Inquiry BallBids.com?

[Lucille]

Clicked on their banner ad that appeared here on Fauna, curious about their advertised too-good-to-be-true ad that showed a lemon blast sold for $3.76, a pastel for $15.36, etc.
Any info?

 

[jluman]

I've seen this ad a few places, made me curious too?

Here's the WHOIS info for the domain:
Registrant:
Ball Bids, LLC

9721 NW 36th Manor
Coral Springs, Florida 33065
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: BALLBIDS.COM
Created on: 15-Jun-11
Expires on: 15-Jun-13
Last Updated on: 29-Nov-11

Administrative Contact:
Cohen, Avshalom [email protected]
Ball Bids LLC
9721 nw 36th manor
coral springs, Florida 33065
United States
7542453319

And here are the members of the LLC:
Title MGRM
COHEN, AVSHALOM
9721 NW 36TH MANOR
CORAL SPRINGS FL 33065
Title MGRM
BYERS, ZACHARY
850 WASHBURN AVENUE, APT. 86
LOUISVILLE KY 40222

 

[Lucille]

I went and looked through the site and found a novel approach to their auctions: it looks like one actually has to pay to bid. I don't think I've ever run across that idea before.

 

[Focal]

I was looking on there yesterday and it didn't feel right. I almost bid a few dollars just to see what would happen.

 

[Lucille]

Their ads list 'sold' prices, but the site itself has info saying 'there are no winners yet'.
Makes one wonder.

 

[twgrosmick]

Its a new idea that many websites are using. You pay for the amount of bids which is how they make their money, and the bid increases by a penny each bid. Great deal if you are the last few bids and win it, but could be a huge loss if you dumb 100 bids @$65.00 I believe and then are not able to win. In the last few minutes every time someone bids the time increases back to say 5 min until it goes 5 min without anyone bidding.
Hope this helped

Tyler

 

[garweft]

It's a penny auction site, like beezid.com. They make there money selling the bids, not the snakes. You can google penny auction sites and read up on them to decide if it's right for you.

As per the people running the site, Zack Byers and Avi Cohen..... never heard of them.

 

[garweft]

Their ads list 'sold' prices, but the site itself has info saying 'there are no winners yet'.
Makes one wonder.

Yeah I saw that too. Makes one wonder.....

 

[garweft]

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kimkomando/2011-05-13-komando-penny-auctions_n.htm

 

[redhood23]

I used to live in coral springs and was always into reptiles and knew lots of people there. I will ask around and see if I can find any info on these guys

 

[Focal]

All Around Pet Care in Clearwater Fl. has his name on it.

 

[GREGORY J HALL]

why would anybody do this buy a snake the traditional way would never do this sounds crazy,they bought the banners on this site I clicked on it now Im getting pop ups for it on MSN & other sites kinda pissed me off.There are too much shady dealings going on now sounds like here is another one.

 

[Will0W783]

It does sound a bit weird- also it looks like they only have two auctions going on. One for a butter ball female and one for a package of bids. That seems kind of fishy...where are all these snakes they are saying they have for auction?

 

[Wilomn]

So, based on lies, which you have already admitted you have told, we are now supposed to believe that everything else you're saying is true.

Gotcha.

And this quarantine you're going to be doing the rack you made yourself to save money, you WILL be starting ALL snakes in a new timeline EVERY time you get in a new snake, right? Because if you're not doing that, why quarantine at all? Just for show? To add some credibility to what is patently a lie?

Gotcha.

How about this last second bid reset, let's just take a look at that. Seems sort of like rigging the roulette wheel when you stop and think about it. How could you possibly lose any money so long as you or someone you know is watching the bids to make sure your necessary minimums for profit are met? I'm sure neither you nor the mysterious zack would EVER know anyone who happened to be the lucky winner nor would either of you EVER prevent a snake from selling at a price that would cost YOU money.

At least not at first.

Of course, you are appealing to peoples urges to both win something for little or no investment and to beat out fellow bidders. That part is just good sound business.

However, your entire business is, as of now, based on lies.

I'm predicting that by June next year you guys are just another unpleasant memory.

This game may not be totally rigged all the time but there are so many red flags for me that I feel sorry for you if any bulls catch sight of your site.

Your overly pleasant demeanor is sure to lull all the kids who read it, well done there. And tossing zack into the flames whiles distancing yourself from his past actions should in no way be seen as you trying to manipulate readers into thinking that not only are you two different people but that only one of you craps out both ends. How nice of you for him, if he exists.

I live in So. Cal. not too far from Vegas and about a million indian casinos. You know what one of the best ploys they've EVER come up with to bring in more customers? The make sure that locals win big prizes every few months. So. Cal. housewife wins million dollar slot jackpot. Local dockworker wins 100K at blackjack, all the while hoping you don't realize that MILLIONS of dollars were made even after those shills were paid. Even if they weren't shills, the cost is so minuscule in comparison to the profit that it's good business to have them win and go public.

