GiftCardBidz

GiftCardBidz

by auctionwatcher on October 4, 2009

GiftCardBidz.com is a new penny auction site for gift cards that opened just a few weeks ago.
We happened to find them on the first day of operation and at 3am EST they had bidders actively bidding. Now they show 246 pages of ended auctions. The majority of the 1,233 gift cards have all ended with less bids than half of value. It looks like they’re taking significant losses if these are all real bidders.



According to the stats, GiftCardBidz averages about 160 pageviews a day, and has an Alexa ranking of 6,854,359. It doesn’t seem like a wise decision for a penny auction to put up so many auctions (15/day) with traffic so low. The only name that we recognize out of over 1,000 items is kauaikapaa.


Have you won or received a gift card from GiftCardBidz?

I was going to sign up but I didn't like their terms and conditions so I don't think I will. It looks to me like hidden fees that will come out of your paypal account. The How it works page just says you buy bids for a fee. I think I will skip on the registration there.

-Members may terminate their membership at any time. Members need only to Log In to their Specified PayPal account and cancel the giftcardbidz.com Subscription.

- If a Member for any reason disputes any charge from PayPal or giftcardbidz.com, the Member will be deemed in breach of this contract and will be subject to fines of $500 per hour that the amount is disputed with PayPal and the complaint is live up to a maximum of $5000.00. The $500 per hour starts the minute the dispute is filed and continues until the breach is fixed. The amount of the fine becomes due immediately and will be turned over to a collection agency if not paid within 10 days.

-From time to time, based on the sole discretion of giftcardbidz.com, you may be charged fees and other charges (the "Fees") for the use of certain Services for which you are registered. Such Fees, if any, will be disclosed on the Site or to you prior to your use of a particular Service, and your use of the Service shall constitute your agreement to pay all applicable Fees. You shall be responsible for any Fees that result from use of the Service from or through your Account, whether or not made by you. Information on Fees shall be available to you under your Account information. The Fees shall be due immediately and are non-refundable, unless otherwise indicated to you in writing by giftcardbidz.com. All Fees are subject to change, and giftcardbidz.com will provide notice of such change in Fees on the Site or to you prior to the new Fees taking effect. Upon receipt of giftcardbidz.com's notice of a change in Fees, you may immediately cancel your Account. Continuation of a Service after notice of a change in Fees will constitute your agreement to the new Fees.

Signed up and went thru the 5 free bids without winning -- lost fair and square. I did notice that on the auction I was bidding on that several other people were placing consecutive single bids. Why is that? Do people really bid that way (against themselves) or is that a sign of autobots?

Signed up and went thru the 5 free bids without winning -- lost fair and square. I did notice that on the auction I was bidding on that several other people were placing consecutive single bids. Why is that? Do people really bid that way (against themselves) or is that a sign of autobots?

I think that's an autobot.

My question is that if the pageviews are so low, how are a good chunk of the completed auctions in the $1 + range (indicitive of 100+ bids on an item)?

Whenever I buy bidpacks and start bidding the auction goes on for more than 100 bids but if I refrain away by just watching the auction ends in less than 10 bids. If I see almost all autions I get one pattern.one or two real people bidding and one autobidder and the other one is the shill bid might the website owner itself. I sh*tted out 250 bids in very few auctions just to figure out this.They let you to win but very rare case if you buy more than 200 bids you will win atleast once.At any given time you will see only 2-3 bidders.That looks fishy to me.Be careful with them, If you press bid button twice you will be ending up losing the auction coz you will bid against urself by giving time and chance to others.They are scam.Check their first ended auction and recent auctions you will find same guy bidding against himself.I request all of you to keep away from them. Their auctions look lucrative, once you jump into auction it becomes ugly.
Any one here at PAW have any good experience about them? :mad:

Whenever I buy bidpacks and start bidding the auction goes on for more than 100 bids but if I refrain away by just watching the auction ends in less than 10 bids. If I see almost all autions I get one pattern.one or two real people bidding and one autobidder and the other one is the shill bid might the website owner itself. I sh*tted out 250 bids in very few auctions just to figure out this.They let you to win but very rare case if you buy more than 200 bids you will win atleast once.At any given time you will see only 2-3 bidders.That looks fishy to me.Be careful with them, If you press bid button twice you will be ending up losing the auction coz you will bid against urself by giving time and chance to others.They are scam.Check their first ended auction and recent auctions you will find same guy bidding against himself.I request all of you to keep away from them. Their auctions look lucrative, once you jump into auction it becomes ugly.
Any one here at PAW have any good experience about them? :mad:

Great report, mywork! Sorry for your trouble with them but thank you for sharing with us. I hope it saves others from being cheated.

