After seeing all the ads for Beezid penny auctions, I decided to see what it was about. Like any good consumer, I did a search on the internet first and found all sorts of information saying it is a scam, and the same amount of information defending it as legitimate. No doubt, a search on the subject is how you found this article. So, I decided to try it out and see for myself.
Beezid is not like eBay, so if you go into it thinking like that, you will be disappointed and probably a little angry. No, it is a much different creature.
First of all, you have to purchase bids. Depending on the bid pack you buy, the bids are less than $1. That does not guarantee you anything except a bid. So, they make money from you just by you purchasing the right to bid for an item.
Items typically start at $0.00 and increase by a penny or so each bid. The good thing is that someone is going to get a great deal. The bad thing and the sad truth is, it’s probably not going to be you. You can try timing it, but you can spend all day watching one item, only to run out of bids before you win.
At eBay, when the auction is over, the high bidder wins. With Beezid, when the timer is expiring and someone bids, the timer starts over, usually at 20 seconds, so an auction can drag on as long as someone is bidding on it.
If you do win, remember that your total cost is not just the bid. If you won a $1000 Macbook for $250, but you spent $500 in bids, then your actual cost is $750 + shipping. Not a bad deal, but you can see it’s not quite as great as if you didn’t have to pay to bid.
Beezid has been compared to gambling. I can see the similarity. You are paying to play a game with the hopes of winning the prize at a certain price. It’s not much different than playing a slot machine in hopes of winning a prize.
I wouldn’t exactly call Beezid a scam. They tell you you need to purchase bid packs, tell you how much the bid packs cost, and tell you how it works. I don’t think I would call it completely legitimate, either, as it appears they found a loophole in the laws against internet gambling. They are not losing any money on this business model, that’s for sure.
As for me, I’ll stick to eBay and leave Beezid alone.
Some other auction-related sites you may be interested in:
Other reviews:
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[...] as I said in my previous article, Beezid – scam or legitimate, I think I will stick to eBay where I don’t have to pay to [...]
Beezid IS a scam. I remember seeing a site like it a couple months ago and examined it. Yes, IF you win a bid, you MAY pay less for that particular product. However, if you LOOSE the bid, you loose all the money and have nothing to show for it. It took me about 5 minutes to figure it out (I didn’t buy any bids – I’m not a moron). Hopefully the FTC will close down these sites.
I have won at Beezid before, but you are right – the price to bid is high – and if you don’t win you loose money. However, I found another site that has a lower cost of bids, as well as if you sign up now you’ll get double the bids. Its worth a look at http://www.myezbids.com
Thanks!
[...] The most frequent question you will find when searching around Google for information on Beezid is a pretty obvious and valid question: “Is Beezid a Scam?” (see here, here and here) [...]
What they dont tell you is they have 100′s of bots bidding on things to increase the bids. It’s a total scam!
Not only are you bidding against other people but every time someone is outbid the timer adds 10 or 20 seconds to the auction. Any auction with an item of actual value has a Beezid auto bidding bot so the site can make sure the bids keeps going as long as they need them to..total scam stick to real auction site like eBay.
I’ve heard that people have acually reveived the items they won, so it is legitimate. The thing is, as you said, your paying money for bids in HOPES of getting a grwat deal. Yes- you can get good deals on here. Likelyness of getting the good deal- very small. I also have a theory that they have employees who bid on the expensive items, so the company can win them back, and post them again to get more money off the bids. Heres my take on it, if you buy the bids and start bidding, don’t get your hopes up, and don’t get sucked into buying more bids!
I am concerned that I just saw an ad for this “non gambling”, pay to bid, “non scam” “auction site” with a coupon from DISHTV…? Is DISH Network simply supporting this “non creepy” enterprise, or are they a part owner of the fleecing of Americans…?
I found a auction website which is better like that all thing is brand new and the price is unbelievable for more visit it the http://www.cooolbid.com !
[...] I took a look at Beezid because I wanted to find out if it was a scam, or a legitimate product (article here). Here I go again. I was perusing the interwebs and came across Satellite Direct. As I read [...]
