![]() Unlike a traditional auction house, on DealDash consumers have to pay for every penny bid they make. While the company, which was founded in Finland in 2009, maintains it is legitimate and that its “Buy it Now” feature shields it from being an illegal gambling site, those claims are undercut by how its penny auctions actually work. These include the true cost and actual likelihood of winning a bargain, the ability to get a refund, the real price of “bid packs,” and the company founder’s undisclosed connection to products DealDash sells on its site - all to entice consumers to its illegal gambling operation. And it is using those ad dollars to deceive consumers in its TV commercials, online ads, social media posts, and promotions on its mobile app and website on a myriad of issues. The Finnish company with offices in Minnesota spent more than $50 million on ads in 2016. Both Truth in Advertising and Consumer Reports noted that DealDash's own terms of service tell users that they are likely to spend more than the retail cost for products and are unlikely to save money using the site.DealDash, one of the largest penny auction sites in the world, markets itself as “the fair and honest bidding site.” But a investigation has found that the company is actually engaged in a widespread deceptive marketing campaign to lure bargain-hunting consumers to an illegal gambling site from which it profits handsomely while users typically lose money. This means she paid closer to $481 - well over the stated $349 retail price. Small print explains she bid 761 times on that mixer, which cost her over $456, plus the $25 "price" she won it for. Consumer organization Truth in Advertising reported that a DealDash television commercial shows "Roseanna" winning a $349 kitchen mixer for "less than $25".Consumer Reports also reported that many “luxury” brands touted on Deal Dash are non-existent beyond the website and their trademarks are registered by the owner of DealDash.A company spokesperson says DealDash generates significant business from bidders who choose to buy items after losing, with hundreds of orders processed daily. Unsuccessful bidders not using the option lose the value of the bids placed. According to Consumer Reports, the "buy it now" prices can be significantly higher than the same products on.DealDash and others have been compared to gambling by consumer groups. In most cases, users spend substantial sums of money without winning anything. By contrast, penny auctions award items to parties that are persistent or lucky enough to place the final bid, with money raised primarily from the cost of bidding rather than the final price of the item. This usually allocates the item to the person who is willing to pay the most. In a conventional auction, bids are based on prices that participants are willing to pay, with the item sold to the final bidder within a set period that bids the highest price. Penny auction sites, including DealDash specifically, have often been criticized for failing to disclose or include the cost of bids in what customers actually spend in total to win a product.DealDash has been criticized for offering poor value to customers and for making disclosures only in fine print. ![]() Someone is making a lot of money here and it's not the player. Regardless if you win or not, each bid you place costs you $0.60. You buy bids for $0.60 each, which only up the bid by $0.01.
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