system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Sites like QuiBid.com

How do these websites work? Are they really a scam?
gpt
It's not a scam anymore than the lottery is a scam-- it works exactly the way they say it does (although you could argue the marketing is deceptive).

It *is* a horrible deal for anyone but the company.  Look at it this way:

Quibids charges one dollar per bid, and each bid increments the price of an item by a penny.

So, say a PS3 sells for 50 dollars on Quibids.  Great deal, right?

Well, by the time it gets to 50 dollars there have been 5000 bids placed at a dollar a piece.  At this point, they can just buy the PS3 on Amazon for 250 dollars and mail it to your house, pocketing 4,750 dollars.

That money comes from all the losing bidders.