For what it is worth back in the day at Yottabid you could bid against yourself, I would do that some times just to freak out the other bidder(s) and let them know I was willing to waste/spend bids, it often worked, sometimes not.

hi ,

i tried them with the 5 free bids i won a 50 pack then i won another 50 pack (i used 50 bid ) so i thought well i am gonna go for a 25 dollar giftcard and lord and behold this card sold for way over price and i alone used 62 bids on it .

this site is definitly not woth your time !

monika

Great report, mywork! Sorry for your trouble with them but thank you for sharing with us. I hope it saves others from being cheated.

Thanks suzyq! Am a newbie for penny auctions still not able to differentiate a good penny auction website from bad one. I guess we need to start a thread for all here at PAW forum to look for the symptoms for identifying legit with bad one.

Unfortunately I got cheated by many penny auction websites till I found PAW,But now on we need to educate all others about scams unveiling in this domain...

Hats off to PAW admin for the great work and having a forum to discuss.

To add one more point, they have almost more than 1400 auctions ended I wonder how no users have complained about biding against ourself and I wonder if they have given those won items to real people by now they would have bankrupt. I see every day like 5 to 10 new users but they bid only on one or two auctions and will go off in vacation and will come back after a week. I smell something is wrong.

For what it is worth back in the day at Yottabid you could bid against yourself, I would do that some times just to freak out the other bidder(s) and let them know I was willing to waste/spend bids, it often worked, sometimes not.

Well, If you do that when you have enough time in the counter, but when you are about to win at last second if you click you potentially giving others a chance? Isn't it?

Isn't this against to the concept of bidding?

-Mywork
------------
I hate online scams.

hi ,

i tried them with the 5 free bids i won a 50 pack then i won another 50 pack (i used 50 bid ) so i thought well i am gonna go for a 25 dollar giftcard and lord and behold this card sold for way over price and i alone used 62 bids on it .

this site is definitly not woth your time !

monika

Oh, that's great! Even I won only a bid pack out of 250 bids. Eventually lost that 50 bids also for none!

mywork
-----------
I hate online scams

Is it anyway I can view winner page??? Why you deleted ended auction page??? Something is up???

Is this site looks scam? Anyone won and got card? Let me know.

yes, I have won and received cards. They stated cards sent on Mon. mornings. Notice how exactly DUPLICATE both Famdabidosy and Giftcardbidz..... except for the headers on main page. All other threads and
navi tools are same.... except for color changes.
Also, odd that some 'high card' auctions get one/two bids..... and low card
auctions go crazy when "YOU START TO BID".....
Wait and see.. but enjoy all your posts.

Notice how exactly DUPLICATE both Famdabidosy and Giftcardbidz..... except for the headers on main page. All other threads and
navi tools are same.... except for color changes.

I've actually not noticed that. Even that website behaves same way...If you bid the auction will end at higher price if you watch the auction will go for very few pennies
Next is they do offer more giftcards of same value as they have in giftcardbidz.

Also, odd that some 'high card' auctions get one/two bids..... and low card
auctions go crazy when "YOU START TO BID".....
Wait and see.. but enjoy all your posts.

This is what exactly happening to most here...By the way Do anyone know how to terminate the account? They say we have to do it through only paypal in the terms page?

both following players are constant AUCTION BIDDERS AND WINNERS.

BIDSTAR and BULLFISH. Are these confirmed botts?

tx for sharing!

