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wpd7
Posts:8
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| 10/03/2008 10:48 AM |
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I went to school and received an economics degree, so when someone turned me on to this site, I was surprised at the amount of bidders and the fact that it is actually running and have not been shut down.
http://www.swoopo.com/
They bill themselves as "entertainment shopping" but in reality its gambling; gambling that you're the last bidder.
It works like this: you pay for $1 for each bid, and bid on the items you want. But there's a catch. The auction amount only increases $0.15 per bid. Say you have an item worth $100. When person A bids, they pay $1 (the cost of the bid) and the item is at $0.15. When person B bids, they pay $1 (the cost of the bid) and the item is then at $0.30, etc.
So lets say the bidding ends at $50.00. There are 50/0.15 bids, or approximately 333 bids netting the auction house $333. Then on top of that, you have to pay for the product too, so an additional $50 is spent. Total profit to the house: $333 + $50 - $100 = $283 on a retail value $100 item.
WOW.
Lets add a few more twists shall we? Lets add more time to the auction every time someone places a bid near the end of the auction. They also have a few other gimmicks, but this site is focused on gaming the customer to spend more or overspend.
Let's start a dollar auction for housing! Imagine how much the banks will reap in bid costs alone! |
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LoonyQT
Posts:894
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| 10/03/2008 11:09 AM |
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| this is a very interesting shopping/gambling proposition... I bet it would be a fabulous tool to get rid of crap properties to suckers. |
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tpc
Posts:498
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| 10/03/2008 11:24 AM |
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| wpd-great post. I am liking the way you think. Where have you been hiding?? |
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wpd7
Posts:8
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| 10/04/2008 8:35 PM |
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I've been around, just lurking... Better to be thought a fool than open your mouth or type and be proven one eh? =)
Although recently I've been watching a huge portion of my list of SFR homes I'm interested in go to pending and some, sold at close to asking the past 3 weeks. It's been closing at 15% off list on average since I've been watching months ago, but the last few weeks of closing have been several thousand under and in some cases over the asking price.
I guess the market turmoil has pushed some fence sitters to pull the trigger! As for myself, I'm still waiting for cash flow neutral or positive for the homes I'm looking at not counting the 20% down. Hard to do, but I hold on to the fundamental of housing costs correlating with wages.
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LoonyQT
Posts:894
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| 10/04/2008 11:34 PM |
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| wpd7 - Where are you tracking? I've noticed lots of pendings since the bailout officially passed. What do you predict happening in Encinitas, Bonsall, & Carlsbad? |
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wpd7
Posts:8
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| 10/06/2008 11:52 AM |
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I'm personally looking at Bay Park/Morena or West Clairemont (along the 5 corridor only), but I'm tracking 92117, 92110, 92103, 92106, 92107, 92037, 92014, 92122, and Solana Beach (don't remember zip code).
The rest are just for my curiosity. Given my budget is 500K or less, that puts a lot of those areas out of reach (for now)!
I wish I can give a comment Loony, but I don't follow those areas at all. Too far North for me and the wife to drive for work and we love the short commute! But I do know several people that live in the area and they mention a lot of places going pending near them as well in the last few weeks. I reckon this is the false bottom that always happen in a correction of any bubble.
I could be wrong, either way, just as long as the government doesn't inflate their way out of trouble, I'm happy. I have too much down payment sitting in the banks to have to deal with inflation. =)
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