Penny Auction Affiliate Marketers Abusing CraigsList

ipad ad

Over the past few months we’ve been hearing about users finding penny auction sites from phony ads by affiliate marketers flooding Craigslist, but haven’t been able to actually find one to e-mail and see for ourselves.

Here’s one of the ads that this particular affiliate marketer in Washington State has up on Craigslist, the ad claims that they have brand new iPad -32GB with 3G,  opened for 2 minutes so they’re selling it for $220, but when you e-mail them and inquire you find out about a penny auction site with their affiliate link in the e-mail…http://cnj.craigslist.org/vgm/2351153230.html

ipad scam

“Hey,
Sorry it took me a while to respond, but I sold it already, you might want to check out This Site (link broken – it’s an affiliate link that forwards to a landing page – this time it was Bidrack – http://landing.bidrack.com/landing3.html (affiliate link omitted)-  the other day the link converted to BidSell) I picked up 2 brand new ones for under $70.

Since the site is new no one is online, no one is bidding, it’s like xmas all over again.
The trick is to bid only when the counter hits 4 seconds.

If I can do it anyone can.

Good luck
Vanessa”

Here’s another one:

“Hey,
Sorry it took me a while to respond, but I sold it already, you might want to check out This Site http://svbauc.org/BfbhswHmazDUwyd2 (affiliate link for bidsell.com) I picked up 2 brand new ones for under $70.

Since the site is new no one is online, no one is bidding, it’s like xmas all over again.
The trick is to bid only when the counter hits 4 seconds.

If I can do it anyone can.

Good luck”

So what’s the big deal?

You’ll be charged $90 if you enter your credit card info (not sure if you’ll be charged more – they don’t have anything in their T&C about the charges as far as we can tell.

“This site is maintained by Accerated Performance, Channel Management (APCM), Llc., a Nevada Limited Liability Company. By using this Web site, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms of use. Please review the following terms carefully. If you do not agree to these terms, you have no right from APCM to obtain information from or otherwise use this Web site. Failure to use this Web site in accordance with the following terms of use may subject you to severe civil and criminal penalties.”

Bottom of the page:

Bidsell.com does not operate or accept business from the residents of Illinois or Kentucky, and this offer is not valid in those states. We make all efforts to prevent any residents of those states from signing up on this site. BidsellPromotions.com © 2011 | APCM, LLC. All Rights Reserved | TermsPrivacy

bidsell.com

What happens is once you click on the link sent to you in the e-mail by the liar on Craigslist you’ll be a member of a penny auction site and if the landing page requests your credit card information you’ll more than likely be charged for bids and maybe you didn’t even realize it (but be careful when revealing personal & financial information online),  on the second landing page, the one for Bidsell you’ll find that they do indeed ask for your credit card information – up on top it states that you’ll get bids, 150 for $90 – then on the left, in a more prominent location says to enter BONUS BIDS in the coupon code field to receive 15 bonus bids, NOW and since today is May 23rd, there’s even an expiration date of May 24th but I have a feeling that you if we check this landing page tomorrow or the 24th, the code will be valid until the next day as well.

The bottom states that BidSell is a BBB Accredited business, they are,  and they have a NR rating so far.. 14 complaints have been received and refunds have been given.

Company Profile

Nexus Media Ventures LLC
Address: 27068 La Paz Road, Suite 491
Aliso Viejo, CA  92656
Tel: (877) 424-3735
Fax: (949) 266-9368

Web Site: http://www.bidsell.com
Contact: Customer Support Dept –
Business Start Date: 6/1/2004
Company ID: 100100124
Nature of Business:

This company’s business is providing online auctions.”

http://www.la.bbb.org/Business-Report/Nexus-Media-Ventures-LLC-100100124
Notice how even on BidSell.com they compare their auctions to eBay (as others have in the past) and illustrate this with a cracked iPad, seriously? I see this as trying to give eBay a bad reputation.

bidsell

 

Another Bidsell landing page makes it look like Bidsell has been recognized by both TechCrunch & the NY Times..The quoted NY Times article is talking about another penny auction site and not BidSell.

Then there’s this affiliate marketer’s Bidrack landing page, notice on the left-hand side it says “Premium Account $0.60 per bid” then in small print, “$99 total” – bordered in white this is obviously less prominent to the consumer than the right side area where users will enter their personal information + credit card info, Note that the terms of service link on the bottom says nothing about the $99 fee as it just forwards to BidRack.com’s T&S http://www.bidrack.com/terms.html.

bidrack

 

Did you find penny auctions thanks to these phony ads on Craigslist? Let us know, we’d love to hear about it! Also -feel free to join our free penny auction forum, we’ll never charge you a cent.

 

iPad image Credits: Creative Commons AttributionNoncommercial Some rights reserved by Kominyetska

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22 comments… add one
  • steven May 24, 2011, 7:09 pm

    We at APCM, do NOT condone the use of craigslist or other deceptive marketing practices. We were not aware of this affiliate using craigslist to generate sales for our penny auction client. When we found out, we terminated their account (hence their link not working). We hope that the people at pennyauctionwatch understands that although we police what our affiliates do, we cannot always stop them before they actually breach. However, we have always been able to find and catch these breaches, sometimes too late for some people. We sincerely apologize about any misrepresentation which our affiliate had brought forth, and as our policy states, we are more than willing to refund any unused bids. We hope that such actions by a third party will not paint APCM or Bidsell as the type that would approve of such deceptions.

    Reply
    • AuctionWatcher May 25, 2011, 12:23 pm

      Hi Steven,
      Thanks for letting us know.

