Do Penny Auctions Still Exist

Hey all, been a while thought I wold pop in and see if any hard core bidders are still around. I think about my bidding days often as it was such a wild ride and exciting time, glad to have my life and free time back, however it was fun being the penny auction villain. 

Anyway if any old timers are left like to hear whats up. I have no intention of bidding anymore though, it cost a small fortune building the reputation I had I would hate to have to do it over again, not that it would even work in this day and age of PA's.

Peace Out

Gary (The Real Bid to win)

There are a very few auctions out, Its not really worth it anymore. I used to get Gifts Cards in the mail everyday, Now I am lucky if the Bidding Sites even pay out their wins. I backed off, WAYYYYYY OFFF, I also noticed alot of regular bidders are also gone.

We just launched our site PennyVacay.com on July 1st after doing months and months of the exact reasons bidders like you gave it all up. Now that these sites have come into their adolescence, its clear what works and what doesn't.

We are hoping we have developed a system that has more control over the disadvantages for users and immoral business practices. We have a rewards system that keeps users of a certain skill level within certain auctions. The new users can go against one another, and the skilled can go against one another. Sites that don't pay out what they promise is the worst of all and usually happens when these sites go bankrupt (usually because they didn't do their math correct and started hemorrhaging money). We are starting small and scaling appropriately so that never happens to us. If we were to ever shut down we are also legally obligated to pay out any remaining outstanding auctions.

Eventually our business model will kick in delivering vacation, hotel and cruise deals as auctions, sending people on vacation for a huge discount.

I hope you'll give us a shot, even if its for old times sake. If not, thanks for steering this industry more into legitimacy.

I have not even placed a bid is 2+ years. The early bidding years will always rank as one of  the more exciting times in my life (financially speaking). I was never a big gambler however it was hardly gambling back when. I look back at the heyday of the PA's and the fleecing was like card counting in Vegas.

I do pop in here once or twice a year I like to go back and read about all the drama there once was. It is always a fun read

I have not even placed a bid is 2+ years. The early bidding years will always rank as one of  the more exciting times in my life (financially speaking). I was never a big gambler however it was hardly gambling back when. I look back at the heyday of the PA's and the fleecing was like card counting in Vegas.

 

I do pop in here once or twice a year I like to go back and read about all the drama there once was. It is always a fun read

Lol some of your drama threads were some of the funniest things I've read. Almost enjoyed it more than bidding. You just might of been the most hated bidder in PA history. But I liked you so that's all that counts. 

Lol some of your drama threads were some of the funniest things I've read. Almost enjoyed it more than bidding. You just might of been the most hated bidder in PA history. But I liked you so that's all that counts. 

In the last week I have visited some of the old threads, It was a lot of fun re-visiting them I found myself fascinated by not only my responses but all the others that hated me.

Look it was all an act it worked to my benefit to become the villain of the PA world so I played that part and it was a lot of FUN. The more I could get people to talk about me (good and bad) was good for my game. That persona also made it so I was more often the 1st bidder to get paid or their wins when sites were shutting down. It was all calculated. The PAW collusion club i always talked about was real and I took full advantage of it. 

I am glad I am now out of the game, however it is a very memorable time in my life that I often reflect on both the good and the bad.

The stories I could tell about the PA underground... 

My days of stirring the pot are over though...  I wish that PB was still up I would love to re-read those threads 

Gary! So good to see you here again. Wow have things changed in this industry and I'll admit, my involvement hasn't been what it used to be but neither is the industry. How've you been? Good to see everyone again in here!

What's your take on the industry right now. What are you doing now? Find any other new/and interesting niches to save money like penny auctions? This niche truly is a unique one, but good or bad it has seriously changed.

At times I definitely miss the old days... Drama, hatred, death threats, lawsuits and all... ha!! So awesome to hear from you guys!

I got out at the right time and I never looked back. Penny auctions consumed me for a quite while. No doubt I am a opportunist, both you and I just happen to find this industry at the right time to capitalize on it. I too miss the DRAMA (or should i say creating the drama) it was a fun alter-ego. It was a dirty game and frankly the poor auction owners never stood a chance. I must say that probably every suspicion of Collusion/underground organizing was likely true , Ha Ha. Actually I would not call it outright collusion as much as I would call it organized bidding, still it decimated the industry

On a personal note Health money family better than ever, the family was happy to have me back when I retired from bidding. I sold my Lighting company 2 years ago and started a new Sports Lighting Company specializing in New Technology LED. Other than that I have not found anything else to really exploit (not really looking either). 

