Earlier this morning I received an email advertising ozziebids, which claims to be “a comprehensive Australian online auction website offering an alternate method of online shopping”. It lists brand new products on its website and its members can start bidding on these items.

While thinking, oh yeah, another eBay wannabe, I actually went and checked out the site. Then I saw items like a PlayStation Portable which usually retails for around AUD$400, is waiting for bidding at maximum bid of $50! That is right — the yummy PSP will sell for no more than 50 dollars. There are other “bargains” like a 42inch LG plasma TV with maximum bid of $500. How does it work? Until I read about it…

In a “normal auction”, usually it is the one who is willing to pay the most wins. However in ozziebids, the successful bidder needs to be the one offering the highest unique bid, i.e. no on else is putting in the same amount before the closing time. Being someone willing to pay the most does not guarantee you a sale, but you need to choose a number that no one else would have chosen, and has to be bigger than every other unique numbers picked by other bidders.

Moreover, there is an “admin fee” of between $10-$25 that is payable whenever you are making a bid. It is not only charged for successful bidders, but everyone who puts in a bid.

In another word, everyone puts in a fixed amount of “entry fee”, and the one who guessed the right number wins the game. He or she can then claim his/her prize by paying another 1/10 of the cost of the unit.

That sounds like gambling in my dictionary. Yeah — legalised on-line gambling, operated from Perth, hosted in Brisbane, masqueraded itself as an “online shopping site”.

To say that you can find bargain in this kind of operation is like saying you can earn good money in lottery. True for some, but totally not the case for most other participants. Finding a real bargain in ozziebids? Only for the lucky few.

Update: There seems to be quite a number of sites that use the similar strategy — winning on the maximum unique bid. Again, I’ll say none of them offers real bargain. You might buy things cheaply there, but so can you “buy” a dream home at Gold Coast for $10 if you win the lottery. Here are a list of similar sites

• Aussie Fuel Auction — bidding on fuel cards
• Bid and Win
• SMS2BID — bidding with SMS messages.