Anybody use BigDeal.com?

[mooby]

It's a website where people bid on hot products, it's similar to ebay in that items are bidded on and the person with the winning bid gets the item. But on Bigdeal.com they don't have that automatic bid option, so you gotta be willing to stay and keep bidding if you really want to win whatever item you're bidding on.

The main theme about the site is that if you win a bid, you can save as much as 98% off the retail price. Case in point, I was on there last night and there was a 32 inch Toshiba flat screen on there, retail price about 560 bucks, and some dude got it for 2 bucks, no joke. I couldn't believe it.

So the way it goes is like this. Each product has a countdown timer, which could start from like 1 day, 6 hours, 12 min., (just an example), and the winning bid when the clock ends is the one who gets the product. And many of the products, when you put a bid on it, it only ups the price by 1 cent, or in some cases like a Blu-Ray dvd, it goes up by 15 cents. Everytime you place a bid it adds 30 seconds to the clock, so in order to win you'll have to keep bidding until nobody else places a bid.

This is the catch though, you have to buy bid tokens to place a bid. And this is how BigDeal.com makes their money, is how they sell bid tokens. 30 bid tokens costs 22.50. They offer bigger token deals but obviously they cost out the yingyang. I bought 30 bid tokens last night and started bidding but I didn't win anything and used all 30. In hindsight I should've used those 30 to bid on like a 100 bid tokens package (some of the items are token packages so you don't have to pay full price for those if you win the auction) but I didn't.

So basically you can save an assload of money on brand new products no less, but it's a big gamble because of the bid tokens. And you're gonna have to buy a tokens package when you first sign up because there's no other way to get them. But on the bright side you could get a 32 inch flat screen for 2 bucks (plus 40 s&h) which is still a great deal any way you look at it. And they also let you use the money you've spent to buy tokens toward products if you want to buy it at full retail price so it's not like you totally waste your money if you don't win anything.

But basically I just want to know what you guys think about this. Too risky? Or if you invest enough coin into it, something that'd be worth it?

[drew54]

This sounds like beezid.com which I read about and have seen commercials for.

The more you think about this the more you will realize their scam. Every bid placed they are making a dollar. At the end of an auction look at the selling price. Say that TV sold for $2.00, in reality it sold for $202. Two dollars that he pays, plus the 200 one dollar bids. Now I know you can buy a bid package and same some money, but you buy that bid package by bidding on it. Either way that TV did sell for less than what is is worth, but the company makes 10X more than what a product is worth on the average auction.

Even if your willing to watch this at 3AM and try to find a deal, how do you know you are not bidding against their computers that are upping bids.

Save your money as you most likely will run out of bids while trying to get something you want. It is really a form of gambling if you think about it.

[saden1]

Agh, having to pay first to buy something sounds like gambling at best and a scam at worst.

[mooby]

I found this site because I went to google to look for a deal on how I can save money on a new Macbook. I've had Windows PCs for like the last 6 years and I'm just getting really tired of having shitty computers that run slow, have bad internet connection (even though I'm on a wireless network), and the nonstop viruses that I get even though I have up-to-date spyware/virus/internet security protection. Don't wanna turn discussion away from my own thread but I figured I'd try that big deal place but the more I think about it, the more I don't want to spend 22.50 just to buy 30 bid tokens that may or may not win anything.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by mooby

I found this site because I went to google to look for a deal on how I can save money on a new Macbook. I've had Windows PCs for like the last 6 years and I'm just getting really tired of having shitty computers that run slow, have bad internet connection (even though I'm on a wireless network), and the nonstop viruses that I get even though I have up-to-date spyware/virus/internet security protection. Don't wanna turn discussion away from my own thread but I figured I'd try that big deal place but the more I think about it, the more I don't want to spend 22.50 just to buy 30 bid tokens that may or may not win anything.

Nothing salvages an old PC like Ubuntu Linux. Give it a shot.

[firstdown]

Did you actually see the TV the guy got for $2 or did someone tell you about the TV someone got for $2?

[tryfuhl]

yeah these type of sites have been running for several years now.. never used them

[mooby]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Did you actually see the TV the guy got for $2 or did someone tell you about the TV someone got for $2?

I watched it. The way they do things is most people wait until there is a second left and then they hit the bid button which adds 30 more seconds to it. It kept happening until one time I was sitting there watching it and the price was at like 2.35 and then it got down to a second and I looked at it to see the timer go back up to 30 and nobody hit bid and then it said SOLD to some guy aka the last bidder and I was like seriously? 2.35? Yeah I definitely watched it happen and I didn't believe it at first. Especially because a 1200 dollar camera that added a cent per each bid had been staying up on the front page and the price had gone up to 80 something bucks.

And thanks Saden I'm gonna try that out.

[RedskinMike]

It is gambling but genius. You can sell someone a $1200 Tv for $50 and still make a $1300 profit.

[jamf]

These auctions sites have been popping up like weeds!

I spend a week following a site looking to purchase a camera.

I believe it's legit. there are "winners" that spend 2 cents and win a TV.
But you are basically gambling. There is no way of knowing if there are 3 million people watching the item.
It's not worth the risk to me.

[mlmpetert]

Just want to give this a quick bump to cast a little light on why i think it is so important to talk about schemes where people may be taken advantage of. I have always been passionately against misleading and vague disclosures that can deceive consumers into spending money on things they normally wouldn’t if they were to completely understand the nature and value of their purchase. No matter if those purchases come from compulsive bidding attempts to buy something from a penny auction site or misunderstanding what a Common Stock is when sold by what we all view as a reputable company.

Consumer awareness through clear depiction is something that’s very important to me, and ill leave it at that. Sorry for bumping old threads.

[MTK]

do we really have to go there again?

[Hog1]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

do we really have to go there again?

.......Really....I guess I picked a helluva week for an Adderall shortage.....

[firstdown]

So now I can buy bid tokens to bid on a common stock from a company using depiction to get my bid.

[Hog1]

I feel completely....depicted by this whole stock thing..
Holy Hell.....where's my Adderall...