Look out eBay…here’s
Deal Dash. Yet another mesmerizing online auction site, or I think that’s what it is.
So anyway, I’m tinkering out in the garage this evening and my son comes out and tells me he can get a laptop computer on this new website for (get this) $21, and needed my credit card…right! That’ll work every time…not. So I eventually go in and look at this website called Deal Dash. You can go look if you want (linked above) but here’s how it works as best as I can tell:
• First there appear to be a range of products available for bidding, from computers, to coffee pots, to Amazon gift cards. There really aren’t that many items, but it appears like something that will probably grow…eBay started small too.
• In order to bid, you need to buy credits for 60 cents each, in advance. Each bid costs you 1 credit (i.e. every bid costs 60 cents). You can only bid in 1 penny increments though, so 10 bids are going to cost you $6.00 cents, 50 bids costs you $30.00 cents, etc.
• Each auction starts at 1 penny for the item and ratchets upward 1 penny at a time/bid (^note, you can only bid 1 penny increments).
• In the last thirty seconds of the auction, any bid (did I mention the bid is 1 penny)…increases the time remaining on the auction by 30 seconds.
• When the time expires and you were the last bidder, you win.
• One last point on the credits…if you bid and you don’t win, your credits are refunded if you purchase “another” of the items being auctioned at a buy-it-now price (which is clearly disclosed).
So, back to the $21 computer. The recommended buy-it-now was $450, but like any auction it could sell for less, much less actually. The problem is that it started at 1 penny and only bids at 1 penny increments…and any bid in the last 30 seconds increases the time…and all this time you’re blowing through your credits bidding one penny at a time (60 cents per). I don’t know what that computer will ultimately go for, but that auction is going to last forever because when you’re the last bidder at $21, someone else is going to spend 60 cents in the last 30 seconds and blow you out…and then you’re going to do that same thing to someone else. I seriously think the winner for something like this is the one who holds out playing this game the longest…and that, I believe is the trick/ploy. Keep it going and keep everyone bidding, especially in the repeating last 30 second intervals of the ongoing auction.
Take a look and tell me what you think. There are some deals, particularly on the gift cards, but overall this looks a little funky.
