Bidder’s Paradise – Home of the $1175 Bid Pack, $36K Purse & Confusing Multi-Level Marketing Model

bp8Have you heard of Bidder’s Paradise? Or should I say, have you tried bidding on this penny auction? Have you even tried to buy bids? If so you’ve already given this site over $1k…

The site is Bp8.hk, yeah, it’s not even a dot com, but word seems to be spreading…

A penny auction owner I’ve spoken with, told me about Bidder’s Paradise and said he had been invited through a friend of a friend, of a friend (you know how that goes), to attend a meeting in California that was presented by someone who claimed to be making money by multi-level marketing for Bidder’s Paradise.

From what he could gather, the company’s multi-level marketing set up is geared towards low-income, limited English speaking people. The approach is very much a “get rich quick” scheme.  The weirdest thing about it, he says, was the 24 year old presenter, who claimed to be making $16,000 a month,  in a room with 100 people, a lot of people have questions – so he said, if you have any questions to come up after and ask him individually. Why wouldn’t they just allow open questions since everyone probably had the same questions?

The business model seems to be very similar to that of Zeekler’s.  NOTE: Zeekler was shut down by the Securities and Exchange Commission back in 2012 and deemed a ponzi scheme. For more on this see Zeekler MLM Penny Auction Just Shut Down, Is Under Investigation by SEC and Secret ServicesExcept Zeekler’s appeal was your own subdomain – as if you were your own business owner, but in the case of Bidder’s Paradise you’re just a bidder promoting the site. 

The homepage has text in both Chinese and English, and as you will see, high-valued designer products up for bid. The currency is in HK dollars, but what interests me is that there is a US connection.

Let’s start out by taking a look at the PowerPoint presentation that this Hong Kong company is using to seemingly recruit US “marketers… to what? Well, we’ll get there.

http://youmeusmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Better-Living-Powerpoint.pdf

First of all, what really struck me as interesting is the following sentence found on the first page of the PowerPoint: 

Red Flag? 

“PLEASE – NO RECORDING DEVICES OF ANY KIND ARE ALLOWED DURING THIS PRESENTATION”

BetterBidding 

So why don’t they want they want the presentation recorded?

Who is Better Living, Bp8, Bidder’s Paradise? 

According to the PowerPoint:

“Better-Living Global Marketing is a subsidiary of MSP Power Marketing, a holding company
based in Hong Kong which manufactures an environmentally safe machine lubricant for cars, trucks, boats, military vehicles, etc. MSP was founded by Mr. Luke Teng.”

“Bidders’ Paradise auctions luxury, name brand items such as Rolex, Cartier, Omega, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry, Apple iPads, iPhones and Samsung products as well as other high-end electronics and luxury goods”

According to the penny auction owner who went to the meeting:

“1. They are a network marketing company. 

2. The shell company they operate under is Better Living

3. You can only buy one bid pack in cash at a value of near $1200 for 2000 bids.

4. It’s a cash only business

5. Their payouts are extremely confusing if you’re comparing it to any normal, legitimate network marketing company.

6. Their website doesn’t work. Purchasing bids or even registering on their website will not work.

7. The only way to get involved with the website is by actually knowing someone who is involved.

8. In the meeting, 80% of the people appeared to not be fluent in English.

9. If you win a product somehow, you have to pick it up yourself in a store and show the person who brought you in. At that point you will be reimbursed in cash. At that point, you can choose to keep the item or return it so you can get double value for the product you won.

10. They aren’t associated with biddersparadise.com and their company is based out of Hong Kong using the website www.bp8.hk

11. They are primarily targeting individuals with low income, low education or no education who are located in Southern California. They market by word of mouth. They do this by having some people in the organization stating to earn $16,000/month.

12. If you look at their website, all “winners” are in the room, taking a picture of the same products they won, and all stand behind the same Better Living banner.”

Interesting, right? You can’t buy bids online? You have to buy them through a multi-level marketer and your wins aren’t shipped, you have to go to a store?

You must be willing to drop a hefty chunk of change if you want to try and win any of their items. The only bid pack you can buy has to be purchased in advance and costs $1,175. 

