Mini Cooper ? September 10, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Advanced Strategies.1 comment so far
The boys at swoopo really outdid themselves this time. They sold a mini cooper in the UK. Crazy.
http://www.swoopo.co.uk/auction/2009-mini-cooper-convertible/217223.html
Is Swoopo a Scam? July 9, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Fundamentals.1 comment so far
A lot of people have asked if Swoopo is a scam. The short answer to the question is no. People really do get some awesome stuff at amazing prices. I am one of them. I got my flip camera off of swoopo. I saved a few dollars, but I’ve also lost money on auctions where I didn’t win. The posts you read about online are from people that didn’t read the rules, got confused and think the world in general is out to screw them over.
Let’s be clear, the system is an ingenious market. It creates situations where one person gets an amazing deal funded by everyone else. There is a good reason they call it an entertainment auction. It gives me the same feeling as playing online poker. A certain rush of adrenaline comes over you as you get close to either winning or losing. The system is setup so that Swoopo almost always wins. The main difference is that you have to pay for bids.
The system gets really crazy during the penny auctions. If you think that each bid costs .60 and the price of the item moves up .01 with each bid you see how Swoopo makes a ton while someone gets a great deal on a new T.V. If you see a TV sell for $100 that normall sells for $1,000 on a penny auction remember that Swoopo got .60 * 10,000 or $6,000. Not a bad deal for Swoopo. Oh yeah, don’t forget that you still have to pay $100 for the item.
In some aspects it is kind of like gambling. You can always control the outcome by bidding again and again, but somehow it just doesn’t work out that way.
Bottom line. Swoopo is not a scam, people really win stuff. It pays to be patient and fully understand your bidding strategy before you start.
Swoopo Product Research May 24, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Fundamentals.1 comment so far
The cool thing about Swoopo is that you can look at previous auctions. It is kind of time consuming but you need to go back as far as you can and see what happenned in older auctions. It is also important to note the time that the auction occurred. You will notice that there is a big difference between bidding at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday and 3:00 AM on a Tuesday.
Most working stiffs will be free on Saturday but not at 3:00 AM on Tuesday. Use this to your advantage to minimize the number of people bidding against you.
You may also want to take in consideration Time Zones.
If you live on the East Coast try early morning auctions. If you live on the West Coast try late evening auctions. You will eliminate a large number of people by picking the right time to bid.
Swoopo Single Bid – Timing Against Bid Butlers May 24, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Advanced Strategies.1 comment so far
There is a very interesting rule regarding the placement of Bid Butlers. The rule states that a Bid Butler will place a bet automatically when there is a certain amount of time left on the clock. The time ranges from 10-1 seconds left.
You can use the single bid technique to your advantage given this rule. Let’s take a look. In this scenario we will assume that you are bidding against two other opponents who are using a bid butlers. This technique actually works even better if more people are using Bid Butler’s, but we will use 2 other people to keep the example simple.
If you are against one other Bid Butler you need to commit to going the distance and winning no matter what. You also need to bid when there is exactly four seconds left on the clock. In this scenario you will use fewer bids than the person using the Bid Butler.
In the example of single bidder who bids at the 3.5 second mark vs. the bid butler who bids randomly between 10 and 1 seconds. I haven’t checked the randomization, but we will assume an even distribution between 10 and 1. Remember the same person can not bid 2x in a row.
BB = Bid Butler
SB = Single Bidder
Bidding Table
The number values indicate when the person will bid with the amount of time remaining.
| BB1 | BB2 | Single Bidder | Person Bidding First |
| 10 | 1 | 3.5 | BB1 |
| 9 | 2 | 3.5 | SB |
| 8 | 3 | 3.5 | BB1 |
| 7 | 4 | 3.5 | BB2 |
| 6 | 5 | 3.5 | BB1 |
| 5 | 6 | 3.5 | BB2 |
| 4 | 7 | 3.5 | BB1 |
| 3 | 8 | 3.5 | BB2 |
| 2 | 9 | 3.5 | SB |
| 1 | 10 | 3.5 | BB2 |
| 2 | 9 | 3.5 | SB |
| 3 | 8 | 3.5 | BB2 |
| 4 | 7 | 3.5 | BB1 |
| 5 | 6 | 3.5 | BB2 |
| 6 | 5 | 3.5 | BB1 |
| 7 | 4 | 3.5 | BB2 |
| 8 | 3 | 3.5 | BB1 |
| 9 | 2 | 3.5 | SB |
In this example there were 18 trials. If you were bidding against two other people you would expect to bid 1/3 of the time or be forced to bid 6 times. From the example above the person using single bidding only used 4 bids. They saved 1 bid for every 9 rounds of bidding.
