Today I was sucked more easily into the vortex of endless bidding wars than I ever thought possible. We’ve all heard on TV about Quibids (Quibids.com) and today I tried out Arrowoutlet (www.arrowoutlet.com) – there are many others. If you haven’t heard of these sites, you start by paying for a number of bids and this allows you to bid for all the items and any items you want. Like ebay but there is no starting price and the bids can go on and on forever and don’t really “end” when they say they will. The ticker can keep going like a Duracel battery – and this is where they get you. For $44 (because I had a discount code coupon) I was about to get 100 bids (+ 5 bonus bids) –that is about ~$2.30 a bid. If you think about it – that is pretty expensive – $2.30 can add up quickly.
So – I decided to try it to see what the hype was about. I didn’t think that I would be bidding on items as fast as I did– and have as much fun as I did – there is just SOMETHING about a countdown ticker that the competitive edge in me cannot control! Lo and behold you watch the ticker go down the last 15 seconds of an IPAD2 worth over $650 and the bid is at $1.50 and you don’t breathe. The ticker gets down to 1 second and you click BID and you feel this rush as YOUR NAME comes as the winning bidder, for ONE SECOND – you are a winner and 14 more seconds goes on the clock and you are, in a word…HAPPY. And then, after that rush of excitement and joy, in the following second, your happiness turns to upset and frustration as suddenly it is someone else’s name and another 15 seconds on the clock when you thought you had WON!!! OH the BITTERSWEETNESS of it all. Suddenly you want to press BID again just so your name will be on top and YOU will be winning and feel that surge once again!!! And the vicious cycle continues…and can continue…for hours!
After many addicting bids and what seemed endless countdowns (even though I did win a couple of the bids on MORE bids – which pulls you deeper into the black hole of bidding) – while really fun, I began to reflect and don’t know how truly economical and bargain-rewarding/bargain-happy these websites are. Let alone, TIME CONSUMING.
These websites takes advantage of the competitive spirit, gambling, the love of shopping, and of course, the love of a good deal and WINNING. But in reality I burned through those 100 bids so fast and that was $44 down the drain that I have nothing to show for – not a good meal, no massage or facial or mani-pedi, no appliance for $44, no fun activity. Instead, I have a few bids left now worth no more than a number, and have lost countless hours of my life wasting looking at the last couple seconds of a countdown ticker. I know that these are all the rage right now, and think it’s fun to a certain extent, but I think I will stick to my normal way to find bargains.
image courtesy of mlmdreamsaver.com