Penny Auction REVIEWS – Which Penny Auctions are the BEST Bargains?

Major penny auction websites Swoopo.com and OohILove.com have recently shut down. It is unsure exactly why they have closed their doors, but it’s most likely linked to a lawsuit filed against the two sites, as well as 4 others (Quibids, Beezid, BigDeal, and BidCactus). You can read about the lawsuit here- Penny Auction Lawsuit.

Swoopo.com was the first online penny auction website to use the bidding systems we know today. They were established in 2005 in Germany, and claimed to have over 2 million customers. OohIlove.com was the most popular penny auction website for designer items, such as purses, jewelry, and high-end retailer gift cards.

Swoopo also has another lawsuit filed against them in California, which was filed on March 21st. The details on that lawsuit are available here.

Swoopo’s message on their site claims the site is down due to technical reasons, but it’s been down since March 17th. OohILove displays a different message “Dear oohilovers, It is with regret that we announce oohilove.com, an Entertainment Shopping Inc. company, is closing its doors.” Both websites are owned by the same company, Entertainment Shopping, INC.

We’re waiting to see what kind of effect the lawsuit mentioned will have on the other websites listed, as well as the penny auction industry as a whole.

A lawsuit was filed on February 11, 2011 against 6 major penny auction websites- Swoopo.com, OohILove.com, BidCactus.com, Quibids.com, Beezid.com, and BigDeal.com. You can view the lawsuit document here in PDF.

According to the document, these penny auction websites are violating US gambling laws.

“This action alleges that Defendants operate illegal Internet gambling websites, by permitting persons to play games of chance for money and/or make a wager upon the result of a game or contest.”

Also quoted from the lawsuit document-

“Defendants conduct of charging consideration for the chance to win prizes (or something of value), violates all 50 state laws prohibiting unauthorized gambling.”

Currently, both Swoopo.com and OohILove.com (both owned and operated by Entertainment Shopping, INC) have shut down their websites. Although Swoopo claims it’s down due to technical issues. Swoopo also has another class action lawsuit filed against them in California, Hernandez v. Entertainment Shopping, Inc. The California lawsuit was filed March 21, 2011.

What do you think? Should penny auctions be considered illegal gambling?

LP CORPORATE VENTURES INC1530 Page Mill RoadPalo Alto, California 94304United StatesDhaliwal, Givy  admin@onebcg.comDomain Registered: September 2009

(20 votes, average: 1.15 out of 5)
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Oohilove.com is one of the handful of unique penny auctions that cater to a specific market. In the case of Ooh I Love, they specialize in luxury designer accessories that come in a wide range of varieties. The site claims to have both classic and trendy fashion items, and indeed, Ooh I love does feature some impressive products from famous fashion brands and labels such Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and many more.

If you’re a fashionista who knows how to bid smart, then Oohilove.com just might be a source of great fashion items “sold” at a fraction of their retail cost.

So let’s go over the basics. Registration on the site is free, with new bidders receiving one free bid upon signing up. Frankly, we wish Ooh I Love could’ve at least given away 3 to 5 bids just like other sites do.

Oohilove.com is also one of the sites that sell pretty expensive bids. Each bid is priced at $0.99, with members having to choose between bid packs coming in bundles of 30 up to 800 bids. The larger the bid pack, the more money you save.

Auction on all items start at $0, and each bid placed raises the price by $0.02.  The site has a ‘buy it now’ option, where bidders who’ve lost an auction can buy the item, minus the price of the bids they used on it.

So that’s pretty much how the site works. Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. While Oohilove.com does have an impressive roster of prizes, the ‘buy it now’ price of these items are somewhat steep and can sometimes be even more expensive than retail prices. Auctions also run for hours,  and we’ve noticed that a handful of members seem to win auctions over and over again. A limit to cap the number of wins a month would help.

Another thing we noticed is that shipping on Ooh I love isn’t free and can cost up to $13.00. Since other sites go out of their way to ship large items such as HDTVs for free, we don’t see why this site can’t follow suit, especially since all they auction off are shoes, bags, and gift cards.

Overall, losing on Oohilove.com can be costly, but if you like to live dangerously, then the site could be a great resource for great fashion items.