QuiBids Claims that it Works Better Than eBay Don't Add Up
Imagine Bidding on an Item You Want, Spending 60 Cents Per Bid, Then Paying Full Price If You Lose
Before delving into the specifics of QuiBidsitself and how it works, let's just take a moment to review some of the "credibility" QuiBids is using to attract consumers. They use a name like "Consumer Tips Digest" to make it look like they have an endorsement from publications like Consumer Reports or Reader's Digest, when this "Consumer Tips Digest" source doesn't exist. The investigative reporter, Julia, doesn't have a last name, and doesn't have an "affiliation with any newspaper publication." You, as the consumer, are left to just fill in the blanks. A well-known diet scam on the internet, the Acai Berry diet, has featured pictures of this "Julia" as an investigative reporter, and the disclaimers about "not being affiliated with any publications," is a well-worn tactic as well.
So what exactly is QuiBids? In a nutshell, you bid .60 (sixty cents) on an item, and keep bidding with the hopes that your bid will be the final bid. If the item you're bidding on, for example, retails for $50, and you have to bid fifty times and lose, that means you've spent $30 with nothing to show for your efforts. But not to worry. You can still buy the item being auctioned, IF you want to spend another $20 and pay full retail price. But wait a minute. Weren't we told earlier by the QuiBids advertisement that "we could save up to 95% off retail?" It doesn't seem to be working out that way, does it?
Perhaps the biggest drawback to QuiBids other than the fact that you'll pay full retail price for an item if you lose out on your bidding, is the extremely limited selection of goods being auctioned. Taking a cursory look at the list of current items being auctioned, the items that frequently seemed to be auctioned were $15 Wal-mart and Lowe's Gift Cards. There was one Samsung 46" HDTV for sale but the rest were items like SanDisk Cruzers, both the 8GB and 16GB version, and a number of DVD's with titles I had never seen before. To think that a consumer could spend .60/bid and continue to keep bidding, only to lose and then pay full retail price if they still want the item, doesn't sound like a very profitable auction for most people. And with the limited selection, you'd still be better off going to eBay, despite the claims from the promoters of QuiBids.
The Contributor has no connection to nor was paid by the brand or product described in this content.
Published by Joe Cuervo
I am a big sports fan, following mostly college football and basketball. Although I am a Big 12 fan in general, and a Kansas Jayhawk fan in particular, I cheer for most of the Big 12 teams as long as they d... View profile
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8 Comments
Post a CommentBeware of Quibid...Joe has it right..I can't believe someone would advertise at a place where an article criticizing penny auctions was written. Just what is "better wholesaler" anyway? I may check it out but I would definitely stay away from any penny auction regardless of what name it goes by....I bid over 400 for an ipad and never got close to winning the bid...
Duh...Stay away...who knows who is pumping up the bids...?
It's a total rip off! Absolutely no question about it. They should have just called it "Click Mania" because that's all you do. Hmmm...let's see...if you lose the "auction," which is really a mindless clickfest with no known end point, then you can use your wasted bids to purchase the item at retail?? That makes a lot of sense. Here's a couple of catches to that. First, you have to purchase the item within two hours. And second, any "bids" that you got by "bidding" on them don't count for anything(yes, get this. Quibids biggest selling auction item is more bids!!!). There is no difference between walking into any retail store and winning a random door prize and this "auction" gimmick. The bottom line is you aren't getting a deal at all and are throwing away money. I have to say it is a clever gimmick though, but once people figure it out, the site will die off until all the suckers are gone...but then again, you know what they say about suckers.
ebay is still the cats meow over this gig it sure seems like a scam. If it seems like a scam, looks like a scam and sounds like a scam it probably is. Not my cup of tea.
The disclaimer at the bottom of your ad said "all your stories were fictitious." One percent of the people who bid at your site win, and the other 99% lose. Those are worse odds than a casino, plus the money you've wasted on bids. There's no way I would bid at one of these penny auctions under those odds, but to each their own.
continued... Buy It Now feature as a safeguard for our customers on every auction, including bid vouchers, which is not matched by any other penny auction site.
You will almost never save 95% on EBay, and people do save that amount every day at QuiBids. Feel free to give us a call if you don't understand our business model completely or would like further information.
Hi Joe, my name is Jill and I work with QuiBids. I wish you would've done a little more research on us and our industry before writing this article. Let me explain - First, there is a ton of variety on our website. We auction hundreds of different types of products every day. We also offer, on many auctions, a choice for the consumer (once you win you pick the color of the product, the DVD you want, the gift card you want, etc.). Next, we offer an entertainment factor eBay lacks. We think it is simply a lot more fun to participate on QuiBids than Ebay.
Also, nothing in our promoter's consumer tips digest article is false. Those are real testimonials from real customers, in addition to the news segment. You can't beat honest feedback of people that love your product(s).
As far as the auctions go, we lose money on almost half of our auctions, and people do save 95% on our site every single day. The Buy It Now feature is a huge plus for people that do not win. We offer the
These aren't comments. They're just people trying to advertise their own websites.
I can't believe someone would advertise at a place where an article criticizing penny auctions was written. Just what is "better wholesaler" anyway? I may check it out but I would definitely stay away from any penny auction regardless of what name it goes by.