swoopo.com

[REED]

Have any of you guys heard of this, my roommate was telling me about it last night. apparently how it works is

all items start @ $0.00, with 15 seconds left in the auction.

bids are in 1 cent increments (some are 15 cent too)

everytime a bid is made another 15 seconds is added to the auction.

Apparently people are getting ridiculous deals through it.

the catch is, every bid costs 75 cents. so really every time you bid a penny its really 76 cents.

it seems like a pretty clever system. I don't really know all the ins and outs of it though.

[Apoc]

Haven't used it, but it's a pretty ingenious system. It's basically a version of the dollar auction, because people eventually obsess over the sunk cost and keep bidding to get the item. Unless you really get in close to where an item will stop, you'll lose a decent amount of cash.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_auction">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_auction</a><!-- m -->

An item that sells for $300 in 15 cent increments ends up netting $2000 in bid fees alone. hock:

[Mike]

the people behind it? brilliant.
the people using it? just like gambling... you may strike it big on your first spin and get out and that's great, but overall, you lose.

[REED]

yeah my room mate is trying to win a laptop, i told him it seems like a good way to spend a lot of money and not get anything.

the good thing is you can add money to you account, so you don't end up blowing a million dollars, just what you chose to put in

I guess that is the same as gambling though - good point

[WRXtranceformed]

That looks like it would be really addicting. I thought it was pretty funny that you could bid on $1k cash. It seems to me like if you really wanted something you would watch the bidding history and let the people who have BidButlers on spend up all their bids. When it goes to single bids you could get involved.. of course, someone else with a BidButler could jump in and you just spend $3.00 or $6.00 for no reason.

[Sijray21]

yeah my room mate is trying to win a laptop, i told him it seems like a good way to spend a lot of money and not get anything.

+1

if you happen to get lucky then great, but somehow i see that being unlikely. i don't like the idea of losing money when your bid doesn't win and don't get it.

props to whoever is making money off of this site - they're probably making a KILLING

just doing some quick math....

say you win a 80GB PS3 for $150 with only 1 bid of $0.15, so you came out on top with only having to pay about $151 for a PS3. meanwhile the site had a 1000 bids for $0.15 (assuming that's the increment), with $0.75 for every bid the site just made $750 on that PS3 plus your $150 for a total of $900??? am i understanding that correctly?

[Apoc]

am i understanding that correctly?

Yup. Brilliant, isn't it?

The penny auctions are even more lucrative.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.swoopo.com/auction/apple-macbook-air-1-6ghz-core-2-duo-note/145398.html">http://www.swoopo.com/auction/apple-mac ... 45398.html</a><!-- m -->

The final price was $87 but the site made $6550 in bid fees. The winner only ended up paying $330 but everyone else made up the other $6220. Once you bid, you pretty much have to bid until you win.

[Sijray21]

am i understanding that correctly?

Yup. Brilliant, isn't it?

The penny auctions are even more lucrative.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.swoopo.com/auction/apple-macbook-air-1-6ghz-core-2-duo-note/145398.html">http://www.swoopo.com/auction/apple-mac ... 45398.html</a><!-- m -->

The final price was $87 but the site made $6550 in bid fees. The winner only ended up paying $330 but everyone else made up the other $6220. Once you bid, you pretty much have to bid until you win.

the idea for the site is brilliant

and from a buyer's perspective, Lee was absolutely right with the Bid Butler - if there was a way to set it at bidding only at 1 second if you weren't the highest bidder, i bet you could get away with some crazy deals for an item

[stevegula]

am i understanding that correctly?

Yup. Brilliant, isn't it?

The penny auctions are even more lucrative.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.swoopo.com/auction/apple-macbook-air-1-6ghz-core-2-duo-note/145398.html">http://www.swoopo.com/auction/apple-mac ... 45398.html</a><!-- m -->

The final price was $87 but the site made $6550 in bid fees. The winner only ended up paying $330 but everyone else made up the other $6220. Once you bid, you pretty much have to bid until you win.

the idea for the site is brilliant

and from a buyer's perspective, Lee was absolutely right with the Bid Butler - if there was a way to set it at bidding only at 1 second if you weren't the highest bidder, i bet you could get away with some crazy deals for an item

Actually, you wouldn't.

1) Everyone else would do that too
2) When you bid, you put 15 seconds back on the clock. It's not like eBay where you can snipe things.

I paid $22 and bought 30 bids to play on the site last night. I watched a $1300 MacBook go for $8.96 or something ridiculous. That's low enough that Swoopo lost money on that transaction (best case they lost $200 by my guess). I also watched a bunch of items makes them a lot more (an auction for something netted them $4k). Right now there's a $500 netbook on there that has already netted them over $1500. I have decided that to win you're hoping for one of two things -

1) The people bidding against you forget to bid
2) Everyone gets used to the '1-2 seconds left' bidders and thus quits doing the 1-2 second bids and then 'whoops', no one bid and the auction ends.

While the company thrives on the escalating cost of commitment, you get royally screwed by it because it will keep everyone else bidding against you in hopes of limiting their losses (assuming they commit more than the item is worth).