[...] I took a look at Beezid because I wanted to find out if it was a scam, or a legitimate product (article here). Here I go again. I was perusing the interwebs and came across Satellite Direct. As I read [...]
I didn’t have much luck at beezid. I spent about 40 bucks and I won only a bid pack. I tried this site http://www.bootsbids.com and won a bunch. I think it’s new and they don’t have a ton of users.
there are always scam everywhere so we should always be very careful when dealing with others`”;
I watched the same person outbid himself/herself just before the time expired, why would someone who was winning do that? Yes, it’s a scam
The only reason I don’t call it a scam is because it outlines the rules and what you are paying for, i.e. bids. I saw nowhere where they were trying to hide anything. There is no guarantee you will win anything.
To me, it’s more of a gambling site. You are paying money to play a game where the odds are greatly against you. Somebody will win that item at a discount, but the odds are against you.
Thank you very much for your comment.
Ya this site is fing bull sh*t. Every time the counter gets to 0 some mysterious profile bids. And after you’ve used 125 bids this random Fu**ing random neverbefore seen name will win the bid with 1 bid. U can hit the bid button all u want but if the damn site dosnt want anyone (except itself) to win the bid then that’s what’s gunna happen. EVERY time. Don’t easy your Fu**ing money like I did. Use a real site like EBAY!
Its SCAM that is sure!
I’m used the beezed many times but i never win anything so im was disappointed then i found another site with cent auctions and this is really working i won an iPad on last week and the item has arrived today to my door step. If you want take a part on a really fair auction google it Cooolbid with 3 o !
Have a nice day everyone!
Loree
dont buy dish tv its a ripoff its the 2nd time ive had it when its up im done its goes when it rains and when the wind blows or it snows or when it when it wants to and it takes them 1 -2 weeks to come out but comcast worst in mich
I have been reading about this site being a scam. However what I dont understand why all of you do not report this site to the FTC “Federal Trade Commission”. I guess you can say here very soon I will be their worse problem since my major associated with my dual master degree will be internet fraud. What even more strange is I see commercials playing about this site all the time as well. People turn them in please because the more the FTC gets the faster they will react.
regards
Robert
I am so glad I read all these posts. I got swayed by their commercials to look at this site. Now realizing they have to make money, it seems like a game of chance.
Beezid IS NOT A SCAM DO NOT BELIEVE PEOPLE JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN’T WIN AN AUCTION! check out my blog to find out the truth about Beezid and LEARN HOW TO WIN AUCTIONS!
This Site is VERY OBVIOUSLY using bots! I feel really bad for people who are being scammed. IF YOU ARE READING THIS PLZ CONTACT THE BBB OR FTC AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. These scammers take advantage of the elderly and people’s ignorance. Any positive feedback found on the internet are either from Beezid’s employees or people who lack common sense. I feel sorry for these ignorant bastards.
Wow, so much paranoia and skepticism with penny auctions! And, rightfully so.
Let’s dispel some myths:
-They use bots. The Big penny auction sites like Beezid, Swoopo Bigdeal etc. Do not use bots. Only people who are either frustrated at losing or don’t understand how penny auction works are quick to scream bots.
-They don’t ship you items. Yes they do.
-All penny auctions are scams. No they are not.
-Penny Auction Sites make a killing off items, where the only winner is the site and never the users. Nope. There are some auctions that ended where a TV $1000.00 went for $2.00, Playstation game for .10cents etc. Just as they profit off items that do well, these companies bite the bullet when a product sells for dirt cheap like that.
Well known truths:
-Bots: Startup penny auction sites are the ones you have to worry about using bots. They don’t have enough customers to make a profit, so they use the bots to help lower their losses.
-Penny Auction scripts: do have bots programmed in there. The big sites all create their own penny auction systems and didn’t buy a $2000.00 swoopo/beezid clone to do it.
-The sites are transparent and inform you of what to expect. A scam is something where someone is taken for their money and did not receive the product or service promised. Sites like Beezid, Swoopo, Quibids, etc. all inform the user of what to expect and what is entailed when using the service.
