EZEEPEEZE.co, time to spill the beans.

[AndyL]

Seriously????

I cant remember where I read it but someone rich/famous/successful was saying something along the lines of if your idea cannot be described in a sentence on a napkin, forget it!

Yeah if you are looking for investment but to con, oops I mean get people spending make it difficult to understand the actual concept.

In this case they will just be greedy and see a great price for something and start bidding, if they don't get it that's not the sites fault.

 

[Jason_Fisher]

Yeah if you are looking for investment but to con, oops I mean get people spending make it difficult to understand the actual concept.

In this case they will just be greedy and see a great price for something and start bidding, if they don't get it that's not the sites fault.

The site wouldn't last long though as people wouldn't use it again, and i am sure if there were several complaints, the site would have to re-address their T&C's?

 

[Drpepper]

Scamming people tp give them the best deals around?
That my friend is a newspaper headline!

I'm not scamming, I'm giving an image of being like a traditional auction but with far better perk. For starters you know the exact reserve and therefore only have to bid to it.
The bidding would be perfect if people didn't understand the system and used it as they do eBay.
7 day listing £5000 accumulation? Think about it.
Keep all of these £5k laying around collecting interest and no tax because it's a client account! It's perfect.

So they won't really be bidding, but you will be taking them money off them under the pretence that they have bid.

Now explain how that is not misleading at best, miss-selling or even worse scamming people out of their money - if only for seven days?

You will be taking money by deception. Unless you make it clear what is happening and then people will just pop along on day seven and place their £100 bids.

 

[AndyL]

The site wouldn't last long though as people wouldn't use it again, and i am sure if there were several complaints, the site would have to re-address their T&C's?

What like madbid etc

 

[Jason_Fisher]

madbid is simple. You buy credits as a purchase, and then you use those credits to place bids, each time a bid is made the price goes up by 1p. When the time runs out the winning bidder gets to buy that item for that price.

Each bid you place on madbid costs roughly £1 or less, this guy is on about the bidding going up in £1's, and a single bid costing £21 or £52 or £67 depending on what stage it is at...

Just my opinion, but - i get madbid and i dont fully get this... - ALSO i would touch neither with my own money!

 

[garyk]

Thats on the assumption of getting big traffic though Andy which we all know isnt that easy to achieve unless there is a fairly hefty marketing budget. Madbids had been around for several years and have now just started TV adverts, obviously starting to generate some decent income.

 

[AndyL]

madbid is simple. You buy credits as a purchase, and then you use those credits to place bids, each time a bid is made the price goes up by 1p. When the time runs out the winning bidder gets to buy that item for that price.

Each bid you place on madbid costs roughly £1 or less, this guy is on about the bidding going up in £1's, and a single bid costing £21 or £52 or £67 depending on what stage it is at...

Just my opinion, but - i get madbid and i dont fully get this... - ALSO i would touch neither with my own money!

I get madbid and other similar sites now, but when I first saw them I never and stuck £10 in to test then realised what a scam they are and that no one can win.

I also don't get this

 

[Jason_Fisher]

m4ttch4tt - any news on that refund question?

 

[Drpepper]

OP, you wouldn't be Old Eagleeyes apprentice by any chance

 

[Highland Park]

m4ttch4tt - any news on that refund question?

Answered on page 1 and again when I quoted it later

 

[Jason_Fisher]

madbid current auction, they are making £206,000 on a £19,000 car! wow

 

[seanheather]

< agree with gemd89

If I understand the idea, the bids are pre-determined to increase by £1 each time, but each bidder has to pay the whole amount.

So if the price is at £80 I have to hand over £81 just to bid - only to find that 10 seconds later I've been outbid and I've just spent £81 for nothing? What do I do then, wait until it's £90 and then spend another £91 to again be outbid and get nothing?!

What made you think this was a good idea?

Exactly. It's basically a legal scam praying on idiots.

 

[AdamW]

Keep all of these £5k laying around collecting interest and no tax because it's a client account! It's perfect.

Client accounts should either:

a. not pay any interest
b. pay interest which then has to be repaid to the clients.

 

[m4ttch4tt]

And its taken you a year to dream up this idea/scam?

keep dreaming.. for a while longer.. you might get a workable idea about something worthwhile... your lightbulb moment has popped on this one

You must think people are really stupid/gullible!!!

