Swoopo.com

[cooprules]

Each time you make a bid, time is added on. So there isn't really an "end" time. A Macbook auction I watched on Friday was down to seconds at 7am but went until 3pm. That's why I'm not sure how you can figure out a time to bid.

[RyDogg66]

Patrick - if you go to the site and watch some auctions you will understand.

 

Each bid adds 1 cent to the price, and 10-15 seconds to the time remaining. If someone bids 1 cent with 50 seconds left and then the clock clicks down to 20 seconds and another person bids, then the clock hits 15 seconds and another bids, the bid butler will not place my bid until and/or unless the time remaining falls below 10 seconds, and even then it is random as to when the bid is placed (to keep the other players guessing). This saves you money in the long run I believe since you only bid 1 cent when you absolutely have to (to prevent the time from expiring), then when you bid 1 cent, the time in the auction goes back to 15 seconds and ticks down again.

 

Take note that if multtple people place bids with 1 second left (other 2, 3, 4 seconds, whatever) that 10-15 seconds is (sometimes) added for each person and you could have over a minute remaining.

[RyDogg66]

Each time you make a bid, time is added on. So there isn't really an "end" time. A Macbook auction I watched on Friday was down to seconds at 7am but went until 3pm. That's why I'm not sure how you can figure out a time to bid.

I wouldnt (and havent) placed bids between 8:00 AM and Midnight. Unbelievably the worst deals and decisions for the TVs came between Midnight and 2 A.M., I chalked it up to people wanting to go to bed and placing bids like mad to win something before they go to sleep. Also, a bid that might be going on all day long might end at that time and that wold affect the price and the number of bids.

[jason21nl]

I'd love to try this for a TV but I'm sure I'd get too involved and end up spending a ton of money just because I hate losing

[ubumby]

TIME OF DAY - not surprisingly, the best time to bid was at about 2:00 CST until about 3:30 CST. Late enough to get the typical west coast person in bed and earlier enough that folks on the East Coast are long in the sack and not ready to wake up yet. This seemed to be true for the laptops and Wii's as well however like I mentioned above I have not fully gone through that path yet.

Ok, So I was interested with this site untill I found some stuff that just doesn't make sense. After investigation Swoopo is an international site (.com; .co.uk; .de; etc.)

Which means that your not just bidding against the west coast or east coast, but also others in foreign countries. So, I don't see how you can still back up what you said above. Plus, I was looking at some auctions and are people just dumb or do they just act dumb:

http://www.swoopo.com/auc.../-1-000-cash-/120421.html = If I understand right, this guy lost $1,563.00 on bidding for a "free" $1000.

Is that the same "different" auction in both sites:...........................hmmmmmmmmmmm look at the bids.

http://www.swoopo.com/auc...ore2duo-vista/104120.html

http://www.swoopo.co.uk/a...-2-duo-notebo/104120.html

maybe a site error, maybe not.

 

I must say, it's a clever set up by the creator creating the ILLUSION of deals, I wish I came up with it since their absolutly RACKING up more money then C.C. ever will in the bronx. Profiteering to the max. Gambling is gambling....guess I'll pass. The real aim of the game is to be the last man standing....A lot like poker. I would advise not to get greedy....Still......Congrats Ry on winning yourself a new tv...... I also wouldn't object if you sent your excel file to me....jk

[homer]

"this guy lost $1,563.00 on bidding for a "free" $1000. "

 

At least he got something for his $1563. What about the guy that lost $1562 and didn't win?

[ubumby]

That depends on how many bids he/she/it placed.....From the looks of it he was singly bidding, meaning he might have thought the bidding would end soon so he placed a few bids at "$.75" a pop to win $1000 dollars....He was trying to strike for gold....Which would have been good for him if he was lucky enough, however the winner started to use autobidbutler again to make sure he would win and it prob. scared the other guys away.