Advice: Stick with the big names and you will be fine. Beezid, since thats the one that is talked about here is a legit site, they honor their wins, and they do ship the product.
How do I know? Because I play on Beezid and Swoopo and occassionally Bigdeal.
Until now, stay away from the new sites that come out of nowhere, and if you are queezy about penny auction sites, simply don’t use them.
If you search the net for any penny auction site and the word scam, you will see that all of them have people saying bots + scam.
[...] Beezid – scam or legitimate? | MuskogeeUSA __________________ [...]
Ok. Here it is in black and white:
This is NOT a legit site.
I watched for 15 minutes (it was fascinating) where over and over the WINNING bidder bid against himself when the timer said “Going”.
WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD SOMEONE BID AGAINST THEMSELVES AND KEEP THE TIMER GOING?
Anyone claiming the site is legit needs to answer this question!
I’m not too sure about beezid, never used them. I use bidrack and ebay. Two totally different thing. Get deals with both but lately have been doing more bidrack.com. My input…Legit and worth it. (if you like that sort of thing)
Beezid is a total scam, just like arrowoutlet that uses computerized robots to keep bidding to seem like there is competitive action, but they only want to sucker you in to bidding on an item that you will never win,
total scam
stay away from it
Beezid is DEFINITELY using BOTS. BEEZID IS A SCAM AND A FRAUD
There were 3 different beezid bots running, here are the names:
combatvet68
marcoislandqn
baltimore7
Auction ID:288664
Retail price * $200.00
winning price: $1,003.78
7-22-2011
11:51:34 EDT
Winner Is:
combatvet68
http://www.beezid.com/auctions/vouchers/gift-cards/200-walmart-gift-card
the website link may just bring you to the current walmart gift card scam they are running. but here are screen shots of the walmart gift card scam they ran.
screen shots of the BEEZID SCAM of BEEZID BOTS and BEEZID FRAUD :
http://tinypic.com/r/2090uvm/7
http://tinypic.com/r/a4myvm/7
http://tinypic.com/r/2lt4c3/7
well most people don’t know because the first thing they see is the low prices but the site does have auto bids just because you see the same name doesn’t mean the site has a bot clicking it I recently set auto bid and I watched it and when someone I new bidden against me my name stayed on front so just because you can’t see the next name doesn’t mean sh*, and everybody thinks eBay is the one that just because you haven’t been fu* yet just wait your time is coming I was screwed out of 3000 dollars on eBay and all I got was a finger saying good luck even with buyers protection plan just wait you’ll see at-lease the auction sites tell you you will get fu* if you don’t spend a little money
eBay just said spend money and you will be fine lololo(that’s a big joke )
Or you could just not be gay (Brandon) $3000 on eBay jeez get off your ass and shop for real if you got that kinda cash?! BTW the site used to not have the auto bid feature. Dumb ass
I think the system is rigged and it is a bunch of crap. They use gimmicks to give you bonus bids you cannot use. I think most of the bidders are just bots that are controlled by the website to inflate prices. I lost more money on Beezid.com in one weekend then I have lost gambling my entire life. One of the auctions I was working on locked up at 0:00:01 and then said “Going” for 10 seconds or so. Then one of the “bots” that was on autobid for 100-200 bids “won” I will certainly never use this site again. I have 89 useless “Bonus Bids” left that are worthless. I think I will ask them for a refund. Learned my lesson here. How is this legal, but I cannot play poker online?
Good God its a gambling site. You are better off to post NFL bets in the Caiman Islands. Bots runnin up the bids, no way to contact the “winner” of any auction. IMHO no one ever got a 36″ tv for
$5.00 or an IPAD touch for $4.00. Total BS. I Can’t believe that evil has reached its crescendo on a site like this, but apparently it has. I just hope their Mexican cartel dirt bags don’t come kill me for my post.Damn you punk dirt bags forever BEEZID
Penny Auction websites are popular because you do not need to visit auction hall, can be done at any convenient time. Because it is becoming popular big companies are also directly putting items in auctions.