I was going to sign up but I didn't like their terms and conditions so I don't think I will. It looks to me like hidden fees that will come out of your paypal account. The How it works page just says you buy bids for a fee. I think I will skip on the registration there.

-Members may terminate their membership at any time. Members need only to Log In to their Specified PayPal account and cancel the giftcardbidz.com Subscription.

- If a Member for any reason disputes any charge from PayPal or giftcardbidz.com, the Member will be deemed in breach of this contract and will be subject to fines of $500 per hour that the amount is disputed with PayPal and the complaint is live up to a maximum of $5000.00. The $500 per hour starts the minute the dispute is filed and continues until the breach is fixed. The amount of the fine becomes due immediately and will be turned over to a collection agency if not paid within 10 days.

-From time to time, based on the sole discretion of giftcardbidz.com, you may be charged fees and other charges (the "Fees") for the use of certain Services for which you are registered. Such Fees, if any, will be disclosed on the Site or to you prior to your use of a particular Service, and your use of the Service shall constitute your agreement to pay all applicable Fees. You shall be responsible for any Fees that result from use of the Service from or through your Account, whether or not made by you. Information on Fees shall be available to you under your Account information. The Fees shall be due immediately and are non-refundable, unless otherwise indicated to you in writing by giftcardbidz.com. All Fees are subject to change, and giftcardbidz.com will provide notice of such change in Fees on the Site or to you prior to the new Fees taking effect. Upon receipt of giftcardbidz.com's notice of a change in Fees, you may immediately cancel your Account. Continuation of a Service after notice of a change in Fees will constitute your agreement to the new Fees.

Hey Clummie, I don't blame you for not liking their terms and conditions.... Scroll down I will react to what they say IN RED within the body of their terms and conditions.

I was going to sign up but I didn't like their terms and conditions so I don't think I will. It looks to me like hidden fees that will come out of your paypal account. The How it works page just says you buy bids for a fee. I think I will skip on the registration there.

-Members may terminate their membership at any time. Members need only to Log In to their Specified PayPal account and cancel the giftcardbidz.com Subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR ACCOUNT WITH ANY PENNY AUCTION SHOULD NOT INVOLVE PAYPAL OR ANY CREDIT CARD. UNLESS THEY ARE REFUNDING YOUR MONEY IN WHOLE OR IN PART. EVEN THEN, THERE IS NO NEED TO LOG INTO YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT UNLESS IT IS TO SEE THAT THEY HAVE REFUNDED YOUR MONEY.

- If a Member for any reason disputes any charge from PayPal or giftcardbidz.com, the Member will be deemed in breach of this contract and will be subject to fines of $500 per hour that the amount is disputed with PayPal and the complaint is live up to a maximum of $5000.00. The $500 per hour starts the minute the dispute is filed and continues until the breach is fixed. The amount of the fine becomes due immediately and will be turned over to a collection agency if not paid within 10 days. WOW!!! FIRST OF ALL, IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR THEM TO LEVY ANY FINES, SECONDLY, NO ONE CAN LEVY A FINE, (PUNISH YOU) FOR DARING TO COMPLAIN WHEN YOU FEEL YOU HAVE BEEN WRONGED. WHAT THEY ARE SAYING IN EFFECT IS, "WE ARE ALWAYS RIGHT AND IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE YOU OWE US $500.00 PER HOUR". THEY MAY AS WELL HAVE SAID, ANYONE WHO COMPLAINS ABOUT US WILL BE SHOT LOL,LOL. WHOEVER COMPOSED THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS IS A RANK AMATUER, NO SELF RESPECTING LAWYER WOULD ALLOW HIS CLIENT TO HAVE THIS AS PART OF THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

-From time to time, based on the sole discretion of giftcardbidz.com, you may be charged fees and other charges (the "Fees") for the use of certain Services for which you are registered. Such Fees, if any, will be disclosed on the Site or to you prior to your use of a particular Service, and your use of the Service shall constitute your agreement to pay all applicable Fees. You shall be responsible for any Fees that result from use of the Service from or through your Account, whether or not made by you. Information on Fees shall be available to you under your Account information. The Fees shall be due immediately and are non-refundable, unless otherwise indicated to you in writing by giftcardbidz.com. All Fees are subject to change, and giftcardbidz.com will provide notice of such change in Fees on the Site or to you prior to the new Fees taking effect. Upon receipt of giftcardbidz.com's notice of a change in Fees, you may immediately cancel your Account. Continuation of a Service after notice of a change in Fees will constitute your agreement to the new Fees.

