Research About Zbiddy Compelled Me to Write This Article

Zbiddy is a penny auction site I just found today. While doing some research this evening for the keyword penny auctions, I came across the keyword Zbiddy.   I went to Google and did a search.    The first listing for for the company sent me to a splash page where I could sign up.

I quickly recognized on the penny auction’s site similar primary elements found on similar sites for that market.   There are numerous items being auctioned at prices substantially below retail.

The site is bright and well laid out to clearly market the reduced prices on name brand items.

Also, the site has a banner awarding itself the status of the number one penny auction site based on number of products available.  I have no way to substantiate or refute that claim.

I searched the Zbiddy site for information about ownership or how long the site had been operational.  I was looking for something like an about us page that would shed some light on these questions.  The website does have an About Us page.  But the page gave no business information about the penny auction company.  It basically defined the function of a penny auction.   There was a Contact Us page that provided a customer service phone number.  I could not find ownership information in the FAQ.

Zbiddy is Source of Complaints

I searched further in Google.  All the reviews I read on Google about this penny auction site either concentrated solely on the cost of items being auctioned or to my amazement complaints about the site.

Caution:  I also noticed that before I could do anything with the site, it was required that I sign up. Fair enough.  So I did.  Part of the signup process involves purchasing a bid package.  Well, I really did not want to do that.  So I exited the page before moving forward.

I went back to Google to see if I could find out more about the company.

Unfortunately, for Zbiddy and the affected consumers, on the first page of Google are several listings for complaints about the company.

Apparently, many people completed the registration process and entered their credit card information and found themselves charged for the $99 bid package.

I did not take the time to read all of the complaints.  But the first few I read indicated that they were still trying to get a refund for the bid packages charged.  So if you decide to use this penny auction site, do not enter credit card information unless you want to be charged for a bid package.

Unlike many penny auction sites that provide you with sample bids to get started.  Zbiddy expects you to purchase bids as part of the sign up process.

The bid packages carry a guarantee for replacement if you purchase the $99 bid package.  Or at least that is how I read the splash page.  The guarantee stipulates that you will be recycled bids until you win an auction.  You will not get a refund.  That is fair if you wish to continue to try bidding on products.

I did not see any complaints about the quality of the merchandise.

I think it is difficult for a consumer to learn how a penny auction works if they must use their own money to do so.   And with the complaints surrounding the bid purchase requirement at registration with no cash refund, the practice now become suspect in my opinion.

If you would like to review an alternative to Zbiddy, please take a look at Zeekler.

I am being upfront with you by telling you that I am a paid affiliate for Zeekler.   And prior to doing this research, I was totally unfamiliar with Zbiddy.   But based on what I found, I do not consider them to be a viable competitor to Zeekler.

Are these questionable charges on your credit card A good list to check msnbc.com blog BILLGUARD Zbiddy is a penny auction site. Participants must pay a fee in order to place a bid. Every bid placed extends the allotted auction time. Due to their high profitability and cheap set-up costs penny auction sites have been growing steadily and more.…

Zeekler has a free giveaway program for new customers…

and a  buy one get one free (BOGO) program that also allows you to get free bids.  For example, if you sign up for the $10 subscription, you get $20 worth or bids, or 20 bids instead of 10 bids.  This is a great alternative or complement to the free bid program.

With the free bid program, I give away up to 250 free bids to familiarize customers with the penny auction site.  That amount will increase to a maximum of 500 bids in the future.

There is also a BOGO program with Zeekler.  Remember, this is a monthly subscription.  You can cancel, upgrade, or downgrade as you need to.  Remember, this is a monthly subscription.  You can cancel, upgrade, or downgrade as you need to.

Basically, you buy, for example $10 of bids and receive 20 bids, a 50% savings.

Thank you,

Bonnie McDonough

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