Swoopo seems like a regular auction site when you join. First ripoff hint: you have to buy bidz BEFORE actually bidding. They tell you to use your bidz wisely, but they don't explicitely explain why.
Reason? Because you lose all your money after a certain amount of bidding clicks and you don't win the auction, OF COURSE! I contacted them to ask if I would get refunded the money I did not bid, and they just gave me a ticket number.
Of course they are still sending me emails telling me I can bid 7 times for free if I'm the second runner up when an auction ends, but no word on my lost money.
This is not a regular auction like the ones on other very popular web sites, where if you don't win you don't lose any money. This is a REAL rip off, where people are mislead in so many ways.
Another hint: watch the bids: when you are getting close to the bid's end, these other bidders start bidding strong against you, and the screen names on the most popular bids are very similar and usually those are the winners.
I did not use that much money, I bought 50 bids for $37.50. I was under the understanding that if I didn't win, I would be able to bid on some other item. Nothing farthest from reality, I used my 50 clicks and my money was GONE!
I am not a gambler nor have I ever been in a casino, but I have seen movies and this website seems to operate similarly to playing black jack or roulette or some of those other games. You bet, you don't win, you lose your money. That is the way they should explain it in the terms and conditions, so people are truly warned that's the way it works.
Of course they get you when you click you accept the (misleading) terms and conditions. That is how they cover themselves. There should be a great warning about this site, especially because it does not operate like a regular auction site, mainly because it's NOT an auction site, it a GAMBLING site.
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