Of course this is a lab example. In a real world example if you were against two other bid butlers they would more than likely have similar price ranges plugged in against each other. In that scenario you may bid first and then the next 9 bids Swoopo would force the Bid Butlers against each other and the single bidder would not be included in the bidding at all. So instead of using two bids per 9 trials you would have only used one or possibly none. This is the power of using Single Bidding.
It would seem like this is the way to go however remember that single bidding runs the risk of missing the chance to actually place a bid. If you are to slow or your computer freaks out you have just lost a big opportunity.
Swoopo Single Bids – Timing May 24, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Advanced Strategies.1 comment so far
One of the advantages to using the Swoopo single bid is that you can avoid the BBPW (Bid Butler Price War) situation. A Bid Butler Price War is when two bidders have Bid Butlers with the exact same price range and number of bids in their Bid Butlers. Swoopo rakes in the cash on these situations. What happens is that all of the Bid Butlers get added together automatically and the time gets incremented. All the single bidders sit back and watch you burn through your bids when this happens.
The risk you take with a single bid is from the time you click on the bid button to the time it registers on the Swoopo server may be too small. You see that there are 3 seconds left and click bid. Your computer sends the message to the Swoopo data center and to your surprise it says auction ended you lost. Huh?
This is because as your message traveled from your computer across the Internet to the Swoopo server it didn’t have enough time to complete the transaction. The Internet is a volatile place in terms of connections and how messages get transmitted back and forth. You just can’t guarantee with certainty that your message will get there in enough time.
It will however get there most of the time and we can use that strategy to help us force people using Bid Butlers to Burn through Bids.
Swoopo Auction Timing – 20 second 15 second and 10 second Auctions May 24, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Auction Types.add a comment
Auctions start off as 20 second auctions. If the time gets below 20 seconds then the next bid resets the clock to 20 seconds. If several people are using bid butlers at the same time the auction will increase by 20 seconds for everyone while different parties are using Bid Butlers in the same price range.
Gradually this moves down to 15 seconds and finally 10 seconds. The bidding is more difficult with less time and the change for making an error increases.
Swoopo Open Auction May 23, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Auction Types.add a comment
Swoopo places a limit of 8 wins per month per account. This is what keeps the sharks from dominating Swoopo. The open auction allows anyone to bid. Beware these are shark infested waters. Only experienced bidders should even attempt an Open Auction as this is where all the expert Swoopers hang out.
Swoopo Beginner Auction May 23, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Auction Types.add a comment
The beginner auction is where you get your feet wet with Swoopo. You bid against other rookies who have yet to win something in the world of Swoopo. If there is anything you find remotely interesting in the beginner auction you should get it. Once you win any auction on Swoopo you will no longer have the opportunity to win a beginner auction.
Be smart. Read the material here first and then dominate your Swoopo Beginner Auction.
Swoopo NailBiter Auction May 23, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Auction Types.add a comment
In this auction Bid Butlers are not allowed. This auction requires good timing and patience. You should also have a very reliable computer and stable Internet connection.
The key to this type of auction is being able to go the distance. You want to find a key amount of buffer time that you can get your bid in without missing your opportunity.
One of the biggest mistakes people make in this type of auction is not bidding. Often times they will count the number of bidders and see that several people are bidding. Typically you will see four people bidding. Everyone thinks the other three will bid at the last section to increase the time. What happens is that everyone ends up staring at each other wondering why they didn’t bid and how that other guy ended up with their prize.
Swoopo – Penny Auction May 23, 2009
Posted by quinbra in Auction Types.add a comment
This is similar to other auction types with the exception that instead of the price rising $0.15 it rises a penny. This is an advanced auction type. Typically higher priced items are listed under the penny auction type. If timed well this can be extremely profitable, but they are also very competitive.
Consider the case of a $1,199 television penny auction I recently saw listed. The final price for the 42 inch Philips television was $24.07. For the guy who had to buy this in the end it was a total steal. Remember that this was a penny auction so all bidders combined spent $1,807 dollars on this auction. Not a bad deal for Swoopo. Even if you had the majority of the bids you may have come out ok, but you have to be willing to spend a lot and not screw up in the end.
Sometimes you can do well even if you have the majority of the bids. I’ve seen a 37 inch go for $7.05 when it retails for $1,299. Even if you had all of the bids you would have only spent $528.
The important thing to understand about penny auction is that it is very easy to get in at the end, but in order to win you may need to spend hundreds of dollars in bids and even after spending hundreds there is no guarantee you will win.