“You must purchase bids in advance in order to participate. One bid costs $0.58 cents (USD) and bids are sold in 2,000 bid packages called a Unit. Each unit costs $1,175 including a $15 annual fee.

Don’t forget their reminder posted below the cost:

“Purchase units responsibly. DO NOT purchase more than you can afford to lose.”

Oh yeah, because we all just have $1,175 laying around to bid on a site we haven’t even tried before. Right! Real smart…

Bidders Paradise

“When people see an item that they’re interested in winning, they begin to bid on that item. Bidding begins at about 10% of Hong Kong retail and becomes an active auction the second someone places the first bid.

A reverse timer is set at 20 seconds. Once the  first bid is placed, the clock begins a countdown from 20, 19, 18, 17 etc…and every time a bid is placed, the price of the item increases by one penny and resets the clock back to 20 seconds. This process repeats until the clock hits zero. The auction can last minutes or even days depending
on how many people are bidding on the item... ”

Ok, so it’s almost like a standard penny auction, at least the way the timers are set. 

A Surprise Prize? Ok I guess this is kind of like a mystery/reserve auction… 

“The last person to place a bid becomes the  winner once the clock runs down to zero or when the “surprise price” is reached. The “surprise price” is a price set by the company that is less than 50% of the retail price, so you always get an excellent deal. Whenever that price is reached, the person that lands on that magic number wins the auction. Otherwise, the win goes to the last person who places a bid before the clock hits zero.”

Who is to know that these items EVER end and anyone ever wins them? Where does the money go if no one hits the mystery price? 

Now, in an effort to get people to participate in their “business” model, look what they say…

“When choosing to participate with a Penny Auction platform or any company for that matter, whether you’re a bidding customer or an affiliate, you want to be confident that the company will be around for the long term.
So, it’s imperative that the company makes money and is profitable. Let’s look at an example of how Better Living
Global Marketing makes money.

So now, on the next slide, the company makes claim to selling a Louis Vuitton handbag and generating a profit of $36k.

Here, we have a Louis Vuitton purse. The retail price is $1,665, but it sold at the Bidders’ Paradise auction for $793.24. The bidding began at $165. That means at one penny
per bid, 62,824 bids were placed ($793.24 -$165=$628.24 x 100 penny bids per dollar = 62,824 bids). At $0.58 per bid, that equals a whopping profit of $36,438 on that one Louis Vuitton purse.”

Hmm? Yeah? I’d like to see that one.. 

globalliving

Now here’s where it gets even more interesting…

“Not only does the company benefit from the profits of the item auctioned, but the company shares a majority of those profits with its bidders.”

The Major Ways to Earn
•Retail Bonus
•Leadership Bonus
• Business Volume Bonus
•Profit Sharing
•Retirement Plan

Retail Bonus:
20% is Distributed on Every Unit You Sell
Each unit sells for $1,160
$1,160 x 18% = $208.80 – Your Bonus earned
Available to You THE NEXT DAY!
$1,160 x 2% = $23.20 to you r-Wallet –
A 2% Bonus Funded by BLGM
Available for of Bid Units Repurchase Only

On the bottom of the page, “THIS IS FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY AND NO SPECIFIC INCOME IS GUARANTEED OR IMPLIED.

So if I’m reading this correctly… They’re trying to get users to sell bid packs to others and it seems they’re promising a “retail bonus” that works like this: Each bid pack (“unit”) sells for $1,160 = an 18% bonus earned to the user as commission, or as a bonus, available to the user who referred a user the next day. They’re not clear as to if the bonus is a bid bonus or money, as then they state a 2% bonus is funded by them to your wallet. Available for bid units repurchase only? So does this mean after the first bidpack of $1160 is bought by a new user the referring user won’t make a bonus until the referred buys subsequent bid packs? Beats me, but either way, in text below this (with a messy line striking-through the sentence), “This is for illustration purposes only and no specific income is guaranteed or implied.” Um, so does this mean you may not make any money for referred anyone?

