I'm not familiar with Quibids specifically, but I'll assume it's similar to others. In particular, the fact that when a bid is placed, the ending time automatically gets extended by some length of time "to allow others to bid". It's this time extension clause that effectively negates the swoop/steal/snipe approach.
Yup, thats why I said you're going to end up "losing" these gambles.
Given that the "sell" prices on any of these sites are substantially lower than the value of the item (by a factor of ten or more typically) it's plain to see that it's not natural free-market pricing at work (as you might find on eBay). More to the point, the sell price and ending of an "auction" is entirely luck-driven (basically, whenever there's a period of 15 seconds where nobody is able to get a bid in for whatever reason)... hence, it's gambling. There is little predictability and little skill involved.
I'll disagree with you somewhat here. I don't think it's entirely luck-driven. I think that luck does play some part in it, especially at the outlier prices. As I said, I won my first auction for 0.04, which I believe is lucky and atypical. However, from what monitoring I did (admittedly not too much) it seems that certain products tend to "sell" with a certain price range. Per my previous post, most $100 GC sold for about $10. Sure some went for $3, others for $15. But in my opinion there were pretty stable around $10, which means that luck may play less of a factor than you think. I think there is a price point where people tend to drop out, because the same item is either being auctioned off simulataneously or shortly after, so there is no need for endless bidding.
If you look at the sell prices of items and consider the cost of the bids, it's trivial to calculate the total expenditure (remembering that part of the cost is absorbed by the losers) for any given item. It's equally simple to conclude that, on average, it's a bad deal to participate. Yes, some people win, and some people get very good deals, but on average, it's a loser.
Overall, these sites, though there terms and conditions are clear, like to sell you on the idea that you're going to get something for nothing, and people are all too happy to buy into it.
For some it may be a bad deal to participate. For others it may be a wash, and still others, they may come out ahead. Personally, I think these sites have a place for as I mentioned, when you know you need something and are going to buy it anyway. Gift cards in specific are what I have in mind.
Say I need a $600 item from Home Depot.
I do this 6 times:
I buy 100 bids at 60 cents each.
I bid on $100 GC's to Home Depot until either I win or my 100 bids are exhausted.
If I win, great. If not, I use the buy it now option.
Worst case scenario is I don't win any of my 6 auctions, and my $600 item now cost me $611.94.
But if I win even one, on say my last bid (worst case winning situation) for $13 my $600 item cost me $584.94
In the terms of you're risking your 11.94 to get a discount it is gambling. But you're down side is capped at 11.94. Your upside it much higher.
I think the people that will "lose" on these sites are the people who are motivated by greed. They'll bid on things they don't try to plan on buying if they lose, just trying to get a "steal".
I never said it wasn't gambling, I just think for the right people, with the right intentions, the small downside ($12 in my example) is worth the risk for the potential upside.
