What are opinions on the website QuiBids?

Answer 1

Opinions on QuiBids

Users talk about the bidding site:

• Something you should watch out for is all the fine print. For example, they run auctions for bid vouchers, but in the fine print you will see that those bids don't apply toward your Buy-it-now price when bidding on an auction.

  So if you bid on a voucher auction, lose and opt for the Buy-it-now option, you have just traded your money for bids that don't apply to Buy-it-now prices on future auctions. They are sneaky with new members by offering "training" auctions for beginners only. Those auctions are all for bid vouchers. So if you aren't careful, you'll sign up for their site, trade your money/bids that actually apply to Buy-it-now (as described below) for much less-valuable vouchers that are only useful for trying to win auctions.

  If this happens, you pretty much have to win an auction big enough to merit the money you've spent, or you have thrown away your money.

• From a QuiBids worker: My name is Jeff and I work with QuiBids. We get this question occasionally, so it is important for our customers to understand how QuiBids works.

  QuiBids is an online auction site in which people pay to bid in the hopes of winning a great deal on the item on which they are bidding. If a person does not win a great deal, he or she can exercise the Buy-it-now function, using their bids towards the purchase price of that item. This is a much more fun way to shop! Below is how it works from the "Help" page:

  "Each bid costs just $0.60. Bids are available in Bid Packs of 40, 75, 300, 600 and 800 bids. These bids are pre-paid and placed in your Bids Account. Each time you place a bid, your Bids Account is deducted one bid, and a maximum of 20 seconds is added to the timer every time someone bids. This gives enough time for someone else to make the decision to bid if they're interested. This is similar to the 'Going Once... Twice... SOLD' approach of auctions. If there's ever a time, due to technology, a glitch happens in the system and an auction gets interrupted and/or canceled, be sure to contact our support team at support@quibids.com. We're happy to resolve any issue.

  If you are the top bidder when the timer reaches zero, you win! You then pay the ending auction price plus shipping. If you do not win, you lose your bids that have been placed; however, we offer on most auctions a Buy-it-now feature! This feature allows you to put the money spent in bids on the item towards buying the item. An example is illustrated below.

  Let's say you spend 30 bids trying to win a $30 product, but you don't win it. You're 30 bids are worth $18, so if you exercised the Buy-it-now for that item, you would pay the value price of $30 less the $18 in bids you spent trying to win the item. Thus, you could go ahead and buy the item for just $12 in this example. If you bid on the same item in more than one auction, it doesn't count toward the Buy-it-now price. It must be the last auction you bid on. For instance, if you place 100 bids on an item retailing at $199 in one auction and 100 bids in another and then decide to exercise the Buy-it-now, you're only able to use the 100 bids from your last auction. So you would end up paying the value price of $199 less the $60 in bids you spent trying to win the item and buy it for $139. You have up to 2 hours after that auction has ended before the Buy-it-now option expires.

  This feature limits the risk in participating in our auctions as we offer the Buy-it-now feature for the majority of our auctions!"

  There are no company employees or bots bidding, only customers that are trying to win a great deal. However, customers should be careful to understand exactly how the process works prior to bidding. It will be difficult to go to our site and purchase one of the smallest bid packs and end up winning a MacBook. It's possible, but just not probable. The smaller, less expensive items are much easier to win. We always recommend bidding on items that you would be willing to purchase in the event of not winning the auction.

  If you have other questions about how QuiBids works, please visit the help page of our website via the Related link.

• From a dissatisfied user: I have used this site and it is a total scam... I have bid on three items that had recently sold or what they listed as sold for very little money. One was a $15 subway card that had sold for .04 cents the day before and after the bid going to $1.32 I just stopped bidding. The $1.32 bid cost me $10.60 and if I had won I would have had to pay $3 in shipping. So $13.60 for a $15 subway card is not a very good deal. You can do better online. So I started to look at other $15 subway cards and not one sold for more money than mine. You may say that someone else wanted that card too, but this result happened to me three times in a row until I have used all my bids. I think that the auctions that you see are very low are scam or fake auctions that they post and make you think that you can get a subway card for $2-3. Save your money and stay away from this site. If it seems to good to be true... then it usually is!

