PennyGameAuctions is Penny Auction for Board Games

Amanda Lee 0 comments

New niche penny auction site for those of you who like to play games! PennyGameAuctions.com offers buy-it now and is the very first penny auction site to offer penny auctions for board games.

“Penny Game Auctions acknowledges that the business model is “widely known to be shady” but explains that it avoids the major problems in two ways. First, the full cost of bids used in an auction can be applied at any time during the auction, or for 6 hours afterwards, toward the purchase of the same game at a discount to MSRP. Second, the identity of all bidders is known because participants must register with their BoardGameGeek IDs.”

Have you bid on PennyGameAuctions.com? Let us know about your bidding experiences on every penny auction site that you’ve bid on. Join our free penny auction forum!

CarsBids is New Penny Auction for Cars, But With Hefty Reserves

Amanda Lee 0 comments

CarsBids is the latest penny auction to launch offering cars. The latest, and perhaps only penny auction that’s still around auctioning cars.

On first glance of this new penny auction we’d surmise that something doesn’t seem right with the high volume of cars up for bid including an Audi Q7, Cadillac CTS, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Kia Soul, Ford Edge, Dodge Charger, Toyota Camry, Ford Escape, Ford Edge, Dodge Dart, Yamaha R1, Chevrolet Cobalt, Chevrolet Impala, Uplander, Ford Mustang and a Mazda 6i Sport to name just a few of their current offerings.

But there is a bit of a catch, CarsBids places reserves on each of their items to ensure that they don’t lose a lot of money. Each reserve is specified on each penny auction.

For instance, the reserve on the Audi Q7 is $849.00 – that means the auction end price needs to be at $849.00 BEFORE the Audi actually has a chance of getting sold to the bidder left standing once the auction clock has ran out. That’s 84,900 bids! 84,900 bids, well more like $84891.95 since the auction start price was $8.03.

CarsBids states an 100% refund of all bids if an auction does not meet the reserve amount.

“Cars Bids ‏@CarsBids15 May

CarsBids – The only place where you can buy a good car for 100$!!!!!!!! http://carsbids.com ”

They stated the following on our forum, “We just opened CARSBIDS.COM and yes we are for real!!!

Besides cas/suvs/pickup trucks we’ll offer also motorcycles and vintage/classic cars!

We are car people from Chicago and we currently partner few Chicago-land car dealerships.”

What they claim in their marketing both on their website and on Twitter, not really, I mean, of course it’s possible, but as a bidder looking to get a deal on a car, well, how probable would this be? First the Q7 auction needs to take in nearly 84,900 bids before anyone actually has a chance to bid, this means they either need a. a high bidding volume, or b. high bidder volume… then of course someone might be able to then win the car for $100 or even 1 bid. You don’t know. We don’t know. That’s just the nature of penny auctions… so to claim that they are the “Only place to get a car for $100″ well that’s not a guarantee.

SO, knowing that a lot of bids have to be placed before you even have a chance to bid and win, would you still do it?

CarsBids does not state much information about their company on the site, and whether they are a dealer or not.

Discuss this penny auction and all penny auction questions and issues with us in the Penny Auction Watch forum. We need your help to determine the legitimacy of these bid-fee sites and keep penny auction sites honest! Join our forum now, it’s free!

BidCactus Now Has Free Penny Auctions

Amanda Lee 3 comments

BidCactus, one of the very first penny auctions to launch in the US, just recently introduced free penny auctions. These auctions are indicated by the words “free to bid” on the bid button and are totally free to enter, and bid, all the winning bidder has to do is pay for the final auction end price in addition to stated shipping & handling fees.

Want to try bidding on a penny auction without even purchasing a bid pack to see how it goes? These auctions are for you. There’s a limit of one free auction win per day.

Free to Bid penny auction wins must be checked out of your cart within 60 minutes of winning.

Items include gift cards and bid packs to be used on non-free bid auctions with more items

Discuss BidCactus in the Penny Auction Watch forum! Do you bid on penny auctions? Looking to learn more? You’ve come to the right place. Join us and discuss your experiences with us, help us find scam and legit penny auctions too!

This Penny Auction Sells Snakes and Controversy Abounds

Amanda Lee 7 comments

Now here’s a penny auction with a different kind of offering, some people are afraid of these live animals. Snakes! Ball pythons to be exact. Turns out that BallBids.com has been offering a variety of ball pythons bred by the owner and from other snake retailers since late 2011! Who knew?

A very active ball python community on the Internet has been discussing the site for quite some time now too, so far there’s over 40 pages of forum posts and a bit of controversy.

Of course, many of the forum posters have been quick to call the site a scam, since it operates on the pay-per-bid penny auction model and many snake enthusiasts haven’t been familiar with penny auctions until BallBids.

