The End of SkoreIt?

[SorryButImNotStopping]

Should I start at the beginning or start at the end? I'll go with the end. Wow, did they ever blow it. SkoreIt does not need any cause to ban people. By giving cause and having it easily proven that the cause is phoney SkoreIt leaves a very bad taste in user's mouths and leaves themselves open to lawsuits. For instance, bidders with tens of thousands of free bids and few tangible wins have been banned for being re-sellers of the few tangible things they won, while paid bidders with far, far, far more wins of tangible things continue to bid. There are bidders who have won 50 iPads still bidding. LITERALLY 50 iPads. I notice those bidders are winning with paid bids. I had 1822 mostly free bids in my account when banned. As the biggest winner on the site I'm sure I get no sympathy, and I'm not asking for any. I long since reached the "It's all gravy" point. But some other bidders have really been hosed, and even successful bidders like myself have feelings. There was a simple yet elegant solution. Instead of trumped up charges applied inconsistently (the inconsistency of which leads to the conclusion that it had to be a bid grab), SkoreIt should have established a Hall of Fame. A Hall of Fame goes along with the sports theme of the site. It would make inductees feel good, or at least feel less bad. They could have set a number of wins, say 300, which is the number of wins considered to be automatic for the baseball Hall of Fame. Or they could have gone with 200 wins in order to get a bunch of users in it immediately. They could have issued a press release trumpeting the creation of a Hall of Fame. They could make a ta-dooh about each member or group of members inducted. And the Hall of Fame would have caused bidders to see the 'use it or lose it' nature of their bids and produced some battles that would have helped SkoreIt's bottom line. Like, say, Giftsforthetroops dumping all his bids on IfVestedWontStop, who somehow achieved a position of dominance with little effort and utterly dissed him on a $1,000 card. It would also give hope to those who felt frozen out of the good things by more powerful bidders, that there would be a point when the powerful bidders were gone and everybody could fight to move up a level.

[SorryButImNotStopping]

I realized afterwards that it could be read as a snotty or obnoxious 'Sorry, but I'm not stopping'. That wasn't the way to read it though. I knew that I wouldn't be stopping, and I felt genuinely bad for the people who would be losing to me. Except for the moment the auction ended, when I said to myself "Sorry you're such an idiot. What made you think you would win???" As more and more people copied my name or paid homage to it I kept thinking, 'Man, this has to be driving everybody else nuts'. But I had to laugh in amazement, too. "There's another one!"
Lots of other things produced amazement. Like the ability of IfVestedWontStop to achieve such lofty heights so easily. What was wrong with you people? You have to defend your turf. Letting him come in and do so well without a fight was absurd. And I couldn't stand the OT tough guys like CANCELED. CANCELED was a weak bidder and a jumper for months and months. I felt a kinship with other strong bidders, and felt closer to those who had been there longer than others. So even though CANCELED joined later than me, I rooted for him against those who joined later than him. And I can't tell you the number of times I saw him in a battle with a newbie and give up. I probably also felt disappointed because I thought 'Now I'm gonna have to fight that newbie'. On the other end of the spectrum was users like NotMike, who I appreciated holding the line against upstarts like sunshine1610 and ktystd. You might say 'So what, you appreciated it', but there was tangible benefit to my appreciation. There was an untagged $1,000 AMEX card when I came out of lockout, and just as I was about to tag it NotMike did. I knew if I put in a bid right after he would back down, but since I liked what he did earlier I let him have it. I also appreciated the time that either BIDHOG or rolltide10 had a tag and ImNutsReally, fresh off a 5,000 bid win, jumped the tag. Rather then quickly skeedaddling the way CANCELED would, either BIDHOG or rolltide10 (sorry I don't remember which, I'm giving you props but not sure who to give them to) stood in there for a thousand bids just to make sure Nuts lost money too. That's the way you hold the line, get respect, and get rid of a threat like Nuts.
Regarding the $1,000 AMEX I mentioned in the previous post - a couple of months ago skoreit dropped in 4 $1k AMEX's. I only saw them because I clicked on a newbies name who was bidding against me and saw it in the WatchList. I don't know if I missed the drop of these cards by an hour or a day or 3 days. I quickly determined that 4 of them had been added, and found them in the Watch Lists of 4 people who I knew would, based on having done so before, back down if I put it in my Watch List. But I also thought that these were people who have their hopes up, maybe even for several days now, and why spoil it for them? It was another day or 2 until IfVestedWontStop added giftsforthetroops card to his list. So, IVWS singled you out as the weakest of the pack and you let him get away with that? I earned my position on the site and there would be no shame in ceding to me. But ceding to him, who joined after you and was not too long ago bidding on $50 items and who never had been in a major battle? Come on. All you people who just kept bidding on bid packs, did you think there would be a prize at the end for whoever had the most bids? Maybe some of you resent how well I did on the site, but I tried to accommodate you. When skoreit went mostly OT I knew the OTs would be a PITA. I also knew that the Bid Pack people would be at a disadvantage. And I knew the remaining non-OTs would be easier than the OTs. But I chose to go for the OTs so as to give you people who piled up the free bids then got smacked in the face by the switch to mostly OT a chance. And what happened? you let IVWS get them. WTF? Again, what were you saving all those free bids for? The average 480 Bid Pack was going for 100 bids total week after week. I had been thinking for months that skoreIt might have positive cash flow, but if they assigned a 60 cent value to each outstanding bid they would be broke. What were you thinking?
I want to cycle back to CANCELED for a moment. Imagine what it must have been like to be win4less. win4less did the same thing as CANCELED did when the site went OT, namely make a PITA of himself, yet somehow CANCELED went on to success and win4less didn't. Such are the mysteries of penny auctions I guess.