  No happy bidding.

• From a partly satisfied user: I have used QuiBids.com and I won a few things and lost a few times. Now, I would not use the site unless there is something I really want or need. I would say it is not a scam, but I would say bidding involves a lot of risk if you don't understand what you are doing. Jumping into it would be a pour move. Jumping into it with greedy eyes would be even worse. Very similar to sitting down at a Poker table with 15 people: If you don't know the game your chances aren't too good. However, some new poker players do win. My advice is to get the most information you can about bidding before you start to bid and don't assume you are going to get the item for the amount "the last guy" got it for. Jeff mentioned very good advice when he mentioned that you should be willing to pay the full ticket price if you don't win. That makes sense if you are a person that wants to take a chance on winning the item for less than it's worth, but are willing to pay full retail if it goes south. The temptation of free lunch is astronomical here, but so are your odds of winning it for nothing. If used properly, this site can possibly save you some money, while definitely changing the way you shop. My advice is the same as the people that work for QuiBids... Don't bid on things expecting to win for pennies.

  Bid carefully and wisely. Happy bidding is probably not what I would say, more like "Careful bidding." Use the site wisely and it is no more a scam than parking meters. If you think parking meters are a scam, then I don't know what to tell you. And if you put money into parking meters where you don't want to park, then QuiBids isn't for you either.

And yet more comments

• If you don't bid enough and there's nobody else who wants the item, their automatic system comes in and ups the bid. Thereby, you are not getting the item and then you spend more on your bidding - giving the site more money. Just watch the bidding history.
• Not at all. I was able to get an excellent deal within my first couple of attempts. All it took was doing a little research on how the penny auctions work and Voila! QuiBids even supplies FAQs to help explain the best practices and how to familiarize yourself with the process.
• Quibids is really easy to use and I have already won an auction for just a few cents. There is a FAQ and answers page that answered all my qustions. Such a neat site.
• It is not a scam. It's a little tricky to figure out in the beginning. Don't go all in on a MacBook or a TV on your first try. I won Band of Brothers on blu-ray for $.06, paid for the shipping and handling and got it about a week later, brand new. I'm completely satisfied.
• The comments above are absolutely right!. QuiBids is not a scam AT ALL! They are for real and I think every online shopper should give them a try. And I also advise to try to bid for free bids first, once you join, so you can have enough bids for the auction as I did. They are awesome. I've yet to buy anything apart from free bids, but I am very optimistic and will be up shopping there this week.
• It is not a scam! I did think it was going to be long and complicated. Not! It was easy and fun! I haven't won anything yet, but I will keep on trying.
• In that QuiBids earns money from people that do not win auctions, they are taking advantage of a knowledge barrier. They can afford to supply blu-rays and obscure items at an extreme discount to instill a sense of trust, since at $.60 per bid on an item that goes for $20.00 in an auction with $.01 bids has already earned them $353.33 most of which didn't come from the guy that ended up spending $20+$25(in bids)+$10(in shipping) for a $150 item that might cost them $75. I wouldn't take a 471% markup any day and I wouldn't split it with friends. This example is an extreme case since they offer bidders prizes to continue bidding and the ability to still double their money in letting you spend the bid money they already have in their pockets towards the price of the item. There are also chances to bid $.20 per bid which they regulate to make sure they aren't losing money. It might not be a scam, but they surely have incentives to lure and deceive customers into spending money on nothing.

• I have added up my wins recently and I have estimated that I have won $499 in value products that I only paid $2.55 winning bids total. Sites like QuiBids will help you build a strategy for bidding and give you an idea of how many bids you will likely need to win a certain item.