As I told you yesterday, I spent sixty dollars for one hundred bids at Quibids. I spent about sixteen dollars total on shipping and handling for items I won, which included vouchers for more bids.
This morning I won another $15 Walmart gift card as well as a $25 gift card for overstock.com. I then decided to simply bid on one premium item, a $200 Walmart gift card, until all my bids were used up.
I didn't get the huge gift card and my bids are gone. I told Cliff, "That's it; I'll quit this game while I'm ahead. Don't worry, I won't be charging any more bids to our credit card."
Honestly, I now understand what makes people stand for hours at a slot machine! It's just that business of knowing there's a chance of winning.
Click on this picture to make it larger and you'll see all my activity and what I won. Subtract sixteen dollars for shipping and handling fees and you'll see that I came out ahead (the camera is exactly what I wanted, and it's $110 at Best Buy). $76 dollars went into these wild, wild bidding sessions, and I won over $150 of loot. It was fun, I have my camera, and I'm done.
The camera and one of the gift cards have been shipped already.
If you have a gambling problem, do NOT try this website!
It probably is. I believe that. However, once in awhile when it seems too good to be true, it turns out to be true anyhow. I'll tell you about my experience this morning, but the story won't be confirmed for a few days, not until I receive the goods. That's when we'll really know.
I discovered QuiBids this morning. You pay for some bids ahead of time, then use those bids on items you want, at a cost of sixty cents per bid.
Folks, this is not the sort of risk I usually take, but after watching a news clip about it, I purchased $60 worth of bidding power.
"Cliff is going to kill me for this," I thought. "But I have to try it."
I looked the site over to see what was up for grabs and decided not to even attempt the Macbook Pro or the huge flat-screen television.
Most of you have read here about my need of a new Canon Powershot SD camera, right? I've put off buying one, waiting for a spare $110 to show up in my checking account. There was one of those up for auction, and I decided to get my feet wet. I clicked, was outbid, and clicked again (at a cost of sixty cents per click).
Eventually I won, so I got the very camera I was going to buy anyhow; it should show up in the next five days or so. It cost me exactly $11.07, including shipping and handling. New. In the box.
At worst, you could say it cost me $11.07 plus the sixty bucks I spent on bids, but I still have most of those left to use on something else. So it's still a bargain.
But wait, I wasn't done: I decided to stick with the cheaper items (because I figured I'd have a better chance at winning those) and got a $15 Walmart gift card for $2.12 (that's with shipping and handling added).
Then I did a penny auction that won me fifteen free bids for one cent... plus a buck handling charge. OK, so that one might not have been such a deal; if it cost me $1.01, it isn't free. Live and learn.
Luckily, they only let you win three items a day (twelve in one month), because I can see where this could be addictive, and I'm sure if I got too big for my britches, I'd end up losing. Once Cliff reads about this, I'll guarantee you he'll be keeping me accountable.
The way they can afford to let you have an $1,100 computer for $27 is that there are all these people bidding, at sixty cents per bid; the site has no problem making money off this thing.
I did some searches about QuiBids. There's a item HERE explaining how they make their money.
You can read HERE some guy pushing SaveBig.com, another similar auction site. I'm sure there are many others. I'm going to dance with the one I started with and see if I come out ahead. I'll bet if I stick to $15 Walmart gift cards, I'll do OK.