[RyDogg66]

Again, for the cash you dont have to pay the amount of the winning bid. That is why those auctions get so high. You only pay in how much you invest in bids. If that makes sense. I see the guy spend $1500 in bids to win $1,000.00. Yeah, that is dumb, but not as dumb as if he had stopped bidding after spending $1490 in bids and win back nothing. That is what you want to avoid happening.

[RyDogg66]

Ok, So I was interested with this site untill I found some stuff that just doesn't make sense. After investigation Swoopo is an international site (.com; .co.uk; .de; etc.)

Which means that your not just bidding against the west coast or east coast, but also others in foreign countries. So, I don't see how you can still back up what you said above.

I was just trying to explain why the numbers came out that way. They consistently did, so there is no disputing that, how it is explained then, I dont know.

[Dmiles23]

I then started to chart EVERY tv that sold on the site going back a couple hundred pages worth (about 1,000 sales) and built a grid taking note of the TIME of sale, DAY of week, PRICE, how many BIDS the winner placed and whether the winner was a SINGLE bidder or used BID BUTLER. I also tracked SIZE of the Television but did not notice anything statistically significant, although the 61" might be a bit different but I knew I did not want one so I didnt look into it.

Ok, this is probably going to sound really stupid, but how did you do this? As in, did you just run Excel and then turn all the data into a chart or something? I wanna try to do this, but don't want to go through a couple hundred pages and then realize I screwed up somehow.

[RyDogg66]

You are probably going to want to create an excel SS and create 7 different pages, one for each day of the week. Then column furthest on the left should be time of day and that should go down from 11:59 P.m. down to 12:00 A.m. for each new macbook insert into its proper place. The next column should be price, then # of bids the winner placed. Next column, did they use Bid Butler or were they a single bidder? Also, keep in mind that the higher the price of the item the further away in time it started relative to the time it ended. That might be importatnt as well.

 

I would guess that with the different operating systems that Macbook is unique enough from a PC that it would deserve its own spreadsheet as I doubt people are bidding on both, but who knows they may.

[sbrylski]

I wish they sold Blackberries. Its the only thing I really want right now. I don't want to risk money on something I only half want.

[ubumby]

The concern I have is what happens in all auctions. There is obviously nothing that can stop swoopo from having an inside guy or bot drive up bids or even power buyers. That is something that cannot be controlled on this site. I'm not one for conspiracies, but this site just seems fishy. Look to see what you won on one of swoopos sister sites........I find it funny how the same person can win DIFFERENT items for the same exact price on different sites and at the same time. All while its the same aution (#).

For example, take a look at the recent winners of laptops on both US site and UK site.....It looks like "Befrak" has just won himself 2 DIFFERENT MODELS of an ASUS laptop in the same auction..... Which one should I put in the spreadsheet.........lol

http://www.swoopo.com/brw..._50.html?pge=10&ast=3
http://www.swoopo.co.uk/b..._50.html?pge=10&ast=3

[RyDogg66]

I dont really feel like sitting here and defending Swoopo so this will be my last post on your concerns. When I first saw it I called it "Evil Genius" and it is, but from what I can tell it is 100% legit. There are ways to beat the game you just have to work and research, you cant plug in $50 worth of bids and be a single bidder in 10 different auctions in the middle of the day and expect to win. That is what they want you to do. If you do that you will lose in a hurry. Just like playing every hand in Texas Hold 'em is dumb.

 

There is 1 thing that can stop swoopo from manipulating their bids. The incredible profits they make off of human nature to 1) not lose and let the other guy the great deal 2.) to find a great bargain and 3) people's interest in gambling. Swoopo runs penny auctions for a new laptop that retails for $1200. Usually on swoopo that sells for $100.00, that is $7,500.00 they made. Why mess with that and open yourself up for criminal sanctions? If an employee ever got fired, EVER or even left and opened their mouth it would be the end of the cash cow.

 

From what I have read, yes, things are listed swoopo's international websites, so "Befrak" won just one laptop. I dont know why they list it in different currencies other than for convenience.

