Keep in mind that while these may be legitimate deals, lots of people lose money on every bid, too. For example, let's look at that "Glock of Choice" at $28. If you buys your bids in bulk, the best deal you get is about 65 cents per bid. As a penny auction, a final sale prince of $28 means that 2,800 bids were made, so customers paid a total of $1,820 in bids for that $525 Glock. Nice day's work for Bud's, who gets to pocket $1,295 profit. If you're the guy who won the bid, you probably dropped about 250 bids to win it, so you really paid about $190.50 ($28 plus $162.50 in bids) for a $525 pistol. Still a nice deal, but there's probably another 15 guys who dropped 150 bids a piece for that same auction. So, they spent $97.50 and got NOTHING for it.
Bud's is pretty good in that they will let you buy the item at retail with a discount based on the bids you spent (so if you dropped $75 in bids, you can buy the gun for $450; the retail price, minus 50 cents per bid you cast in that auction). Keep in mind, though, that the bid discount is less than the bid price. If you dropped 150 bids, then buy off the discount, you'll end up paying $547.50 for a gun that cost $525. So, if you were going to buy the item, and were willing to pay the retail cost (or even slightly over it), go ahead bid, but understand that you will probably end up paying *more* than retail. You're paying the extra money for the fun and excitement of the bid, and that thousand-to-one chance to come out ahead.
BTW, sometimes Bud's does come out losing. I have seen a $500 pistol sell for $4.03 (about a $230 loss for Bud's), but most guns sell for between $25 and $50 ($1,625 and $3,250 in bids), and I've seen a $399 pistol sell for $101.68, for a profit of $6,311.88 for that one pistol. It's not a scam, but make sure you know what you're getting into.
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