I do pop in here from time to time and I am really surprised that there are guys still trying to make owning a small penny auction work. Like I mentioned above I really enjoy going back in time and reading the old post  especially the drama filled ones. 

Thanks for keeping the forum op I have enjoyed the walk down memory lane.

I am still around but don't bid anymore except for wasting away left over bids on exhibia which is a joke of a site. 

I now have a passion for daily fantasy sports on fanduel, draftkings, etc. Wish I had the same winning percentage I did back in my penny auction days.

I still wander around looking for sites to try but never am I intrigued enough to try them out.

Awesome Gary! Glad to hear things are going well. Also NGS - yeah, I hear you there. This industry just isn't what it used to be. Sometimes that's a good thing. Of course there's still the few who want to stir the pot and still will even while this space is pretty much dead some try to make a go of it still... Why, I don't know.

Definition of insanity, anyone? 

Just dropped in to say hello, great to go back and read some of the old posts... I had a blast back in the day and won a ton of stuff. I think my first bid was at snaglo and my fav was wavee for sure. Those days are long gone, but great to some of the old bidders.

I don't know of many good ones out any more. Have you seen this new one that is supposed to go live on Sunday? www.TheMineLife.com supposedly claims "the main auction winners will walk with nothing less than a $100 Visa or Amazon gift card or even an all-inclusive dream vacation to the Caribbean." Of course it has the sign up early for free bids promo going on right now.

Awesome Gary! Glad to hear things are going well. Also NGS - yeah, I hear you there. This industry just isn't what it used to be. Sometimes that's a good thing. Of course there's still the few who want to stir the pot and still will even while this space is pretty much dead some try to make a go of it still... Why, I don't know.

 

Definition of insanity, anyone? 

Definition of insanity = www.TheMineLife.com. I 1000% agree with you, the industry has stalled because of all the thievery and monotony in user experience. I do not agree that it is pretty much dead because I don't think it will ever die. It just needs to evolve.  I have been working on a new type of penny auction for 3 years, we received development and product funding in July and over 1000 auctions go live on Sunday, November 22, 2015. We added some important features that we think the entertainment shopping experience needed to evolve. For example, we made a command center. The command center allows you to drag and drop any auctions you want into the auction spaces, so now you can customize the auctions you are most interested in to be on one page. This is just one of many awesome features that will help the entertainment level increase. Did I mention, the Wincube? It is where everyone wins after losing the auction. I would be honored if you would attend the beta testing tomorrow. 

We just launched our site PennyVacay.com on July 1st after doing months and months of the exact reasons bidders like you gave it all up. Now that these sites have come into their adolescence, its clear what works and what doesn't.

 

We are hoping we have developed a system that has more control over the disadvantages for users and immoral business practices. We have a rewards system that keeps users of a certain skill level within certain auctions. The new users can go against one another, and the skilled can go against one another. Sites that don't pay out what they promise is the worst of all and usually happens when these sites go bankrupt (usually because they didn't do their math correct and started hemorrhaging money). We are starting small and scaling appropriately so that never happens to us. If we were to ever shut down we are also legally obligated to pay out any remaining outstanding auctions.

 

Eventually our business model will kick in delivering vacation, hotel and cruise deals as auctions, sending people on vacation for a huge discount.

 

I hope you'll give us a shot, even if its for old times sake. If not, thanks for steering this industry more into legitimacy.

PennyVacay.com is not live. www.TheMineLife.com is!!

I came on the forum, something I don't hardly do anymore since I don't bid anymore, and when I saw therealbidtowin had posted, I had to respond.  I'm sure there are a few sites here and there, but like you, I have not bid in quite a few years.  I do miss it, but can't trust it anymore.  But I have to admit those were some good times, even better when I was winning.  I remember when people were bidding with your username to try and win auctions lol, and one that I will never forget is when some kid stole his mom's credit card and went against you on bid rodeo  That was one of the longest auctions ever lol.  But the auction was voided and the bids returned. As for me, I just stayed out of the power bidders way. The time and money I spent bidding, and on PAW was like, EVERYDAY, my life practically revolved around it.  Oh, the stories I could tell...anyway, I hope everyone is healthy and doing good. Nice to see some old timers still here.