 

The bottom line is if you are skeptical, dont play. It is easy as that. Believe me, Im skeptical. I still have 32 bids left that are non refundable and I know that is most likely not enough to win something else so if I want to I would have to sink another $75.00 into the game.

 

Again, the game is beatable if you work at it.

[RyDogg66]

There seems to be a definite strategy involving the Bid Butler and setting it up early on the auction (a few minutes after the auction begins for example) and choosing an auction that is counting down to get close to zero for the first time in wee hours of the morning (CST).

 

The first thing you have to understand is how the Bid Butler works in relation to other people who use the Bid Butler in the same auction.

 

Example: Lets say user JohnDoe places a Bid Butler on a Macbook auction for 100 bids between .01 and $10.00. The game should then bid .01 for him and indicate that is done via the BidButler. Now lets say that user BobSmith comes along and places a bid butler on the same auction (with many hours left) and he places his bid butler to run from $.02 to $10.00 and he wants to use 75 bids. What the game does when two BidButlers face off is rapidly spend through the bids even if there are many, many hours or minutes remaining. So in this instance, BobSmith would have spent through all 75 of his bids instantly and John Doe would spend 75 of his as well and have 25 remaining. The price would then most likely be $1.51.

 

***this is also why bids go from 15 seconds up to 15 minutes or a half hour. If two bid butlers face off there are essentially 150 bids placed immediately and 15 seconds added on for each bid.

 

How do you prevent this from happening? Obviously in the dollar auction scenario the only way to "beat" that game is if players understand what they are up against and "cooperate" to keep the bids down and have just one person bid. That is what I am seeing with the BidButlers. Sometimes (NOT ALWAYS!) the players that truly understand how to use the BidButler will find an auction and place a bid butler to place just 2-3 bids. If there is another bid butler currently set at that auction point it should set off 4-6 instantaneous bids running through all 2-3 bids that the new player has placed. This tells the new person that another user has "laid claim" to this auction and that the value of using the bid butler is diminished and further more the advantage actually goes toward the single bidder as all the bid butler bids by both players could theoretically be run through immediately and then leave just single bidders to bid (although the time will increase a lot and allow other players to swoop in and place a new bid butler if they wish). The Bid Butler is best utilized vs. Single Bidders and not using your bids unless the time falls below 10 seconds.

 

Essentially I am seeing some people "cooperate" by placing those small bids and if another bid butler is placed they move along to another auction.

 

The other thing is timing. More and more I am seeing people place bid butlers on auctions that have just started.

 

For example, here is a MacBook Auction set to expire tomorrow morning at between 2:00 A.M. and 3:00 A.M.. As you can see, I placed a small bid butler here this morning and it set off another bid butler placed by user Whiskeyfrog.

 

Example #2: Last night I was monitoring a Macbook auction set to expire early this morning around 2-3 AM. I noticed that user Omamackma had placed a bid butler already and I took note. This morning user Omamackma won that auction for $4.51 by placing 128 bids. The entire Macbook cost that user about $125.00.

 

So what would I recommend to win a Macbook? Well I wouldnt place my bids yet, and now that I have sort of shown you what to look for others can monitor these auctions as well, but I would stay up until (or wake up at) 2:00-3:00 in the morning when a new auction begins, set to expire 24 hours later. I would purchse 200 bids (Cost $150.00) and set up a Bid Butler immediately for $0.01 to about $20.00 and to use all 200 bids. Hopefully that would result in you winning the Macbook for under $200.00. There is the risk of course that someone who is less patient that we are will try to out gun your bid butler with his/her own and 300 or 400 bids, but that is as likely for any auction, remember this is about keeping risk down.

[homer]

Again, for the cash you dont have to pay the amount of the winning bid. That is why those auctions get so high. You only pay in how much you invest in bids. If that makes sense. I see the guy spend $1500 in bids to win $1,000.00. Yeah, that is dumb, but not as dumb as if he had stopped bidding after spending $1490 in bids and win back nothing. That is what you want to avoid happening.

Yeah that's sort of what I was trying to get at but did not articulate it very well.

