverly designed scams that I have seen in quite a while.
On the outside Swoopo looks to be a bargain hunter’s dream. Items constantly being sold up to %75 off the original price. Auctions are always available. You can see current bids in real time instead of refreshing your page on a minute by minute basis. Even the entire purchasing system is on a very secure page.
This is the beauty that hides the beast.
While you’re bidding away at your heart’s desire, trying ever so hard to get that amazing deal on the item you long to have Swoopo is working in the background charging you 60 cents every single time you place a bid. Not to mention every time you make a bid you add more time on the clock for that particular item. So, unlike Ebay, you can’t come in at the last second, make the perfect bid, and be on your way with the item. You have to wait until no one bids on that item again. And don’t forget you’re getting put 60 cents in the hole each time you try to “swoop in” with a bid.
Also, bid increments are locked in at 15 cents. This isn’t something you can change. That’s why most items on Swoopo are sold so cheap. But if you really think about how many bids it takes to buy something like an Xbox 360 for $50 at 15 cents a bid you can see how Swoopo is able to do this:
$50 divided by $.15 = around $333.33.
So, in other words, that Xbox 360 is being sold for $333.33. An item that sells brand new in places like Walmart for $199. Swoopo makes almost $134 in profit. One person gets away with a cheap Xbox while others pay Swoopo an almost %75 over the actual cost of the system.
And there lies the beast under the beauty.
Don’t waste your money playing the lottery on Swoopo, people. It’s not a good investment. Ebay is a much sounder decision in the case of online auctions.
For those of you who have already fallen prey to this elaborate scheme, please make sure you know what you are getting yourself into before plunging head first into disaster next time!
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Nice post.. I wonder if it would be possible to ‘game’ a system like this with some kind of automated script?
You’d have to be one talented programmer to pull that off! Personally I don’t think it’d be worth the time and effort. Too risky.
Thank you for the swoopo warning!
Not a problem! I almost fell for it myself. But I got to thinking that it was something that sounded too good to be true. And after some intense research I found out it is!
Better sites than swoopo that’s for sure. It’s 95% off electronics you can win products with huge discounts. 50 cents per bid, second pack it’s like 30 cents. Great site, go here http://muulu.com
Don’t listem to mikeck, muulu.com is an even more untrustworthy site. Muulu is what used to be Vuulu which used to be Bid4that. They never send any products out on those sites.
http://josephcrawford.com/2009/09/25/muulu-vuulu-bid4that-scam/
I think Swoopo would be nicer if they did not charge as much per bid as they do. I cannot justify paying 50 to 60 cents per bid. However if they send out the products you are not being scammed at all. You have the chance to win that product for a low price and that is a chance you take. That is ofcourse if they are actually sending the products unlike Muulu, Vuulu and Bid4That.
Maybe I would try it if bids were more like 20 - 30 cents per bid.
I agree, it’s not entirely a scam. But by the time you actually win an auction on Swoopo you will have already more than paid for other products that they sell considering the high per bid rate. For the person that wins, yeah it’s a pretty good deal, but for those that don’t it’s a major rip off. They’re capitalizing on last minute bidders and such. Beginners have a high chance at losing quite a bit of money bidding on Swoopo.
Muulu is a scam, read this for proof: http://www.pennyauctionwatch.com/2009/09/muulu-vuulu-scam-penny-auction-reviews/
I am currently developing a swoopo bot that automatically places bids on Swoopo based on user-customizable strategies. It works ok on my computer (it clicks when some chosen criteria are met) but I need some time to fix some minor bugs and test it thoroughly.
Check http://www.swoopobot.com if you want to know more or want to volunteer as an alpha-tester, I will need some in the coming weeks.
Hi to all! Check this website http://www.pennyauctioninfo.com which provides useful infos about the Penny Auction sites like
swoopo, bidray, etc Also, providing various bidding strategies that are needed once you buy bids to bid on Penny Auctions.
Got useful information from there.
Next time include sources please =)
Hey, I love your site. It seems most people don’t really bother writing articles that lack substance nowadays.
Many Penny Auctions sites out there are failing. Whether it’s poor planning, lack of tech skills to run an efficient site, or all the above, the rate in which old ones die and new ones start is staggering. It is a good idea to research these sites and see which ones have been up the longest. A good way to find out if the penny auctions are good are to contact the customer service and see how fast you get a reply. If it’s within a few hours you’re probably on your way to finding a great penny auction site!
Regards,
Cathy Saar
http://www.PennyAuctionSite.com
Penny Auction
Excellent post..Keep them coming
Thanks for sharing.
some website
are complete fraud. They place their insiders to bid and at the end their people win with
the Genuine members losing. Having some pity on genuine members they let them win some cheap
items like Wii remote controller, Gift cards, etc
Also, I visited at http://www.pennyauctioninfo.com and there too I found the reviews about
various website. yesterday, their site was down for some maintenance but now, its up.
Hi,
You have a Great Blog, I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep it up.
Jenny
The author of mylifefinance.com has written an excellent article. You have made your point and there is not much to argue about. It is like the following universal truth that you can not argue with: The keyboard is mightier than the pen, and the pen is mightier than the sword, but the atom bomb kicks ass… Thanks for the info.
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Swoopo may not be an outright scam but it certainly has deceiving elements like one.
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