Gee, I wonder if you guys will do that when you decide you're well enough established to TELL THE BLOODY TRUTH.

No matter though. You'll make money, a dozen or so people will be happy. A few hundred, people are greedy, needy and love to compete, will make your xmas a very merry one indeed.

All in all, well played. You've managed to skirt a lot of scumbag pitfalls. Barely. Hope your tightrope act is well rehearsed because the net has been removed and some of us are pretty sure a fall is in the near future. Certainly for most of those foolish enough to go through your comes from established breeders and wonderful quarantine procedure, that fall is a foregone conclusion.

 

[reticguy76]

"too-good-to-be-true" to the op, there is your answer.

 

[dchristensen]

may be legit, may be a problem...

The way their system works, you buy 100 bids for $65. Then you start bidding.

At the end, each bid in the last 15 seconds extends the clock by 15 seconds, so it can go on forever or until everyone runs out of bids to use. So, if someone wants the snake more than me, but only has 30 bids they run through them faster than I do and I keep bidding until I win.

If 2000 people bid at the $0.65 per bid, the site nets $1,300 for the auction and sells the snake for 25% of the list. The butter they have now is at $350 value so a total price for the winner of $87.50. In the end, they buy a snake from Mike Wilbanks for $350, auction it for $87.50 and net $1,000 from the deal.

It makes sense for them and if you win the auction, you get a Wilbanks butter for cheap. I guess the real question is whether Mike Wilbanks likes them using his snakes and authorized them to use his name?

 

[SafariPets]

It is a penny auction site, just like quibids.com It isn't necessarily "too good too be true", it is gambling. You have to be the last one to hit "bid" then the timer starts over and if no one else hits "bid" you win the item. Look at it this way, the auction doesn't start until it ends. In other words, as soon as someone bids the ticker goes back up to 20 seconds. Until no one else bids. They have potential to make tons of money while you have the chance (albeit very slim) to win a snake for a few bucks... It is what it is read all their terms, and if you choose to play you could win big (but most likely not).

 

[SafariPets]

great description Dale...
I was assuming Mike Wilbanks is part of it/ has partnered with them... I guess I shouldn't assume anything, they are using his logo...

 

[Cat_72]

So, based on lies, which you have already admitted you have told, we are now supposed to believe that everything else you're saying is true.

Gotcha.

And this quarantine you're going to be doing the rack you made yourself to save money, you WILL be starting ALL snakes in a new timeline EVERY time you get in a new snake, right? Because if you're not doing that, why quarantine at all? Just for show? To add some credibility to what is patently a lie?

Gotcha.

How about this last second bid reset, let's just take a look at that. Seems sort of like rigging the roulette wheel when you stop and think about it. How could you possibly lose any money so long as you or someone you know is watching the bids to make sure your necessary minimums for profit are met? I'm sure neither you nor the mysterious zack would EVER know anyone who happened to be the lucky winner nor would either of you EVER prevent a snake from selling at a price that would cost YOU money.

At least not at first.

Of course, you are appealing to peoples urges to both win something for little or no investment and to beat out fellow bidders. That part is just good sound business.

However, your entire business is, as of now, based on lies.

I'm predicting that by June next year you guys are just another unpleasant memory.

This game may not be totally rigged all the time but there are so many red flags for me that I feel sorry for you if any bulls catch sight of your site.

Your overly pleasant demeanor is sure to lull all the kids who read it, well done there. And tossing zack into the flames whiles distancing yourself from his past actions should in no way be seen as you trying to manipulate readers into thinking that not only are you two different people but that only one of you craps out both ends. How nice of you for him, if he exists.

I live in So. Cal. not too far from Vegas and about a million indian casinos. You know what one of the best ploys they've EVER come up with to bring in more customers? The make sure that locals win big prizes every few months. So. Cal. housewife wins million dollar slot jackpot. Local dockworker wins 100K at blackjack, all the while hoping you don't realize that MILLIONS of dollars were made even after those shills were paid. Even if they weren't shills, the cost is so minuscule in comparison to the profit that it's good business to have them win and go public.

Gee, I wonder if you guys will do that when you decide you're well enough established to TELL THE BLOODY TRUTH.

No matter though. You'll make money, a dozen or so people will be happy. A few hundred, people are greedy, needy and love to compete, will make your xmas a very merry one indeed.

All in all, well played. You've managed to skirt a lot of scumbag pitfalls. Barely. Hope your tightrope act is well rehearsed because the net has been removed and some of us are pretty sure a fall is in the near future. Certainly for most of those foolish enough to go through your comes from established breeders and wonderful quarantine procedure, that fall is a foregone conclusion.

Wes - did I miss a post from the owners of the Ballbids site? I don't see them having written anything, and I am (perhaps incorrectly) assuming that what you wrote is in response to to something they said? Or am I just lost (which is entirely possible...)?

 

[wwmjkd]

in case no one else has previously posted it, I believe most of what Wes alludes to is the information from this thread.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?160471-Ballbids.com