- Report: #387344
Complaint Review: Entertainment Shopping Inc. DBa Swoopo - Cupertino California
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Entertainment Shopping Inc. DBa Swoopo
P.O. Box 2803 Cupertino, 95015 California, U.S.A.
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Swoopo AKA Entertainment Shopping, Inc. AKA Swoopo.co.uk AKA Swoopo.com Swoopo has a misleading service. It is a so-called "auction" site but be forewarned, it is not. Cupertino California
Swoopo (www.swoopo.com) AKA Entertainment Shopping, Inc. sells and presents itself as a unique "Auction" site. There products are offerred to Swoopo members to bid upon for a severely discounted price. Each bid made to a product increases the price by $0.15USD as well as the auction's end time according to the point in time the bid was made.
For instance, say there are 10 seconds left for a brand-name notebook computer, once you make a bid, another 10 seconds is added to the finish time (moving the auction's end time to 20 seconds) and the price increases by $0.15USD.
To get in on the action, you will need to register for a free Swoopo account. However, before you can bid, you will have to purchase "bids" from Swoopo (each bid approximately costs $1.50USD, as of 11-3-2008, and sold in several "packages/increments" -- that is, you cannot just buy a single bid).
Ideally, whoever made the last bid when the countdown reaches zero wins the product at the last price listed. So, you can essentially get that brand-name notebook computer for $15 -- if you "win". Read on, however.
Swoopo is banking on you to bid more than once on a single product. That's the brunt of their business model; that is how they make money. Every "bid" you make, the have made money off that "bid". Although they have an official "end time" for the auction, the so-called countdown is more of a tool for you to continue bidding. If the product shows that there is 10 seconds left, be forewarned that that is not the actual end time of the "auction".
Contrary to their website's descriptions and design layout, this is not an auction site. It is a very convincing gimmick. Do not be misled. You are not really "bidding" on how much you want to pay for the product. What you are doing when you are "bidding" is actually *betting* that you will get the product at that prescribed price.
Swoopo is a gaming site and it preys on consumers seeking that too-good-to-be-true deal. There are no testimonials of satisfied consumers, no feedback reports of Swoopo fulfilling their part of the bargain because you have no clue if "real people" are winning the "auctions".
Run a search on your favorite online search engine with the keyword, "Swoopo" and you will almost include links to reporting sites like these or warnings of its scam.
I understand that you cannot win all auctions (whether offline or via more reputable auction sites like eBay) but again, Swoopo is NOT an auction site but more of a lottery/gambling site.
Though doubtful, I am still attempting to receive a refund on my remaining bid balance.
ACD
Torrance, California
U.S.A.
For instance, say there are 10 seconds left for a brand-name notebook computer, once you make a bid, another 10 seconds is added to the finish time (moving the auction's end time to 20 seconds) and the price increases by $0.15USD.
To get in on the action, you will need to register for a free Swoopo account. However, before you can bid, you will have to purchase "bids" from Swoopo (each bid approximately costs $1.50USD, as of 11-3-2008, and sold in several "packages/increments" -- that is, you cannot just buy a single bid).
Ideally, whoever made the last bid when the countdown reaches zero wins the product at the last price listed. So, you can essentially get that brand-name notebook computer for $15 -- if you "win". Read on, however.
Swoopo is banking on you to bid more than once on a single product. That's the brunt of their business model; that is how they make money. Every "bid" you make, the have made money off that "bid". Although they have an official "end time" for the auction, the so-called countdown is more of a tool for you to continue bidding. If the product shows that there is 10 seconds left, be forewarned that that is not the actual end time of the "auction".
Contrary to their website's descriptions and design layout, this is not an auction site. It is a very convincing gimmick. Do not be misled. You are not really "bidding" on how much you want to pay for the product. What you are doing when you are "bidding" is actually *betting* that you will get the product at that prescribed price.
Swoopo is a gaming site and it preys on consumers seeking that too-good-to-be-true deal. There are no testimonials of satisfied consumers, no feedback reports of Swoopo fulfilling their part of the bargain because you have no clue if "real people" are winning the "auctions".
Run a search on your favorite online search engine with the keyword, "Swoopo" and you will almost include links to reporting sites like these or warnings of its scam.
I understand that you cannot win all auctions (whether offline or via more reputable auction sites like eBay) but again, Swoopo is NOT an auction site but more of a lottery/gambling site.
Though doubtful, I am still attempting to receive a refund on my remaining bid balance.
ACD
Torrance, California
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Logicalshopper
Oklahoma City,Oklahoma,
U.S.A.
Scam? Maybe. Illegal? Likely. Unethical? Definitely!
#2Consumer Comment
Sat, January 03, 2009
I just did a one month analysis of an Apple Macbook on Swoopo. I found that Swoopo is profiting about 200% of the value of items delivered. This was only a small field for comparison - based solely on 1 month (December) of auctions for the same brand/model laptop. My findings were that on one item, in 49 auctions, Swoopo pocketed more than $127,000. There were some interesting finds, such that they only come out ahead on roughly 50% of all auctions. However, those auctions they profit on include several that earned over 20x the wholesale value of the actual computer. On said Macbooks, the bids on the auction only need to reach $12.83 for them to make one penny. Everything beyond that is pure profit. The average value I found was $51.90. This meant that they grossed and average $3894.15 from all the bids placed (@.75 each) plus the $51.90 average ending price. That brings the average gross to $3946.05, and once you take out the cost of the item at Retail Value ($1299) they netted about $2647.08. Further example, one auction sold for $0.92. This combined with the profit from bids brought the gross to $69.92. Factor in the cost of the laptop, and Swoopo LOST $1228.92. However, this is completely offset by the auctions such as the one ended on 12.01.08. This auction finished at 248.03, which means they stood to gross over 18602.25 (@.75 each)from bidding alone. Then add in the final value of the computer, 248.03, and you have a gross of 18850.28. Factor in the Retail value of the computer, and they netted a $17,551.28 profit. I think it is pretty clear they are not losing money, however there is a chance to win a laptop at an extremely low value. The lowest I found was the winner of the $0.92 auction. When it was all said and done, shipping included, he had a 1299 dollar laptop for about $26.14. Just don't be like user Deafdlg and actually bid so high that the cost of bids are 200 more than the actual value of the computer. If you would like to see more of my findings, and a complete table showing said findings, please view the pdf I published. Not all values are perfect, I already noticed an error in one field after I published the file, however most of them are spot on. http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/2184751_j4kfy/Swoopo.pdf
