Yes, we ship products all over the world, and we do not charge ANY shipping fees. Markerbids pays the shipping fees. This is a promotion we have run since we started in 2010. We spend approximately $30,000 each year in shipping charges
Just like a raffle, one person wins, everyone else looses their money. You do not get your money back. This is how we pay for the items we sell. But like many patrons will tell you, you can't lose if you keep bidding!
Markerbids is wholly owned and run by Michael Phillips. We have been in business since 2010, we have almost 34,000 registered users, and we have sold almost $2,000,000 in paintball gear. Dale Ford (www.thefordreport.com) is an independant auditor of Markerbids. He has full access to EVERYTHING that encompasses Markerbids. He has access to our emails, our Paypal account, business and personal bank accounts, shipping records, our forum administration panel, and our homepage administration panel. He has been given full access to EVERYTHING in regards to our business dealings at Markerbids. If you see something suspicious, you can email him at dale@thefordreport.com, and he can investigate anything that you feel is suspicious.
We can track every bidder, every bid pack purchased, every tracking number and every email going all the way back to when we first started Markerbids. He also has access to our stamps.com for tracking, our FedEx account, our account on ANSGear.com, amazon.com, macdev.net, deadlywind.net, as well as having the contact information of every vendor and supplier we order from.
Every bid placed on Markerbids, must match up to a bid pack purchased from Paypal. Every person who wins an item on Markerbids, matches up to a shipping tracking number and reciept showing the goods were purchased.
The easiest, and most profitable way to run a pay-per-bid website such as Markerbids, is to just simply run it honestly! We've proven this with 4 years of growth and profitability!
Please read the "How it works" section. Markerbids is like a raffle, you purchase your bids BEFORE you start bidding. Every time you place a bid, a bid is removed from your account, 1 cent is added to the price, and 10 more seconds are added to the clock. If no one else bids and the clock goes to zero, you win the auction at that price. If someone else bids over you, 10 more seconds are added to the clock, the price increases by 1 cent, and you lose your bid
1) Yes its gambling. I have no problem running an honest, gambling website. Per the LAW, aka the LEGAL definition of gambling, it is not gambling because it's not based on chance.
2) It's no more of a "scam", than any raffle you've ever participated in or hosted. It's based on the same exact concept - spread the cost of the item across multiple participants, give the winner a great deal.
3) We've shipped almost $2,000,000 (yes, two million dollars) worth of product all over the world. We spend $30,000 per year, in free shipping. While many sites try to deceive people into the "saving 99% off retail price!" phony advertisements, I have never advertised like that. My promotion is the "free worldwide shipping".
4) As far as "bots", we have an independent auditor who has full access to the entire website, including email, paypal, shipping records, admin panel on the homepage, admin in the forum, business & personal bank accounts. If I was using fake screen names, I would have to explain why I have a screen name using bids with no Paypal receipt showing it purchasing bid packs. Or if it won an auction, where is the invoice for the product, and the tracking number?
5) There is no reason to run Markerbids dishonestly, because I've run the site honestly for 4 years and I've made a great income from it. Why mess with success?
6) Need more proof? Go you Youtube, and search "Markerbids". There are literally thousands of videos of people unboxing their products that they won on Markerbids. Some people paid a little more than retail, some broke even, some got things for a steal.
7) The ONLY auctions people talk about, are the ones that make a profit. Day after day after day, I lose my ass on items and no one bats an eyelash. Negative 300 here, negative 100 there, negative 75 there, negative 200 on that auction... not a word. The auctions that go long, are what pay for the ones that don't. We don't run "reserve" auctions, if a $1,500 paintball marker sells for 200 bids, that's a HUGE loss that has to be recovered in future auctions.
8) If something about the website bothers you, don't use it. Check out ANSGear.com, amazing website and great service
Ok, like a raffle, you purchase your bids AHEAD of time.