Cent auctions: serious technology bargains or fraud?
Cent auctions advertise with unimaginable bargains. Everything should be serious, which is unfortunately not true. We explain how the bargains come about.
Ancient auction principle makes shopping a game of chance
If you are concerned that cent auctions are fraudulent from the start, we can reassure you first. It is simply an auction form that has long been known as an "all-pay auction" outside the Internet. However, this does not mean that this principle is advantageous for you.
- Theoretically, it is true that new iPads and other expensive technology devices are sold far below their value at the cent auctions. Price differences of several hundred euros occur daily.
- However, it looks practically different. In a cent auction, you and everyone else has to pay for each bid. As a rule, you buy points for this beforehand, of which you then submit one for each bid. Depending on the provider, you pay around 50 to 75 cents for a point. You will not receive any points offered if you do not buy the goods at auction.
- Another special feature of the cent auctions is that the price increases by only 1 cent with each bid. At the same time, the duration of the auction is extended. In this way, interested buyers can continue to bid. Always with the feeling that they were buying a bargain.
- If you now look at the so-called bargains again, it becomes clear how much money was really spent there. A sales value of only ten euros corresponds to 1, 000 bids submitted. With a point value of 50 cents that would be 500 euros.
- In any case, at the end of the auction, many bidders have to pay money without having auctioned an item, a lucky man may make a bargain and the seller is happy. The "Verwaltungsgerichtshof Mannheim" therefore saw the criteria of a game of chance fulfilled at the cent auctions.
Fraud is not excluded
If, despite the questionable business model, you opt for a cent auction, you should be careful. Because among the numerous operators, there are probably also some fraudsters.
- It would be easy if the providers increased the auctions with the help of automated bots and ended up auctioning the item themselves. Then they would keep the goods and, thanks to the "all-pay" principle, make a lot of money.
Tip: Find out here how to bid correctly with the market leader "eBay".