Why so I'm all ears! I don't understand where your coming from.
I said in my open post that I had not fully explained the entire system and that it would confuse people but I'd rather that then gave an already establish company steal it.

BEFORE ANYONE DECIDES THIS IS A SCAM JUST WAIT!
FIND OUT THE WHOLE DEAL, I HATE SCAMS AND HAVE DESIGNED THIS PURPOSELY TO AVOID THAT ROUTE. TAKE A SECOND TO LISTEN BECAUSE THIS ISN'T A PETTY WAY TO MAKE A FEW QUID!

 

[m4ttch4tt]

Exactly. It's basically a legal scam praying on idiots.

WRONG!! In every single way possible.

An £80 listing starts at £0. you bid £1 then wait, bid again at £19, £26, £34
1+19+26+34 = 80
your xbox or whatever us then shipped for no more than £80 total.
But in the process of getting to the 34th bid you've had tp have 33 before hand all accumulating on top of one another.
Understand?

 

[Drpepper]

BEFORE ANYONE DECIDES THIS IS A SCAM JUST WAIT!
FIND OUT THE WHOLE DEAL, I HATE SCAMS AND HAVE DESIGNED THIS PURPOSELY TO AVOID THAT ROUTE. TAKE A SECOND TO LISTEN BECAUSE THIS ISN'T A PETTY WAY TO MAKE A FEW QUID!

But it's not an auction because you have set a predetermined price the goods will be sold at, by definition an auction has an undetermined end sale price.

So it's a savings plan at best that doesn't pay interest, or a layby scheme.

Unless of course your not going to sell it as an auction to the punters.

 

[kjmcculloch]

It's a very confusing business model. Do you really need the added confusion of a fake auction, or is it simply a saving scheme not unlike the farepak hampers model (we all know what happened there)

Kris

 

[popunder]

WRONG!! In every single way possible.

An £80 listing starts at £0. you bid £1 then wait, bid again at £19, £26, £34
1+19+26+34 = 80
your xbox or whatever us then shipped for no more than £80 total.
But in the process of getting to the 34th bid you've had tp have 33 before hand all accumulating on top of one another.
Understand?

What about the person who bid at £2, £28 and £40? What happens to that £70?

 

[Highland Park]

I'd prefer to call it a 'stake' rather than a 'bid'

Might be worth checking with FSA too since you'd be operating much like a 0% interest Bank

If it gets off the ground then you should be forever free from cash-flow problems when it comes to buying power for goods

 

[m4ttch4tt]

I may be missing something, but surely there is a problem here?

If a customer is adding bids into your system until they reach £100 where they can get the xbox, it doesn't matter if they bid in the one auction or many, their total will still only equal £100 - at which point you are giving them an xbox for £100.

Lets say that there are 100 people all after an xbox for £100.

Each of them bids on 100 different auctions, each time moving up that individual auctions bid value by £1. It won't be long until bidder reaches their £100 target and gets their xbox. You won't make any more money than £100 from each customer, despite your posted figures of £5k+?

Even if it is only the person who places the final bid who gets that specific item, the customer still has their money in effect held in an escrow, and can soon buy another cheap item elsewhere in the site that will again lose you money.

I can't see how you do anything but lose money with this? If I'm missing something please explain a little more...

Smirks

Purely for the fact that attracting such a vast amount of bids over a product inventory of around 140 items all priced between £50 - £1000 it fats out weighs the amount of sales made, please remember also that I do have a markup on products (I failed to mention in OP) so there is a steady none being generated from each sale, the idea soley is to create an enormous client account, it's not the same as an escrow either in the way the funds (for the time being are non-transferable) this is covered by a disclaimer and continues to allow the system to function. Also if 100 people are bidding across 100 listings and all pay £100 I've accumulated £10,000 and with a 15-20% markup I'll still have a clear £1500 profit, now I know that seems minute but remember all the people who forget to bid, refund or transfer will leave their funds in a tax free interest earning account that heads straight for, I have not yet accounted for advertising on the site either. If you'd like a full explanation to clarify PM me and we'll go over it.
I hope this helped.

 

[m4ttch4tt]

What about the person who bid at £2, £28 and £40? What happens to that £70?

The £70 is still that bidders and sits in their account which is also linked to the client account where everyone elses spare bids are held until they reach the target price. I am not unlawfully or maliciously keeping peoples hard earned cash without paying out every single time, I'm mearly slowing the buying process down to allow for a vast accumulation on high demand products selling at huge discounts.
Yes?