The owner of the penny auction went on the popular Ball-Pythons forum to respond to skeptics only to be banned after posting 4 replies.

Zack of BallBids posted this response to a forum thread.

“It is not new if you apply it to every industry but new to this industry. A main difference in this site opposed to others is that people will be able to pick up something from the rewards store with there rewards points. Unlike any other penny auction we give back 5 percent of each purchase. That is more then credit cards…and there is no limit. What we have done is created something that can clean up all the excess snakes that people would normally sit on when not sold, and giving it back to the community. Best of all we buy them outright. This act will circulate the industry and stimulate growth to people who wouldn’t even consider buying a morph. It truly is a win win. The only catch is that we only do top quality and known lineage. So tell me, if you got a morph for 95 percent off and paid 30 dollars to get it you would not be happy? I know I would:-)”

“What differentiates us from the typical penny auction website is the fact that we give back 5% of the value of all purchases in the form of Reward Points, which can be redeemed for other prizes in our Reward Store (The selection is slim now, but it will be developed shortly).”

There’s even a “Say NO to BallBids fanpage on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Say-NO-to-Ballbids/149886288452749. Looks like there’s quite a bit of drama and controversy surrounding BallBids.

We decided to contact the page’s creator to find out what sparked the creation of the site, he told us:

“Say NO to Ballbids

Back in Dec 2011, I found out about Ballbids. A penny auctions for snakes. I keep snakes and we are always fighting for our rights to keep them. A lot of people in the reptile community did not or still do think that using a penny auction for live animals are a good thing for this hobby. Before Say No was created, we wanted to know that at least he was legally able to run a penny auction and people were asking if they were and if they needed a license. Well they said they did not and that they don’t need to prove nothing and started to ban and delete all negative comments. I was asked by a few people to start Say No to Ballbids which I did. We found out that they did not have proper licenses which they were shut down. And had to refund money. For the 6 months they were shut down, they moved their LLC to Missouri. Then they started to claim 6 months later that they wasn’t shut down and the emails that we have got were fake.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290982&highlight=Ballbids. [He wasn't kidding about a lot to read, there's actually 172 pages about BallBids!.. Whoa...]

Yes it is a lot to read but it pretty much gives the whole story, from the start. It also points how Ballbids react to negative publicity. ”

And everytime a snake doesn’t get bids where they will take a loss they either say that we have attacked the site, or they have network issues. The last 3 ended with the same network issues. All 3, they wouldn’t of made a profit.”

BallBids has auctioned Butterscotch Ghost Ball Pythons, Honey Bee Ball Pythons, Albino Ball Pythons, Killer Bee Ball Pythons and more, retailing for $200 to an upwards of $1,000.

Thinking about bidding on BallBids? Do you know how to care for a Ball Python?

“How do I take care of a Ball Python?

Taking care of a Ball Python is much easier than you may think. Since they do not require large areas, an adult ball python is just fine living in a 41 quart tub with a lock lid, or similar type holding facility. Sub-adults can live in a 28 quart tub, and hatchlings are just fine in a 12 or 15 quart tub. Just add Bedding, a Water Bowl, and a Heat Source.

A Hide Box is recommended.

As for the Substrate, (bedding) Coconut Husk works well for absorption, but other options are available.

A Hygrometer will assist with knowing the humidity level in the tub.

As for the Heat Source, a Heat Pad with a Thermostat is reccomended.

Make sure you have a quality Thermostat. How you control your heat is a huge factor in the health and well being of your ball python.

A crock dish for water is imperative. Make sure to give your snake fresh water every 2 to 3 days.

Keep the humidity at 50%. Keep their ambient temperature at 80 to 85 degrees. The hot spot (the area being heated by the heat pad) should be around 88 to 91 degrees.”

BallBids’ snakes ship in USPS boxes, and unboxing videos from winners can be seen under “Winner Videos” on their site.

Is BallBids.com a legit penny auction site? Do you have experiences bidding there? Discuss this site with us and post your reviews and experiences in the penny auction forum.

New Penny Auction to Be Twist Between Group Buying and Pay Per Bid Coming Soon: CityHits.com

Amanda Lee 0 comments

CityHits.com is a new penny auction site set to launch next month, March 2013, that claims to be a “twist to auctions and an adrenaline boost to Daily Deals.” They also claim that they will have “5-star brands, massive discounts, and guarantee that EVERYONE leaves a winner.” However, the forum thread that was started this week by a new user, sean1979 is a little questionable as he seems to know more about this new penny auction site than we can find online.

So far he’s posted a total of four threads promoting the new penny auction:

“ I Hear there is a new site opening -

Check out this crazy idea. Some new site called www.cityhits.com is trying to mix together the penny auction industry and the daily deal industry. When you buy bids, you get 100% cash back to buy deals in their deal store. But they only open next month I think.”

