QuiBids as Vegas — sort of

While there are plenty of reasons why participation in QuiBids auctions avoids the legal definition of gambling (you can read them at QuiBids 101), success on our site can never be completely guaranteed. It requires the benefit of chance associated with shrewd decision-making and often simply being in the right place at the right time. Many people call this “luck,” but these decisions and choices can actually be controlled by the user to a certain degree, in order to facilitate improved chances of winning. Many of them are strikingly similar to the choices a gambler makes when he or she heads out to Las Vegas in search of a big payoff.

While we realize that comparing bidding on our items to sitting down to a poker table in Vegas probably doesn’t do much to help dissuade the notion that shopping with QuiBids isn’t gambling, we think it’s still a valid, vivid means of comparison that illustrates how to take advantage of our business model. From this point on (in this post, at least), it helps to bear the Buy Now feature  in mind, as it guarantees that you’ll never have to pay more than a product’s retail price, should an auction not go the way you hoped. And that — unlike a casino’s slot machines — the odds aren’t always set in the house’s (read: QuiBids’) favor.

QuiBids as Vegas Comparison #1: Never walk into the Palace without plenty of ammo
Who carries pocket change into Casesar’s Palace — or The Palms, or MGM Grand — expecting to win big? Delusional people, that’s who.

Likewise, QuiBidders expecting to reign a big-screen TV with just a couple of bids are thinking pretty optimistically. Not that customers don’t win big with just a few bids — they do, we see it all the time — but they’re considerably less likely to win such an item at a discount if they’re not willing to pump in a hefty amount of bids.

QuiBids as Vegas Comparison #2: Different players have different styles
We bill ourselves as an entertainment shopping site, so customers’ ultimate goal should boil down to something as simple as “Have fun and get stuff,” right? Well sometimes users develop more involved, complicated (and even sometimes perplexing) strategies to deliver that goal.

A common one we’ve noticed is very similar to bluffing and losing. In poker, sometimes getting caught bluffing can be a useful thing, assuming you don’t lose too many chips: it proves to your opponents that you won’t sit idly by, waiting for a good hand. Then, they may be less likely to believe you when you do wind up with a straight flush. You win some to lose some.

Similarly on QuiBids, some users are willing to take a loss on certain auctions just to establish a reputation as being difficult to defeat. A user may spend 300 bids for instance, just to win 250 Voucher Bids. It is a bit of a bully tactic, and doesn’t make much sense within the immediate context, but it can pay off dividends if it means that other customers are scared to bid against you. We think it’s a good strategy to generally avoid these people, but to also bear in mind that a bluff is just a scare tactic by somebody who’s got nothing. Sometimes challenging them on their bullying can blow up their whole persona.

QuiBids as Vegas Comparison #3: Don’t expect to win your first trip to the table
A lot of people watch professionals play poker on TV and think, “That looks easy — all I’ve gotta do is sit still and keep a really stern face and toss chips in the pot!”

That couldn’t be further from the truth. Each person at that televised table spent years of experience calculating odds and analyzing them against the behavior of their opponents. It’s incredibly nerve-wracking and stressful, and miles above the level of competition at your buddies’ weekly poker night.

Major product auctions on QuiBids often draw these sorts of players — the so-called “power-bidders” — who spent a lot of time in front of their computer screens, trying (and often succeeding) at winning our products. Building up to their level of skill and confidence requires a lot of time and bidding, so don’t expect to win a computer or major in-home appliance on your first try, at least without the help of Buy Now.

QuiBids as Vegas Comparison #4: Smaller auctions are
If big-item auctions draw the big-time players, then it follows that smaller-item auctions are less-trafficked, right? [Now’s the part where you nod your head in the affirmative.]

It helps to think of an auction like a poker table: your odds of winning increase if you only have to beat two opponents instead of nine. Look for items being bid on by fewer users and the odds will ever be in your favor!