The presentation then goes on to explain other tiered bonuses:

“Leadership Bonus
3% is Distributed on Every Unit Sold
•Manager – 1-3 Levels
•Director – 4 Levels
•Vice President – 5 Levels
$1,160 x 2.7% = $31.32 – Your Bonus
Earned Available to You THE NEXT DAY!
YOU
A
B
C
$240 – Level 1
$ 31 – Level 2
$ 31 – Level 3
* This is for illustration purposes only and no specific income is guaranteed or implied.
$1,160 x .3% = $3.48 Bonus to Your rWallet Funded by BLGM and Available for Repurchase Only”

Think you can’t understand that they’re saying so far, it gets better…Retirement? $31,695 a month income potential? A kid is already making $16k a month? Really?

 

“Retirement
2 x 12 Public/Private Global Matrix
1
2 3
4 5 6 7 Someday, if all 12 Levels are
filled with 8,190 Units, your
Matrix has the potential to
receive a retirement of
$31,695 Month
Per Unit”

Do you see a pyramid?

pyramid schemeBidder’s Paradise ends the presentation with, ”

YOUR ONLY QUESTIONS SHOULD BE – HOW MANY UNITS CAN I ACTIVATE TO START MY BUSINESS?
WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO MAKE IT HAPPEN ?”

Too bad I have way more questions than that, let’s see if they can answer them…..

The Bp8.Hk domain is registered and hosting in Hong Kong by Luke Teng.
Domain Name:  BP8.HKDomain Status: ActiveContract Version:   HKDNR latest versionRegistrar Name: Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Company LimitedRegistrar Contact Information: Email:                        Hotline: +852
2319 1313Reseller:Registrant Contact Information:Holder English Name (It should be the same as your legal name on your HKID card or other
relevant documents): LUKE TENG
Holder Chinese Name:
Email: 
Domain Name Commencement Date: 22-07-2012
Country: HK
Expiry Date:  22-07-2018
Re-registration Status:  Complete
Account Name: HK3367741TTechnical Contact Information:

Given Name: LUKE
Family name: TENG
Company Name: LUKE TENG

OK, so now, hopefully your head doesn’t hurt after you’ve tried to read some of their slides. Let’s just take a look at this site from a penny auction bidder and business perspective.

 

Penny auction site BiddersParadise as found on BP8.HK – displays currency in USD and Hong Kong Time on top. 

“Bidders’ Paradise (www.bp8.hk)” has a unique vision. We did not create Penny Auction, rather, we revolutionized it and brought it to the highest possible level ever. Unlike other competitors, we not only offer mid-ranged consumers products in large quantities to increase your success rate, we also specialized in pushing out high-end luxurious products to enhance competitiveness as well as popularity.”

Ended auctions: 

To date, as far as we can see by going into the site’s ended auction pages, they show 1,113 pages of ended auctions. With  handful of the same “luxury” items ending multiple times… Louis Vuitton, Gucci handbags, Samsung smartphone, iPads, iPhones, MacBooks, Rolex watches, “profit sharing auctions” Like the Rolex Submariner with an end price of $2,178.78 – minus the $0.10 starting price, that means the auction took in 21,786.8 bids. Wow? Really?

bpweird

Apparently that’s what their winner’s showcase page is for.

The winners page is filled with images of people stated to be winners just for the month of November. Notice how all of them are at what seems to be the Bidder’s Paradise “Better-Living Global Marketing” Offices holding up their “wins.” Wins include many iPads, smartphones, cameras and a few handbag. Wondering if they provide transportation to their offices which seem to be in Hong Kong in order to get their bidders there to take these monthly winner photos.

I’m just curious why a Hong Kong based company, acting as a penny auction and possible MLM- pyramid scheme (in my opinion), is gaining traction here in the US.

What’s really curious is the message of warning posted on their homepage:

“Despite our polite reminders given to Members not to use “non-natural means” to place bids, situation has not improved but, on the contrary, deteriorating.

BLGM members are noble and live honorable lives. They understand that the profit-sharing pay-outs alone, not to mention the lucrative marketing bonuses, are a good source of income. Trying, still, to get advantages from the auctions demeans themselves.

