Swoopo - Will it Overtake Ebay? (this sh*t is like crack cocaine)

Discussion in 'Economics' started by chewbacca, Dec 27, 2009.

  1. nicuss

    nicuss

    100% scam. I doubt any real users get those items, even when an auction closes. They have bots bidding all the time and once people get bored or go to sleep their bot can win it easily. I mean why would they actually ship a MacBook for $35 when they can keep it and run another auction with it?
     
    #11     Dec 27, 2009
  2. ponzi scheme

    alot people lose, one profits.

    kinda like the stock markets :p except those are mostly regulated
     
    #12     Dec 27, 2009
  3. #13     Dec 27, 2009
  4. Savings:
    Worth up to: $1,299.99
    Placed bids (1323): $1,323.00
    FreeBids (190): $0.00
    Final price: $47.30

    So the bidder spent $1323 on a machine worth $1300. And the site took in $1323 + $4730 = $6053. WOW.

    This works a bit different than I expected.

    They do not need to scam, they make enough money without resorting to scams which would be foolish.


    Profit = (auction selling price) – (original “actual retail value”) + #bids

    (This assumes they pay “retail” for their items.)

    Recall each bid nets them $1. #bids can be calculated by:
    #bids = [(auction selling price) - $0.15]/0.15

    Therefore, the profit model simplifies to the following:

    Profit = (23/3)*(auction selling price) – (“retail” price) – 1

    What is the break-even point? If the (auction selling price) = (3/23)*(“retail”). So if the item sells for just over 1/8 of its retail value, Swoopo will profit. Sounds like a win-win for them! I can’t imagine them losing money on many auctions.

    Obviously, this model is generic, doesn’t include overhead costs or other considerations. Thanks for reading.
     
    #14     Dec 27, 2009