Are Penny Auctions Scamming Their Consumers?

If you have started researching different penny auction sites this argument has undoubtedly been brought to your attention. The question – are penny auction sites scamming their consumers – has been a dark cloud over this industry almost as soon as it began. However, there is little to no evidence of this occurring. If the penny auctions were scamming their consumers the industry would have already been shut down by now by the many watch-dogs that parole the internet for just that – scams.

So, you have to look at why people are saying such things despite there being no proof and no evidence to substantiate their claim. Here are just a couple of ideas:

1.) When a person is unsuccessful at winning an auction and they have just lost money – one is often tempted to say that the system is flawed in some way instead of saying that their strategy – or lack thereof – is really at fault.



It is critical that you study the game of penny auctions before jumping in with both feet to only wind up disappointed and frustrated. It does take a certain amount of skill and strategy to walk away a winner. Study the game, study the strategies, and enter into things slowly until you get the hang of how to win.



2.) Perhaps they want to keep other visitors away from a site that they have found success on.

Let’s face it, when you find something really good out there that saves you a pile of money – sometimes it is tempting to just want to keep that information under your hat so you can continue to save money without having to share or –even worse – lose your "good deal" to others who want to take advantage of the same situation. Could it be likely that people may start these rumors because they don’t want to share their favorite penny auction site with others? This is just something to think about.

3.) People just simply don’t understand how penny auction sites work.

Yes, penny auctions are a business and those who run them would prefer to turn a profit on their web site if at all possible– don’t we all! It is also true that each site works very differently from the next so it is critical that you read up on each sites rules and regulations. That being said, just because someone doesn’t understand how something works doesn’t mean that there is anything unethical about the business and just because the business owners would prefer to make a profit – that doesn’t mean that they are trying to scam their customers either.

It is true that most of the penny auction sites out there have a transparency problem. For example, the very popular Quibids site only allows players to see the last 10 bidders in an auction. They do not let players see how many other bidders are "watching" the auction and just waiting to jump in. It is possible that there is a corporate strategy behind the clandestine programming but it definitely works against the player. Some companies are getting the message. Bidonx for example offers players full transparency. Participants can see the name of the bidder, where they are from, how many bids they have available and how long they have been a member of the Bidonx site.

One final thought…. If the penny auction site owners are relying on repeat business (which they are) why would they do anything to jeopardize that? If they engage in the "scamming" that they are so regularly accused of the cat is going to get out of the bag sooner or later and people are going to stop coming to their websites costing them a fortune in potential business and future advertising to build up their cliental. That simply does not make sense. So, the next time you hear that penny auctions only scam the consumer out of their money – think about why these things are being said and this just may help you determine whether there is any truth to the accusation or not.