[GoudaBrew]

RyDogg-

 

Have you formed an opinion on the bid vouchers? When I first looked at the site, the bid vouchers for 300 "free" vouchers seemed like the best way to start.

 

And when you say to time an auction that ends after 2 am CST, does that mean you should try and place the first bid on a product 24 hours prior?

[RyDogg66]

Short response: the vouchers I have not "examined" much, but agree that they are a great thing to pursue. Vouchers are power.

 

Second, in my example, it only applies to the auctions that start between about 2:00 and 3:00, and even then I am not sure yet. But yeah, if it is 2:30 in the morning, look for the auction that ends about 2:15 a.m. the next day.

 

I will try to elaborate later but am short time right now.

[TracyThom]

Let me know if this is a good strategy... Instead of jumping in first with bid butler, why not wait until the very end? For example, if one bid butler is competing against numerous single bidders, why not wait until the 25th hour of a scheduled 24 hour auction? If you jump in with your bid butler with 200 bids, wouldn't you outlast the initial bid butler who had been fighting against single bidders for the last 25 hours?

[giffted1]

I've also been wondering about a late game strategy using bid butler. I monitored a few Wii auctions yesterday and in a few cases (mostly single bidders bidding at around $60 - $80) a bid butler jumped in and seemed to scare off the competition, winning with relatively few bids. Much research will be put in before I even register, much less try this strategy, though.

[RyDogg66]

The thing is, there is no late game strategy. These are INITIALLY 24 hour auctions, but as long as people are placing bid, the time keeps being extended. If people never stopped bidding, the auction would go on for a month.

 

Also, so-called late game strategy seems to lead to more bidding for two reasons. First, people's belief that it must be close to ending, so they keep b idding, and second, people's inability to let go - if someone has sunk 100 bids into a Wii, assuming they have more bids to spend, they are less likely to walk away than if they have sunk 10 bids.

 

Also, video game consoles are hard to crack and likely are not worth chasing, as savings doersnt compensate for the risk.

[Fatter than Joey]

The other thing I have noticed is that the "retail price" that is quoted is (sometimes) really inflated -- as is generally the case with electronics.

 

For example -- a 73" DLP TV was toted as being worth 2999.99 -- but sells for $1500-$1800 at many retailers.

 

I would expect that is generally the case for TVs and probably laptops as well.

[cooprules]

I got suckered in and bought 50 bids. Which really doesn't do anything unless you get really lucky. I used bidbutler on a couple auctions to see if there were other bidbutlers and there were. I tried to out-butler them for a while and realized it was a lost cause. I then went to a couple nailbiter auctions and lost those as well. At least I got it out of my system now and I'm only out 37.50. Went to bed about 3am.

 

One of the auctions I was in on is still going on. One of them the guy ended up paying more than what it was worth. That's why I didn't go nuts cause that would've been me.

 

To know just how pathetic I am realize I spent my last 10 bids in a Nailbiter auction for a cordless phone system.

 

I DON"T HAVE A LANDLINE!!

 

I was just trying to win anything at that point...

[RyDogg66]

Yeah unfortunately 50 Bids isnt going to do you any good. Even in the TV that I won I spent 64 bids and you could say I got "lucky" with that one. I dont believe that smaller ticket items are worth chasing (like Wii or PLaystation) because the final sale price is to close to the actual price to be any savings when you factor in cost of bids and risk of not winning. Id stick to TV's over $1000 and Laptops.

[RyDogg66]

So I got my TV today, if anyone was wondering if this place was legit. 37inches is huge compared to what I used to have (a 19" and 27" old fashion TVs).

 

The DTV signal and the HDTV is pretty slick. I have never really seen HDTV before but it really noticeable. I get CBS, FOX, ABC and NBC as HD channels, along with two other stations put out by the ABC affiliate out of GB (WBAY) one of which is a 24 hour weather radar station, the other apparently shows 80s dramas, which is cool (A-Team, Incredible Hulk, Kojack, Simon and Simon, etc.)

 

I'll put my HDTV questions into another thread.