So now it looks like SkoreIt is coming to an end. I've thought about how much that must suck for the owners, having their hopes and dreams crushed. But then I realized that their whole idea was to make money off the crushing of other people's hopes and dreams. Like the aforementioned ImNutsReally, who was hoping to get a deal on an iPad or Gift Card and ended up out $5,000 or more dollars. Or bigspender111, who really wanted a camera and spent enough money to buy a camera and a round the world trip on which to take some awesome pictures, and instead never even got a camera. I felt sorry for these people, while the owners of skoreit probably whooped it up at their losses. They don't know these people's finances. Maybe some of them maxed out their credit cards and are making minimal payments as interest piles up on the balance, all because they had a hope, a dream, and skoreit seduced them into thinking there was an easy way to get that dream. The ugly truth of skoreit is this - it was founded by rich people who hoped to get even richer on the crushed hopes and dreams of their fellow human beings.

[InfiniteBids]

I just want to know one thing. Were you and EndlessBids linked in some way?

[penbidz]

As a casual and "non professional" bidder on penny auctions the first two post here are a prime example to me of where the fun of penny auctions have gone.

Penny auctions can be a lot of fun until you run into power bidders who believe they run the websites. In my world a power bidder is nothing more than a bully. Sure they over spend and build a rep so you know that bidding against them will cost you money. Is that now how all bullies work? They build a rep in whatever manner so you learn to stay clear of them???? Then when someone puts a bully in his place he feels cheated and like he was done wrong because he finds out he wasnt in charge after all.

First the OP says he or she felt bad for people who lost to him and then he says they were idiots for thinking they could ever win anyway. That is why penny auctions are not as fun as they use to be!!!! Why should I be punished for placing a bid that I paid for?

Users have changed the way penny auctions work, not the websites. Sure it has been done within the rules but that doesnt make it right and it is nice to see that one website is at least trying to fix it.

Websites need (must in my opinion) do away with user names. I should have the exact same chance to win on a website as a power bidder does even in my first time on a website.

This has been discussed thousands of times on this website and most always say that they want to know who they are bidding against so they do not run into a power bidder. I simply do not understand this thinking. If a bidder cant build a rep then they cant be a power bidder. The same power bidders would not bid like they do now as it would not provide a later advantage where they can win for less.