Holy cow. I didn't sign up with them but after reading the areas you highlighted in red I really really really need to pay more attention to everything in the Terms & Conditions. Thank heavens I haven't had any real issues with sites other than my own stupidity.

As to your question VEEJAYB, I have seen both of those users, especially Bullfish, on other sites. Unless they're getting creative with bot names and naming them after power bidders or someone stole teh names, those users are legitimate I believe. Both are power bidders I think bidstar is at least..) and very difficult to take down. I wouldn't be surprised to see them as constant auction winners.

Hey Clummie, I don't blame you for not liking their terms and conditions.... Scroll down I will react to what they say IN RED within the body of their terms and conditions.

I was going to sign up but I didn't like their terms and conditions so I don't think I will. It looks to me like hidden fees that will come out of your paypal account. The How it works page just says you buy bids for a fee. I think I will skip on the registration there.

-Members may terminate their membership at any time. Members need only to Log In to their Specified PayPal account and cancel the giftcardbidz.com Subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR ACCOUNT WITH ANY PENNY AUCTION SHOULD NOT INVOLVE PAYPAL OR ANY CREDIT CARD. UNLESS THEY ARE REFUNDING YOUR MONEY IN WHOLE OR IN PART. EVEN THEN, THERE IS NO NEED TO LOG INTO YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT UNLESS IT IS TO SEE THAT THEY HAVE REFUNDED YOUR MONEY.

- If a Member for any reason disputes any charge from PayPal or giftcardbidz.com, the Member will be deemed in breach of this contract and will be subject to fines of $500 per hour that the amount is disputed with PayPal and the complaint is live up to a maximum of $5000.00. The $500 per hour starts the minute the dispute is filed and continues until the breach is fixed. The amount of the fine becomes due immediately and will be turned over to a collection agency if not paid within 10 days. WOW!!! FIRST OF ALL, IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR THEM TO LEVY ANY FINES, SECONDLY, NO ONE CAN LEVY A FINE, (PUNISH YOU) FOR DARING TO COMPLAIN WHEN YOU FEEL YOU HAVE BEEN WRONGED. WHAT THEY ARE SAYING IN EFFECT IS, "WE ARE ALWAYS RIGHT AND IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE YOU OWE US $500.00 PER HOUR". THEY MAY AS WELL HAVE SAID, ANYONE WHO COMPLAINS ABOUT US WILL BE SHOT LOL,LOL. WHOEVER COMPOSED THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS IS A RANK AMATUER, NO SELF RESPECTING LAWYER WOULD ALLOW HIS CLIENT TO HAVE THIS AS PART OF THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

-From time to time, based on the sole discretion of giftcardbidz.com, you may be charged fees and other charges (the "Fees") for the use of certain Services for which you are registered. Such Fees, if any, will be disclosed on the Site or to you prior to your use of a particular Service, and your use of the Service shall constitute your agreement to pay all applicable Fees. You shall be responsible for any Fees that result from use of the Service from or through your Account, whether or not made by you. Information on Fees shall be available to you under your Account information. The Fees shall be due immediately and are non-refundable, unless otherwise indicated to you in writing by giftcardbidz.com. All Fees are subject to change, and giftcardbidz.com will provide notice of such change in Fees on the Site or to you prior to the new Fees taking effect. Upon receipt of giftcardbidz.com's notice of a change in Fees, you may immediately cancel your Account. Continuation of a Service after notice of a change in Fees will constitute your agreement to the new Fees.

So many penny auctions have this in their terms, it is definitely a red flag. I wonder where they are copying this from though.

The time to time "fees" are just ludicrous. Everyone needs to read all terms & conditions for any new penny auction they sign up for, we can't stress this enough.