This is to announce, with immediate effect, any behavior to our suspicion at the auctions will bring about serious consequences. Without prior warning, the suspects’ bp8.hk accounts will immediately be locked. Should our actions be further neglected, say, suspects still using other accounts of theirs to continue such low-life behavior, ALL their accounts, including their blgm.hk memberships, will just be terminated with NO appeal.”

 

The US Securities and Exchange Commissionreleased an Investor Alert warning all to watch out for pyramid schemes masquerading as MLM companies back in October of 2013.

According to the A MLM Skeptic Blog, “Since Zeek [Zeeker.com/ZeekRewards] went bust, multiple “profit-sharing” MLMs / Ponzi schemes have left the US hoping to find a safe haven for their fraud.”

So what do you think? Is this a legit penny auction site and a legitimate way to make money online? Does it make any sense to you? Do you think they really have auctioned off over 1000 pages of auctions? Why are all of the images of “winners” taken in their offices presumed to be in Hong Kong?

Discuss this and all penny auction sites with us in our penny auction forum!

 

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24 comments… add one
  • OCGal March 13, 2014, 2:59 pm

    Bidder’s Paradise does not exist independent of the Ponzi. You cannot purchase a bid pack unless you go into the Ponzi–that’s how the whole thing sustains itself, and, lately, it’s having trouble sustaining itself.

    btw – The “winner” pictures were taken at a promotional event for Better Living. How it typically operates, at least for bidders in the U.S., is that they purchase the product themselves at full retail, then submit a receipt to Better Living (Bidders Paradise) for reimbursement of the difference between full retail and the auction price. Sound legit to you? Of course not. It’s not like they then send a cashier’s check for the difference, the money goes right back into your ewallet for the Ponzi scheme! In the end people spend $10,000+ to “win” an auction and participate in a Ponzi.

    The big recruiters have been telling people that Bidder’s Paradise is massively successful in China independent of the Ponzi scheme and that there is all kinds of ad revenue coming in from those embedded “ads” on bp8.hk. This is, of course, nonsense.

    Reply
    • Amanda Lee March 16, 2014, 12:32 pm

      That’s so crazy! To have to buy the product at full retail and get reimbursed, like since when is that legit?!

      Reply
    • Ryan April 13, 2014, 6:47 pm

      Quick Update: Die hard BLGM’ers are trying to dump units cheep, Luke Tang score count over 10 promises in the last 12 months (0) have transpired.. New promises with old ones down for the count… This is not looking good for the up liners that are trying to keep up sales & trying not to be held accountable.. All Is Bad

      Reply
  • Roland March 19, 2014, 12:38 pm

    Hi Amanda,

    One of my website visitors asked a question about bidders paradise that I think you may be able to answer. The question is; “I’m surprised that there are still a lot of people who are bidding in bidders paradise. How do they get their winnings in case they won?” Here’s my site; http://retirehealthywealthyandwise.net/my-better-living-global-marketing-review The comment that contains the question is near the bottom. Feel free to include a link back to your site.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Amanda Lee March 24, 2014, 8:01 pm

      Will check it out Roland thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
      • Roland March 25, 2014, 8:11 pm

        Thanks Amanda Lee for the great comment you posted on my site! I truly believe it will help people learn how to make better decisions when it comes to legit programs versus programs that are NOT legit.

        Reply
        • Amanda Lee March 26, 2014, 1:51 pm

          Roland, my pleasure. I hate seeing people getting ripped off. If anyone has more info please share it here or email me!

          Reply
  • Ryan March 25, 2014, 1:00 pm

    Mr. Luke Teng, Or Mr. Luke Tanking, is a captain going down with his ship: ( Unfortunately sinking with my money & a boat load of others money as well.. He has 2 options at this point pay as agreed 14 days or shut down… The all new 6 month pay out & rule change at his will, with out notice is not working.. It would be considered fraud to pitch this golden opportunity from 01/01/2014 forward due to non payments and lies about pending promises.. Its all bad…. Lets all have a moment of silence for the soon to be sunk BLGM & Bidders Paradise aka the SS BLMG.

    Reply
  • Christian R. March 25, 2014, 1:26 pm

    Hello Amanda.