No user names = no power bidders

Ebay is ranked at the number 21 website in the world and I do not know who I am bidding against there. They do not have power bidders because of this.

Bidding should be fun and fair for everyone and not a tag and defend enviroment that only a bully can be successful at.

Everywhere in our society today steps are being taken to do away with bullies. It is time for Penny auctions to step up and do the same.

This is not then end of Skorit because they just gained a new user in me because they took some steps that might give me a chance to win.

The first big website that advertises nationally and makes bidding fair for all users will be a huge hit! There are a lot more casual users like me than there are power bidders who would like to have fun on a penny auctions.

[SorryButImNotStopping]

Penbidz, for a site to be fun to you the wins have to be easy for you. And if a bidder as weak as you is getting easy wins the site is definitely not making money. There are plenty of sites where you would have as good a chance as a long time user. Try any of the reserve sites like PennyGrab or SpeedyFinger. They are deathly boring but they fit your skill level. Try Quibids. I'm sure you'll do great (sarcasm).

As for your statement that ebay doesn't have power bidders due to the fact that they hide user names? Ebay is absolutely nothing like a penny auction. It's such a dumb statement that I don't even know why I bothered. And if your user name issue has been discussed thousands of times on this site as you say why did you decide to discuss it here for the 1,001st time???

I was definitely not a bully. A bully picks on the weak. I bid on my auctions from the start. I did not jump tags, I did not muscle in on anybody else's auction, and I did not go out and seek vengeance on the many people who bid against me. I let my behavior in the auctions that I bid on from the start speak for itself. If the opponent wanted to try me again they could. But I didn't go seeking them out for vengeance as some others did. You could call those who engaged in revenge bidding bullies. I never did that. You might be able to make the case that my relatively nice behavior hurt skoreit. Many users copied my user name. Maybe many users also modeled their bidding behavior after mine. If I had been a jerk running around jumping people and engaging in revenge bidding then maybe that behavior would have proliferated on the site, leading to more profit for skoreit.

You can flail about on skoreit if you want. You won't win. You don't understand penny auctions in the least. You'll be like most bidders and gamblers, thinking that tomorrow you will run faster, stretch out your arms farther, and one fine morning the prize will be yours...

[PennyAuctionWatch]

Welcome SorryButimNotStopping, we are so glad you joined us and look forward to hearing more of your experiences and opinions of Skoreit.

[penbidz]

Thank you!! I had no idea I was so weak and dumb.

Penbidz, for a site to be fun to you the wins have to be easy for you. And if a bidder as weak as you is getting easy wins the site is definitely not making money. There are plenty of sites where you would have as good a chance as a long time user. Try any of the reserve sites like PennyGrab or SpeedyFinger. They are deathly boring but they fit your skill level. Try Quibids. I'm sure you'll do great (sarcasm).

As for your statement that ebay doesn't have power bidders due to the fact that they hide user names? Ebay is absolutely nothing like a penny auction. It's such a dumb statement that I don't even know why I bothered. And if your user name issue has been discussed thousands of times on this site as you say why did you decide to discuss it here for the 1,001st time???

I was definitely not a bully. A bully picks on the weak. I bid on my auctions from the start. I did not jump tags, I did not muscle in on anybody else's auction, and I did not go out and seek vengeance on the many people who bid against me. I let my behavior in the auctions that I bid on from the start speak for itself. If the opponent wanted to try me again they could. But I didn't go seeking them out for vengeance as some others did. You could call those who engaged in revenge bidding bullies. I never did that. You might be able to make the case that my relatively nice behavior hurt skoreit. Many users copied my user name. Maybe many users also modeled their bidding behavior after mine. If I had been a jerk running around jumping people and engaging in revenge bidding then maybe that behavior would have proliferated on the site, leading to more profit for skoreit.