      Reply
    • sodapop June 17, 2011, 7:11 am

      Yeah, now what about your other disgusting, and misleading practices?

      Reply
      • Amanda June 17, 2011, 11:42 am

        What?

        Reply
        • Kranky September 23, 2011, 5:41 pm

          Isn’t this why you use “affilates” in the first place? You try and distance yourself from the scam/spam practices by having others do it for you. You know perfectly well the affiliates will do this, and you claim innocence when they get caught.

          Reply
  • Steven May 25, 2011, 12:29 am

    Another item to note…

    The post above incorrectly outlines a series of events which are false. When you clicked on the link provided in the example email, the individual did NOT, I REPEAT NOT become a member of BidsellPromotions.com NOR Bidsell.com. The user was taken to our landing page and only when they signed up themselves, did they become a member of our site. We NEVER sign users up without that user initiating the membership themselves.

    Our landing page, as you can clearly see, identifies the costs prior to the user submitting their payment information. Even after the individual enters their payment information, Bidsell.com provides a complete

    Reply
    • Kranky September 23, 2011, 5:37 pm

      Then why are you being ibvestigated by the FTC for fraud?

      Reply
  • Steven May 25, 2011, 12:43 am

    Refund through Bidsell.com’s easily accessible customer service agents. APCM nor Bidsell.com will ever charge more than advertised, or acquire your personal information without you submitting it to us yourself.

    Reply
  • chris June 3, 2011, 4:03 pm

    Well I really don’t see how this is wrong or deceptive. It’s not like they took any credit card information and signed people up. They go to the page and like what they see and they sign up.

    Reply
    • sodapop June 8, 2011, 4:57 pm

      nice try, bidsell rep!

      Reply
  • Get Coupons June 8, 2011, 2:23 pm

    Its amazing how people fall for these, better off looking for a genuine discount code for a product you like than trying to get it for a penny

    Reply
  • Anonymous June 8, 2011, 7:11 pm

    Yeah, refund a few people who get scammed who squack a whole bunch to the media/credit card company to make it look like you’re a legit business.

    Reply
  • Jen January 15, 2012, 6:01 pm

    I responded to an ad on the Austin Craigslist today for an Amazon Kindle for sale (http://austin.craigslist.org/ele/2793816229.html). I got an almost immediate reply I have copied below:

    {Hello

    Someone just bought this from me, but I can tell you where I got it from.
    I just got 4 of these from ezdealfun.com and I resold them on here for some extra money.

    Its new so there are no people online, so noone is placing bids, its like xmass again. The trick is to bid right when the counter hits 4 seconds and you win pretty much every time.

    Regards}

    I was wary of the email since the sender did not address me by name nor did she sign her own name. I did a little checking into the email sender’s name and found her about 50 miles from the location given in the craigslist ad. I have since flagged the ad as prohibited on craigslist since this person clearly lied about having a Kindle to sell and only placed the ad in order to direct people to the ezdealfun.com website. Thanks for all the good info on this site.

    Reply
  • megan January 21, 2012, 12:13 pm

    I just got the same email from susanachamberlainzno@hotmail.com about an iPad on craigslist saying
    “Hi

    Someone just bought this from me, but I can tell you where I got it from.
    I just got 4 of these from ezdealfun.com and I resold them on here for some extra money.

    Not popular yet so theres no people on it, so noone is placing bids, its like xmas again. Just bid right when the counter hits 4 seconds and you win pretty much every time.

    Regards”

    Reply
  • Priscilla January 22, 2012, 4:45 pm

    I was on craigslist searching for a netbook, and came across the same thing! i can’t believe their doing this, such scammers! if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is!

    props to them for making their website look legit with the whole youtube videos and such.

    Reply
    • Amanda Lee January 22, 2012, 8:00 pm

      Yeah it really is dishonest and they are making a profit from fooling people. Report them to craigslist and the site they are promoting.

      Reply
      • Terrance Tovar May 3, 2014, 2:17 am

        FYI Passport4Success will open within weeks. Unique penny auction in that our process is patent pending. We have eliminated shill bids and such. You know how some penny sites work, yes? Our founder has eliminated those risks. Also we will be bidding on things from computers to MKs Purses to Rolex watches….all delivered to the winner by Amazon.com. Also five more countries to open soon. What we have is truly unique. Please contact me. If you understand penny auctions you want to see this. All tricks removed. We are still in pre-launch mode and I am in at the ground floor. terrance.tovar@gmail.com. Terry Tovar on Facebook. US based in Los Angeles. Last meeting – 200 people – standing room – larger facility now needs to be leased.

        Reply
        • Amanda Lee May 5, 2014, 3:39 pm

          Interesting is it going to be a MLM site?

          Reply
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    Reply
  • Jake November 25, 2015, 12:27 pm

    Well now it’s fucking Beezid that’s doing the scamming on Craigslist. Fucking assholes.

    Reply
  • Adam February 17, 2016, 4:26 pm

    Scammer using this one to direct people to beezid; http://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/pho/5451726916.html

    Reply
  • Gustavo May 18, 2016, 7:34 pm

    Saw an iphone on Craigslist, look who answered:

    Jennifer Aniston
    To xxxx Today at 4:53 PM
    Hello Gustavo,

    Someone already purchased this from me sorry, but I can tell you where I got it from.

    I got 4 of these from http://beeziddeal.com and I decided to resell them for some extra money. You can buy from this website at very cheap.

    The trick is just put in a bid under 5 seconds. So the other bidders don’t have the chance to submit their counter bids. That’s what I did and it’s really easy to win.

    All the best,
    Jennifer

    Reply

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