    The recent events within Better Living is

    quite interesting.

    Even the six-figure earners are sweating

    when they found out that they can be held

    liable for the many who couldn’t afford to lose are well…. losing.

    My video discusses more in detail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cATLYmdlc7g

    Feel free to link back here.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  • ohgoditsryan again March 30, 2014, 2:50 pm

    Luke Teng is not going anywhere. The feds are not ordering them to stop activity in the US. The Hong Kong feds are not shutting them down. The fact is that no one knows if the money start being paid out again, like they did last year.

    Reply
    • OCGal April 9, 2014, 1:22 pm

      Whether or not regulators are “ordering them to stop activity” has no relevance on whether or not its a Ponzi scheme. Madoff operated for 10+ years.

      Reply
  • katie April 7, 2014, 8:58 pm

    It all stink if you ask me. Rip rip off consumers. Penny bidding is a joke. You are not really bidding because someone in the background is clicking to keep the timer going. You might as well sell the item at the price they want instead of bidding. O yea they make money off the bids you buy. Glad I know going forward to tell all my friends and family not to bid on these sites . Someone introduce me to this marketing. After investigation. No way I going to do a dishonest practice.

    Reply
    • Amanda Lee April 9, 2014, 10:11 am

      Hi Katie,
      It’s not always a case that a penny auction site is a scam or bids against you, but since 2009 I have found TONS of sites doing just that as you can find in this blog.. Check out the Hall of Shame section. It’s very sad to see this. How did they introduce you to them? Curious! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
      • OCGal April 9, 2014, 1:27 pm

        That’s probably true, but it’s no secret that penny auctions are a bad idea for the average consumer.

        Reply
  • Russell May 5, 2014, 7:05 am

    Hi Amanda, excellent article! I am from Hong Kong. I have just met several people who get hooked by this scam. They have been brainwashed, refusing to hear any word of caution. They borrowed money to “invest” in it. One reason is that they said they did successfully bid some products. And they hear claims that people are making tons of money – one claimed he has made several million USD; another claimed he has made half a million, all in a few months’ time. I am surprised they even do it in California as I thought the US must have very stringent regulations on this sort of things. I am thinking about reporting this to the Hong Kong police but I am not sure. I am wondering on what grounds I can persuade the police to investigate as there seems to be a fine line between a legit MLM and a pyramid scheme. How would you argue it’s a pyramid scheme?

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

      I don’t think the police would be able to take action. I would go to the SEC, FTC and AG in CAlifornia or your state… Russell, it does sound like a pyramid scheme to me…

      Reply
    • OC Gal May 9, 2014, 4:46 pm

      Nepalis already beat you to it. There is an active investigation in Hong Kong. They are asking for people to come forward, so you can simply contact them to add your complaint. It’s the Commercial Crime Bureau you should contact. That said, I believe HK police will be less effective than action from a US agency would be.

      You don’t need to make an argument that it’s a Ponzi scheme. It is by virtue of the way it makes and pays out money. You can simply present the business plan that you were given, along with whatever your upline told you about compensation. Speaks for itself.

      Reply
  • No Cash 4 You: ) you to greedy May 25, 2014, 8:52 am

    Its a total scam, luke will never pay out.. its all lies.. 30 lies told and no pay outs for 6 months.. its sad

    Reply
    • Amanda Lee May 27, 2014, 7:56 am

      yikes really? Can you tell us more!>?

      Reply
  • Fay November 20, 2014, 8:30 am

    Here is no comments about the Company since May, does anyone have more comments about what happens? I have come in contact with the Company in Sweden, where I live

    Reply
  • erik February 11, 2015, 9:09 pm

    according to one of the newspapers from Hong Kong, HK police have arrested 5 people relating to the operation of the site

    http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20150212/19038914

    Reply
    • Amanda Lee April 26, 2015, 1:50 pm

      Thanks so much Erik, I just covered this on the homepage of this blog.

      Reply
  • eleutheria April 6, 2015, 11:20 pm

    The guy behind this website has been arrested in Hong Kong for running a pyramid scheme:

    http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1758347/us-buyers-among-losers-hk-auction-scheme

    Reply

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