You can flail about on skoreit if you want. You won't win. You don't understand penny auctions in the least. You'll be like most bidders and gamblers, thinking that tomorrow you will run faster, stretch out your arms farther, and one fine morning the prize will be yours...

[jstod14]

To be honest penbidz your option to make PA's more fun is very flawed. How fun would it be to have a bunch of nameless people throw bids at an auction and have to sit there and watch that for hours? For me personally the fun part of SI was being able to strategize who I was bidding against and be able to do research on those people and the site itself to find out when is a good time to bid and how to bid to win. SI is now doing away with some things that made it fun and successful for the bidder. To be honest though how fun are PA's really unless you are winning? Watching bids being placed is boring as hell! I know people want to do away with Power Bidders because they want to get cheap wins on the biggest items but guess what, SI had that option and now they are doing away with it for the most part. I wasn't a power bidder and figured it out and had some success.

also thanks for the Reality Check SBINS!!! LOL your welcome back anytime!

[coolguy451]

Welcome SorryButimNotStopping, we are so glad you joined us and look forward to hearing more of your experiences and opinions of Skoreit.

Isn't it easier to ban a user instead of continually deleting their posts that break no rules? I mean, if you don't want me posting on your forum anymore then ban me already---you have already done that many times in the past (and there was never a reason then either).

So what part of the last messages broke the rules-- "Hi" or was it "I respected how you played the game" or "I don't know if this will last cause my posts are deleted for no reason"...would be nice to know which one it is.

[SorryButImNotStopping]

Thank you!! I had no idea I was so weak and dumb.

http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/...-ignorant.html


I'm not trying to put you down. Don't take it personally. If you feel you've been embarrassed it's only a screen name, the real you is still emotionally secure.

I'm not communicating with you any more. If you don't get it by now there's no point in expending energy.

Actually, there's no point in expending energy on any internet forums. Well, there is, in that people enjoy social interactions. But I doubt it is on the list of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and if there were 700 Habits of Highly Effective People I doubt it would make that list either. I'm not a highly effective person, and posting on internet forums won't get me there.

I have an excellent memory, so I'll remember you all. Maybe we'll meet Further On Up the Road. But for the foreseeable future, I'm Stopping.

[penbidz]

You are a real funny guy with issues thinking you are better (or smarter) than anyone.

http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/...-ignorant.html


I'm not trying to put you down. Don't take it personally. If you feel you've been embarrassed it's only a screen name, the real you is still emotionally secure.

I'm not communicating with you any more. If you don't get it by now there's no point in expending energy.

Actually, there's no point in expending energy on any internet forums. Well, there is, in that people enjoy social interactions. But I doubt it is on the list of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and if there were 700 Habits of Highly Effective People I doubt it would make that list either. I'm not a highly effective person, and posting on internet forums won't get me there.

I have an excellent memory, so I'll remember you all. Maybe we'll meet Further On Up the Road. But for the foreseeable future, I'm Stopping.

[penbidz]

It may be flawed for you as part of a group of power bidders. For the casual bidder it is not flawed at all. Fun is having a chance to win an auction. With all this PB and tag and defend BS it is not fun for the normal bidder. Take away the user names and you make things fair for everyone.

The are hundreds of thousands of casual bidders that have tried penny auctions that walked away thinking they are scams because a few power bidders have made up their own rules on how it works.

You can tell me I am wrong but simply read back over the Skoreit thread on that other forum. It is full of talk about jumpers and paying people back and making sure they spend too much. Where exactly is the fun in that?

To be honest penbidz your option to make PA's more fun is very flawed. How fun would it be to have a bunch of nameless people throw bids at an auction and have to sit there and watch that for hours? For me personally the fun part of SI was being able to strategize who I was bidding against and be able to do research on those people and the site itself to find out when is a good time to bid and how to bid to win. SI is now doing away with some things that made it fun and successful for the bidder. To be honest though how fun are PA's really unless you are winning? Watching bids being placed is boring as hell! I know people want to do away with Power Bidders because they want to get cheap wins on the biggest items but guess what, SI had that option and now they are doing away with it for the most part. I wasn't a power bidder and figured it out and had some success.

also thanks for the Reality Check SBINS!!! LOL your welcome back anytime!