 

[Mpg]

Why dont you just sell the products straight instead of hiding it behind a complicated cloak.

If i can buy an xbox from you for £100 then sell me one for £100 dont make it harder than it needs to be.

 

[What If]

Exactly. It's basically a legal scam praying on idiots.

No difference to the national lottery/euromillions then.

To be honest it makes no difference whether its a good idea or not (I think you've over complicated it), because the marketing cost to get this off the ground will be very large. You have to achieve a critical mass before the launch otherwise people will just lose interest when only a handful of people are bidding on auctions.

So how much do you have in the marketing pot?

 

[Drpepper]

funds in a tax free interest earning account that

How will you then make a profit, as a clients account you can't withdraw any funds for your own personal use i.e wages. That'll include the interest as well.

 

[Graemem]

I'm not sure I get it (Gave up on page 4), but people will pay £50 to place the bid on the £100 xbox, but they know the target is 100? Why bother? Or maybe the target is hidden, but the first post kind of made it look like it wasn't.

Also, If I've just bid £99 on a £100 xbox that I didn't win, I'd want it back, and right away. So I'd just go to the refund section and hit refund, then you have to pay the transaction fee both ways? Making a loss on my money... Pretty sure I wouldn't be the only one who felt this way.

Fair enough some people might leave it in there and spend it on something else, but what if they're outbid again? Does that whole amount get added or just the difference? Personally when I want to buy something with my £100 and then realise I can't, it's too much money for someone to wave something else in front of me and for me to take that instead. I'd still want it back. Perhaps incentives to keep the money in the account might work, but then as a new business I wouldn't have the trust in you to let my £100 sit with you for too long.

You tell us it's simple, but it doesn't actually seem that simple. I think you should rethink how you explain the idea and try again, might help. Though just now I don't think it's something I'd ever use, it does come accross as a bit scammy.

 

[LicensedToTrade]

@ License to trade - you need tp take another look. You have misread somewhere along the line, this is no penny auction or reverse auction.

You need to read again. I haven't once mentioned the word penny, reverse or auction so far in this thread (until now obviously).

 

[m4ttch4tt]

How will you then make a profit, as a clients account you can't withdraw any funds for your own personal use i.e wages. That'll include the interest as well.

Correct I cannot touch that until the full amount from one bidder has been paid. This works in my favour as that client account earns interest which is paid to me and only once I get the full amount can I transfer it to a personal account and earn again.

 

[popunder]

... spare bids are held until they reach the target price.

How does that happen though? What is the "target price" once the item I was bidding on has been sold? The XBox has sold for £80 to someone else, I've paid in £70, what is it I'm now bidding on? What is the mechanism that compels me to part with another £10?

Sorry if I'm being dim, I have a 130+ IQ but (as a potential user) I just don't get this!

 

[m4ttch4tt]

Why dont you just sell the products straight instead of hiding it behind a complicated cloak.

If i can buy an xbox from you for £100 then sell me one for £100 dont make it harder than it needs to be.

It's only complicated when you look at the system as a whole, to the general public it'll appear at face value as any other 'Auction' site as they don't need to know the system. The system is created to make money and gve good deals not teach people how a business model works as we all know many people font understand which is proved time and time again on here.

 

[kjmcculloch]

but from the sounds of what you have described you're buying apples for £1 and selling them for £1, so beyond a bit of questionable interest, you have nothing left to transfer to a 'personal account'

Kris

 

[kjmcculloch]

From your original post you claim to be able to buy xbox's for £100, the next lowest sales price is £199. Why not sell them for £175 in the conventional way and pocket £75 on each sale. That's more than any interest you might get, and less hassle I would have though.

Kris

 

[TheGuru2010]

So if i was at home full time with a bit of cash to spare, i could sit & watch your site wait for the £99 bid, stick my £100 in, re sell the item on e bay & make a profit.

I could do this over & over again ?

 

[m4ttch4tt]

How does that happen though? What is the "target price" once the item I was bidding on has been sold? The XBox has sold for £80 to someone else, I've paid in £70, what is it I'm now bidding on? What is the mechanism that compels me to part with another £10?

Sorry if I'm being dim, I have a 130+ IQ but (as a potential user) I just don't get this!

