Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

I like window shopping at budsgunshop.com from time to time and saw that they supply the firearms for bidgunner.com now. Never heard of it so I decided to check it out. Neat concept. Was wondering if anyone had any experience with the site or any thoughts on this auction process.



Here's an example of a closed auction.

http://www.bidgunner.com/auctions/igauer93899389389mm3

Sig Sauer P938
Retail Value: $638.00
Current Price: -$85.73
Placed bids (186): -$93.00
Savings: $459.27
Shipping Cost: $10.00

So the winning bidder really paid $188.73 between the cost of the gun, the cost of their bids, and shipping. If you don't win the auction, you can use the cost of your bids towards the retail price of buying the gun. If you don't buy the gun then it's a good money maker for the website.

Did you find anything else about it? I looked per this post, and I concur, it SEEMS appealing, but not alot out there to say if it's on the up, and up.

Hmmm... the owner registered the domain through a proxy, so no business info behind the whois on the domain bidgunner.com.

I'm skeptical.

So it costs you $.65 to bid an item up by one cent. It's a gimmick. Gunbroker works for me.

Reverenddel wrote:Did you find anything else about it? I looked per this post, and I concur, it SEEMS appealing, but not alot out there to say if it's on the up, and up.

A lot of people trust budsgunshop.com so I don't think they'd partner with something that wasn't on the up and up. Since you have to pay to bid, you'd better be in it to win it!

Of course I think this guy took that philosophy too far and spent $771 on bids to win an auction on a gun that retails for $455.

http://www.bidgunner.com/auctions/44510

D'oh!

EPIC FAIL! People get that "biddin' fever"! It's a shame.

ShotgunBlast wrote:

Reverenddel wrote:Did you find anything else about it? I looked per this post, and I concur, it SEEMS appealing, but not alot out there to say if it's on the up, and up.

A lot of people trust budsgunshop.com so I don't think they'd partner with something that wasn't on the up and up. Since you have to pay to bid, you'd better be in it to win it!

Of course I think this guy took that philosophy too far and spent $771 on bids to win an auction on a gun that retails for $455.

http://www.bidgunner.com/auctions/44510

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

By the same token, they probably wouldn't fool with it if it didn't generate some significant revenue they can't capture at the regular gun shop, PLUS whatever their partners at Bidgunner are making. And it all can only come from the purchasers.

Hey Shotgun, how'd you determine that the source of the auction item was Bud's?

SpanishInquisition wrote:Hey Shotgun, how'd you determine that the source of the auction item was Bud's?

Easy. On the top of budsgunshop.com in big bold letters it says Exclusive firearms supplier of Bidgunner.com. Click any auction below to Bid and Win !

Each auction also includes the same images, retail pricing for comparison, and description that Bud's uses. They also include the Bud's item number and the typical Bud's disclaimer.

All items subject to availability. A Budsgunshop.com certificate may be substituted if item is out of stock or discontinued.

Bud's is in on the venture in some form or fashion which is why I'd consider this auction site credible.

OK thanks. I wonder if it's actually Buds looking for an alternate business model then.

ShotgunBlast wrote:

Reverenddel wrote:Did you find anything else about it? I looked per this post, and I concur, it SEEMS appealing, but not alot out there to say if it's on the up, and up.

A lot of people trust budsgunshop.com so I don't think they'd partner with something that wasn't on the up and up. Since you have to pay to bid, you'd better be in it to win it!

Of course I think this guy took that philosophy too far and spent $771 on bids to win an auction on a gun that retails for $455.

http://www.bidgunner.com/auctions/44510

Wow - what a huge racket. It appears the winner did NOT spend $771 dollars - that's total total value of all the bids placed by everyone. So the website made $771 off a $450 gun. It's like Ebay, gunbroker, etc, except the losers have to pay into the pot as well.

From the bottom of that listing:

Retail Value: $455.00
Current Price: -$69.34
Placed bids (1542): -$771.00
Savings: $0.00
Shipping Cost: $10.00

So if 1542 TOTAL BIDS were placed by everyone, and you can only advance the auction by a penny, then the final price of the gun would have only been $15.42.

No, I stand by my earlier statement that it only shows you what the winning bidder spent (to illustrate how much you can save on guns) . The winning bidder also used a bid-assist mechanism that the website calls Bidbutler, and I'm thinking something wasn't configured properly (like not to bid over a certain dollar amount).

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

You are correct that even the losers pay into the pot through spent bids. After all, the website has to make money somehow.

Call it a racket, but like I said earlier you'd better be in it to win it!

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

So after 5 days, the lot of us (whose experience must represent the purchase of at least several scores of guns, I reckon) can't figure out (or at least can't agree) for sure how the bidding works, how much got paid for the gun, and who paid it, huh?

I think I'll just stick with good old-fashioned hoss-tradin' to come by my ordinance.

these type of auctions seem to be gaining speed. These are they same type as Qbids. I don't trust them at all. You notice that he didn't tell you if you got your bids back if you lost and didn't want to buy it now. So you bid up an item to oh lets say 180 bucks and loose the auction and you loose the 180 bucks. No thanks I'll stick to known auction sites

The penny auction sites have gotten out of control. Sure, if you win it's a great savings.. but if you are bidding against 20 other people, and everyone spent $50-60 on bids to lose, the site made over $1200 on that product.

The ones that sell TV's, XBox's, iPads, etc, generally clear about 1000% markup on all products. While one person might be getting a great deal, it's really all because the website is ripping off everyone else.

zombiekiller57 wrote:You notice that he didn't tell you if you got your bids back if you lost and didn't want to buy it now. So you bid up an item to oh lets say 180 bucks and loose the auction and you loose the 180 bucks. No thanks I'll stick to known auction sites

You don't get your money back. That's part of the bid process and where they make their money.

The penny auctions are the Amway of bidding sites, they sell outsiders on the "business model" then have them help spam out ads for the auctions, then bid them up so everyone makes a little. the higher ups, think pyramid scheme, make the highest percentage, and the new comers are required, and encouraged to recruit new "owners". Major scam, been in the comp security world way too long to buy into the penny auction junk.

Casey

Let me explain my experience with Quibids. I got 60 free bids when I registered. But what I did not know is that as soon as I ran out of my "free bids" I would automatically be charged for more bids. All in all, I ended up being charged $60 for a $15 walmart gift card and they never explain when the auction ends. Every time someone bids one second before the auction ends, it extends the auction so many seconds. Its a scam.