[AnniesBid]

They could have set a number of wins, say 300, which is the number of wins considered to be automatic for the baseball Hall of Fame. Or they could have gone with 200 wins in order to get a bunch of users in it immediately. They could have issued a press release trumpeting the creation of a Hall of Fame. They could make a ta-dooh about each member or group of members inducted. And the Hall of Fame would have caused bidders to see the 'use it or lose it' nature of their bids and produced some battles that would have helped SkoreIt's bottom line.

SBINS & penbidz: What if we told you that we not only have a hall of fame (see link) but have solved the issue of keeping the auctions fun for powerbidders and new bidders?

[Pennydeal]

I'm with AnniesBid... it is the one site that I visit every day, and I do so because there is no ridiculous pressure on the site, and the various auction models allow both beginner and novice bidders to have a great time and win some product, while also providing auctions and auction models that give great opportunity for more intermediate and expert bidders to do very well also. I love the site for this, as everyone can be given a good chance to enjoy bidding and winning. The site is transparent, fair, and the service is great too.. Also, part of the proceeds go to charity -- real charities. I highly recommend it.

[badeacon]

I'm with AnniesBid... it is the one site that I visit every day, and I do so because there is no ridiculous pressure on the site, and the various auction models allow both beginner and novice bidders to have a great time and win some product, while also providing auctions and auction models that give great opportunity for more intermediate and expert bidders to do very well also. I love the site for this, as everyone can be given a good chance to enjoy bidding and winning. The site is transparent, fair, and the service is great too.. Also, part of the proceeds go to charity -- real charities. I highly recommend it.

How long does it take to receive won auctions?

[PennyAuctionWatch]

To be honest penbidz your option to make PA's more fun is very flawed. How fun would it be to have a bunch of nameless people throw bids at an auction and have to sit there and watch that for hours? For me personally the fun part of SI was being able to strategize who I was bidding against and be able to do research on those people and the site itself to find out when is a good time to bid and how to bid to win. SI is now doing away with some things that made it fun and successful for the bidder. To be honest though how fun are PA's really unless you are winning? Watching bids being placed is boring as hell! I know people want to do away with Power Bidders because they want to get cheap wins on the biggest items but guess what, SI had that option and now they are doing away with it for the most part. I wasn't a power bidder and figured it out and had some success.

also thanks for the Reality Check SBINS!!! LOL your welcome back anytime!

Hey jstod14 welcome to the Penny Auction Watch Forum! Glad you joined us.

[PennyAuctionWatch]

Isn't it easier to ban a user instead of continually deleting their posts that break no rules? I mean, if you don't want me posting on your forum anymore then ban me already---you have already done that many times in the past (and there was never a reason then either).

So what part of the last messages broke the rules-- "Hi" or was it "I respected how you played the game" or "I don't know if this will last cause my posts are deleted for no reason"...would be nice to know which one it is.

Coolguy you know very well that your post did not say just that, it was a direct violation of the rules that is why it was deleted.

[SYB]

So now it looks like SkoreIt is coming to an end. I've thought about how much that must suck for the owners, having their hopes and dreams crushed. But then I realized that their whole idea was to make money off the crushing of other people's hopes and dreams. Like the aforementioned ImNutsReally, who was hoping to get a deal on an iPad or Gift Card and ended up out $5,000 or more dollars. Or bigspender111, who really wanted a camera and spent enough money to buy a camera and a round the world trip on which to take some awesome pictures, and instead never even got a camera. I felt sorry for these people, while the owners of skoreit probably whooped it up at their losses. They don't know these people's finances. Maybe some of them maxed out their credit cards and are making minimal payments as interest piles up on the balance, all because they had a hope, a dream, and skoreit seduced them into thinking there was an easy way to get that dream. The ugly truth of skoreit is this - it was founded by rich people who hoped to get even richer on the crushed hopes and dreams of their fellow human beings.