[.paul]

I gambled on 22.50 or whatever it was for 30 bids. was entertaining while I bid no the MB Air, I tried to set my bid butler to about 10 dollars higher than what it previously sold for in hopes that I could get it. No dice

[xvxax]

I am fascinated by this website. I watch auctions every other day or so, but I haven't signed up yet. The site owners hide some of the far in progress auctions from the main site to discourage last minute "swooping". Is that what it's called? Pretty interesting. It also seems like there are a lot of the same names that come up. Not sure if its bidders associated with the company or what.

[Mike]

so far people on here have spent $45 and received nothing. am i right? who's next to throw money away? come on, think about it! $9 macbook air!

lol... fools.

[stevegula]

so far people on here have spent $45 and received nothing. am i right? who's next to throw money away? come on, think about it! $9 macbook air!

lol... fools.

I just wanted to play around on the site and see what was going on and learn their business model a little (yea we all know the basis, but you learn more when you sit around as a customer and go through the experience). It's the business student in me.

I have to believe this site maintains its existence by pulling in new users. I bet the number of people who return after spending their $20-$50 is pretty low. Eventually people have to figure "I've spent too much and received nothing, fuck it."

[Apoc]

I have to believe this site maintains its existence by pulling in new users. I bet the number of people who return after spending their $20-$50 is pretty low. Eventually people have to figure "I've spent too much and received nothing, fuck it."

Or people who got a $1500 computer for $300. Even if they spent an extra $300 in bids they'd still be way out ahead in their mind. The expected value for most customers is certainly a loss but I think people getting deals will keep people coming back.

Casinos don't thrive on new customers, after all.

[BLINGMW]

BRILLIANT. They obviously have a wealth of bidders on that site, maybe we should start up another auction site! House always wins. And with a few shill bidders to keep things moving in case an auction stalls at just a few cents, the house would REALLY always win! :lol:

[mrbaggio]

Maybe the user base is too large and there is no recourse for not following along, but couldn't some form of etiquette develop? Since the only real way to communicate with other users is bidding style (single or butler) and the time of your bid, if people who were going to play until the end just put in bids really quickly without letting the clock tick all the way down to one or two you would have a better idea of who was actually going to contest you for the item. If you saw a guy answering your bids very quickly you could read that as a strong desire for that item. Then you could just let that one go and find a different item.

I might be asking too much here.

[stevegula]

Maybe the user base is too large and there is no recourse for not following along, but couldn't some form of etiquette develop? Since the only real way to communicate with other users is bidding style (single or butler) and the time of your bid, if people who were going to play until the end just put in bids really quickly without letting the clock tick all the way down to one or two you would have a better idea of who was actually going to contest you for the item. If you saw a guy answering your bids very quickly you could read that as a strong desire for that item. Then you could just let that one go and find a different item.

I might be asking too much here.

Which turns into a prisoner's dilemma when people realize other people are bluffing.

[Apoc]

They actually have a whole section the site about bidding style. They're playing into people's psyche by making them think they can game the system.

Can you give me some advice about how to bid?

We often get asked by people how to improve their chances of winning an auction on Swoopo.

ThereÔÇÖs no "sure-fire" winning strategy, but here are a few tips to help you get started, as well as a few of the traps that novice bidders sometimes fall into.

Place your bid late
Watch the countdown and try to jump in and bid in the last few seconds. If the timer has reached the last few seconds, you know that it will end unless another bid is placed. (DonÔÇÖt leave it too late though, or you might miss out)

Start with the cheapest products
Although you can get some incredible bargains on our most expensive items, they also tend to be the most competitive auctions, attracting hundreds of bidders. Our cheaper products tend to have fewer bidders, meaning youÔÇÖre much more likely to win.

Use the BidButler to your advantage
The BidButler is a powerful tool, if you get the timing right you can scare off other bidders by placing one. Nobody likes to see their bids matched over and over again by your all conquering BidButler, you might just persuade them to give up and try again next time.

Turn their BidButlers against them
On the other hand, some people have a ÔÇÿfire and forgetÔÇÖ policy with the BidButler. It is easy to swoop in and win with a quick single bid if your rival has gone to make a cup of coffee safe in the knowledge that their BidButler will protect them.
WeÔÇÖve noticed that users tend to set the ÔÇÿBid ToÔÇÖ value of their BidButlers to a round number, so watch out for this and you might be able to snap up a bargain by simply clicking on the ÔÇ£BidÔÇØ button when a BidButler has just finished.

Keep an eye on what other bidders are up to
You can see the details of the last ten bids placed: try to work out whoÔÇÖs bidding and when theyÔÇÖre bidding. ItÔÇÖs all about timing, so maybe you can work out when the right time is to jump in and grab the lot.

Scout out the competition
Look and see how many different bidders have recently bid on an auction. YouÔÇÖre more likely to win if there are fewer bidders interested in the item than if there are lots of competing bidders.

Bid at the right time of day
The number of bidders varies throughout the day ÔÇô smart bidders can use this to pick up bargains by bidding when others are busy having breakfast or taking the dog for a walk.

Fine-tune your BidButler
If you use the BidButler to bid on your behalf, itÔÇÖs best not to set your ÔÇÿBid ToÔÇÖ value to a round number ÔÇô other bidders will be watching out for this (see above!).


There's even a secondary market as people are even selling guides on how to win.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.winswoopo.com">http://www.winswoopo.com</a><!-- m -->

[mrbaggio]

Seems like their pointers are only good for making the website more money.

[Apoc]

Seems like their pointers are only good for making the website more money.

Well... yeah.