And another, which is just a copy + paste from their launch page:

A new twist to penny auctions and daily deals- www.cityhits.com

Bored with Groupon & Living Social? Frustrated with Quibids & Beezid?

Well… SO ARE WE!

CityHits.com is a twist to auctions and an adrenaline boost to Daily Deals.

We have 5-star brands, massive discounts,
and guarantee that EVERYONE leaves a winner.

Sign up to receive a $25 bonus
and an invite to our March 2013 launch”

Back in 2011 there was a penny auction site called CityCents.com that seemed to be legit, it was the first mix between a group buying site such as LivingSocial and Groupon in that it offered localized deal gift certificates and gift cards alongside laptops and other popular electronics. The site was only open for a few months before it shut down. Here’s what it looked like:

CityCents Penny Auction

We hope that CityHits ends up being a legit penny auction site. We’ll continue to watch and will keep you posted when we come across more information. Discuss this and all penny auctions in the Penny Auction Watch forum!

BidCactus Valentine’s Day Promotion & Free Bid Promo Codes

Amanda Lee 0 comments

In honor of Valentine’s Day BidCactus is offering a few special Valentine’s heart auctions, these special auctions are indicated by heart symbols. For each special heart auction you bid on today 2/14/13 you will get 2 free bids and 20 free bids for each auction you win, plus a bunch of promo codes for free bids. The free bids just for bidding will be credited on Friday, 2/15.

BidCactus Valentine’s Day Promo Codes:

Use code VALKISS13 for 1 Free Bid

Only Valid on 2/14/13 (ET)

Use code VALLOVE13
Get 500 Bids with a 250 Bidpack or more – Redeem up to 3 times!
Only Valid on 2/14/13 (ET)

Use code VALHUG13
Get 500 Bids with a 250 Bidpack or more – Redeem up to 3 times!

Use code VALROSE13
Get 30% off a 50 Bidpack or more – Redeem up to 5 times!

Use code VALBEAR13
Get 150 Bids with a 100 Bidpack or more – Redeem up to 2 times!

Limit on coupon per checkout. Coupons valid through 2/15/13 unless noted.

Do you bid on BidCactus? What have your experiences been on this penny auction site? We want to hear about your experiences. Join our free penny auction forum and post about them!

AmericanBids Shuts Down, Members Acquired by PyroBids

Amanda Lee 0 comments

Penny auction site AmericanBids.com has shut down. Bidders will be able to transfer their bids to penny auction site PyroBids.com.

“Hello Americabbidders, We want to thank you for supporting our site; but we are closing our site. We have been given the opportunity to extend to you the ability to transfer your existing bids with us to use at Pyrobids.com. If you have an account with Pyrobids.com you do not need to do anything. If you do not have an account with Pyrobids.com please visit their site and create an account. We will be sending Pyrobids.com a list of our customers and their remaining bid count, Pyrobids.com will then credit your account with those bids for you to use at Pyrobids.com. If you have any outstanding auction(s) that need to be paid for please pay for them within the next 48 hours as our site will be closing. All auctions will be shipped via USPS with tracking numbers as usual. Thanks, Americanbids.com”

Penny auction site PyroBids.com has acquired AmericanBids’ members and has posted a welcome message on their site stating that bids will be transferred to users beginning February 15th. Read our interview with PyroBids. In order to receive bids on PyroBids AmericanBids users must register on Pyrobids.com.

PyroBids penny auction to credit bids from AmericanBids accounts

Did you bid on AmericanBids? Do you bid on PyroBids? Tell us about your experiences! Join our penny auction forum.

BidCactus Offering Free Bids When Completing Offers Including Buying Bids on a Competing Penny Auction Site -?

Amanda Lee 0 comments

Penny auction site BidCactus has been offering an option for users to complete incentive/affiliate offers to receive free bids for awhile now. Right now they’re offering 25 free bids when users take advantage of any of their “partner options” for instance, users can purchase and send flowers for Valentine’s Day by clicking on their affiliate link with ProFlowers and then they’ll receive free bids.

That’s all good, but what’s kind of funny is that BidCactus has an offer for users to purchase bids on a competing penny auction site – iBid2Save.

“ibid2SAVE sauctions for iPads, HDTVs, computers, gift cards, jewelry, home goods & more for up to 90% off!

requirements: Register for free & purchase any won auction to receive credit. Offer can be completed in less than 5 minutes. You must be anew user. Valid user information required. Please note: If you cancel your order, TrialPay reserves the right to discontinue access to your free product.”

What do you think about penny auctions offering incentives for free bids? Have you bid on BidCactus? What have your experiences been on this and all penny auction sites? We want to hear about it! Join us in the Penny Auction Watch Penny Auction Forum!