This is very well said. Many have now been banned for supposedly re-selling. No proof, just that if you win as much as we let you win you must be breaking our rules. Utterly illogical. And it's easier for a winner to say with a straight face 'I am not re-selling those 50 iPads' than it is for skoreit to say with a straight face 'We are not a gambling site'. A properly pissed off user who knows how to work the political system could get legislation written specifically stating that penny auctions are illegal gambling. Maybe by getting the lobbyists for Vegas casinos involved. So maybe skoreit shouldn't be going to such lengths to piss off users.

[Pennydeal]

Hey badeacon, what did ya win? I usually get gift cards within ten days, but I guess to answer your question honestly, it depends on what you won.

[Vandelay]

This is very well said. Many have now been banned for supposedly re-selling. No proof, just that if you win as much as we let you win you must be breaking our rules. Utterly illogical. And it's easier for a winner to say with a straight face 'I am not re-selling those 50 iPads' than it is for skoreit to say with a straight face 'We are not a gambling site'. A properly pissed off user who knows how to work the political system could get legislation written specifically stating that penny auctions are illegal gambling. Maybe by getting the lobbyists for Vegas casinos involved. So maybe skoreit shouldn't be going to such lengths to piss off users.

Already happening. http://www.pennyauctionwatch.com/

[badeacon]

Hey badeacon, what did ya win? I usually get gift cards within ten days, but I guess to answer your question honestly, it depends on what you won.

All I have won is cards and over 3 weeks now.

[SYB]

Already happening. http://www.pennyauctionwatch.com/

If you notice, the most recent lawsuit was filed in a Court of Appeals. I think that means they lost the previous suit and are appealing. What I said was different. Rather than arguing in civil court if some illogical loophole means penny auctions are not gambling, you recruit powerful political allies who have their own vested interest in shutting down penny auctions and pass a law declaring that penny auctions are gambling.

[Pennydeal]

Badeacon, congrats on the wins! I would expect them soon, but I would send them a quick email with your username and the auction numbers you've won (from your "My Auctions" page) to get an update from them. Perhaps they are at the mercy of one of their vendors.

I have had nothing but awesome service from these folks since I joined the site 6 months or so ago (one of the reasons that I am on the site every day), so I wouldn't worry too much.

[AnniesBid]

All I have won is cards and over 3 weeks now.

Hey Badeacon, your 5 early-Mid April wins shipped last week so you should receive them any day. The oldest win was about 18 days when it shipped, the newest was 7 days. We aim for about 2 weeks as Pennydeal mentioned. Although we don't post tracking numbers on the site yet, you can always ask support if you have a question.

Enjoy your wins!

[jstod14]

It may be flawed for you as part of a group of power bidders. For the casual bidder it is not flawed at all. Fun is having a chance to win an auction. With all this PB and tag and defend BS it is not fun for the normal bidder. Take away the user names and you make things fair for everyone.

The are hundreds of thousands of casual bidders that have tried penny auctions that walked away thinking they are scams because a few power bidders have made up their own rules on how it works.

You can tell me I am wrong but simply read back over the Skoreit thread on that other forum. It is full of talk about jumpers and paying people back and making sure they spend too much. Where exactly is the fun in that?

Well I think you just might need to think about it a little more as from what I would see with your solution is there would be less of a chance for success really with just a bunch of people throwing bids at it and having no clue what they are up against in the other bidders. I think that would make it more of a game of gambling and chance than it would towards success for anyone. I just don't personally feel it would be more fun to not know who you are going against. I like other ideas of more win limits to how many of an item you can win or a limit to how many items you can win in a certain price range and think they would work better than your idea.

It sounds like anytime someone is willing to put more bids into an auction than someone else they must be a "Power Bidder" that is ruining PA's for everyone else. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me since it's supposed to be competitive and only one bidder can win the auction.

[badeacon]

I received them today!

thanks

[Pennydeal]

Right on, glad u got em.

Cheers