I completely understand where you are coming from.
The item which has been 'won' is not the only item that is available through that current listing. I may have 10 listing currently open but have 1000 of the same product to sell, in stead of creating a 1000 listings I concentrate them into a smaller number and collect the accumulated bids faster.
The item may have reached it's target price by a particular bidder but if they bid 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 gets the 100 target price but to a new comer the current price for them would appear to be £19 although I have now collected over £200 through every bid between 0&19 and one person had already won. I could be though that I collect £200 and only 19 separate people have placed a bid so the top bidder would be at £19 and still have a long way to go.
There is no direct competition with ANYONE it's just buying slowly with the feel of an auction to force a panic and quick bidding.

 

[Drpepper]

Why not just sell the Xbox for £100 and quote 28 days for delivery, like it used to be. I'm sure at that price you would have just as many takers.

 

[m4ttch4tt]

From your original post you claim to be able to buy xbox's for £100, the next lowest sales price is £199. Why not sell them for £175 in the conventional way and pocket £75 on each sale. That's more than any interest you might get, and less hassle I would have though.

Kris

That is what will most likely happen, these numbers are purely for demonstration purposes tp show how flexible the system is and how it can generate a far greater income through lower sales prices and bases.
The £100 sale could nearly be a loss leader to generate yet more traffic.

Do the prices get you interested?
Would you prefer to pay £200 or £100 for the same product?

 

[m4ttch4tt]

So if i was at home full time with a bit of cash to spare, i could sit & watch your site wait for the £99 bid, stick my £100 in, re sell the item on e bay & make a profit.

I could do this over & over again ?

I suppose so, hadn't thought of that! Thanks, you just bumped my prices up a tad to get rid of that issue. Plus you still have the fact with competing against me directly, I am to advertise eBay on my site just to show potential customers that buying second hand and +£60 is not as good as brand new with warranty.
I like your thinking though.

 

[m4ttch4tt]

Why not just sell the Xbox for £100 and quote 28 days for delivery, like it used to be. I'm sure at that price you would have just as many takers.

The fact of the matter is I can collect £5050 far quicker than I'll be selling, so instead of having £100 sitting in an account for 28 days why just go for the £5k option?
I don't understand what your getting at.

 

[Drpepper]

The fact of the matter is I can collect £5050 far quicker than I'll be selling, so instead of having £100 sitting in an account for 28 days why just go for the £5k option?
I don't understand what your getting at.

No you wouldn't because if we presume every one that is "bidding" obviously wants an xbox they, by your own admission, are paying little and often. At the END of seven days you sell the xbox.

If you just offer 28 days delivery you have everybody's full £100 from day one for 28 days.

 

[arcon5]

After reading through the whole thread, like many others i'm still non the wiser as to how this works..?

Am I correct in thinking..

For example, an xbox has a price of £100 and will be running from 73 hours...

The winner is to first to bid the £100 going up in £1's
OR
THe highestest bidder after the 72 hours if £100 hasn't been reached

Is this right?

If so, as another has asked..

Why for example would I bid £99 knowing somebody in thirty seconds will have the ability to bid £100 and take the item.

I have to ask what makes you think somebody will pay £30 for example for simply a "bid"....?

UNLESS...

All anybody ever pays is £1.. for example... its currently at £30, I bid £1 making the current bid £31.. somebody else pays you £1 making the current bid £32.... so once £100 has been hit the highest bidder pays £100 for the item and everybody who contributed towards the bidding up to £100 loose their money.....


:|:|:|:|

Either way this sounds like a terrible business with high chargebacks and plentiful complaints.

Hopefully you have accounted for legal expertise in your budgets.

 

[m4ttch4tt]

I still don't get it, m4ttchatt please go back to my comment about me paying £172 in total and getting nothing in return. I would have made 2 bids there and been out bid by other people, so i will not have won the xbox. What happens to my £172 that you have? Do i get a refund?

I think trying to sell a concept to people is hard enough, but making it so complicated is near on impossible! It needs to be simple, easy to understand, just like Gary mentioned.

There has been a huge misunderstanding.
If B1 reaches £100 through accumulated bids he wins 'a' xbox
So does B2, B3, B4 and so on providing their personal accumulated bids equal the £100 target price regardless what anyone else has done, it's not a race!
A listing stay current and available even if done has has already one an item from it unlike eBay, 1 item 1 winner close listing, minimise profit and make a loss for the first 4 years of trading!