Swoopo is a scam, plain and simple.

The idea behind the site is perfectly legal, and completely brilliant if you ask me, but the way the site is being run is an outright scam. Period.

Take the following into consideration and then try to tell me it’s not a scam.

If someone walked up to you and said they’d sell you a $100 bill for $80, you would jump at it right? Well, what if they said they wanted $200 for their $100 bill, would you still want to buy it? Of course not, you’re not an idiot. So please explain to me why someone paid $2,716.50 for ‘$1,000 cash’ on Swoopo.com, more than 271% of its actual value.

With the exception of a poorly programmed automated bidding bot setup by Swoopo themselves (one that doesn’t know when to say when), please explain how this is possible. The site even says, “Worth up to: $1,000″, so why would someone pay $1,700 extra? For kicks?

Original URL: http://www.swoopo.com/auction/-1-000-cash-/120421.html

Similar to the above example, Swoopo sold ’300 bids’, which at the time were worth $.75 each, for $700.80. Buying them directly through the site would only cost you $225, so why the hell would someone pay over $700 for them? It’s simple, those damn bots are at it again!

Also note how completely screwed up their math is. It says that it’s worth up to $300, and someone bid 350 times, at a cost of $262.50, for a savings of $37.50 (it even says, “Coachvball6 won with 350 Bids and saved 12% !”). That seems logical, right? Yeah, except their comparing the value of the item against how much the user paid in bids alone, not factoring in that the user still has to pay the $700.80. So in all they’ll pay $963.30 for an item that the site states is worth $300 maximum. So where is the savings of $37.50 / 12%? It’s completely non-existent.

Original URL: http://www.swoopo.com/auction/300-freebids-voucher/121738.html

This next example is just pure shadiness. I’m completely baffled that they haven’t been shut down simply because of this one tactic.

I’m all for having international sites that allow bidding on the same item, but what if it’s a completely different item? Take a look at the below screenshot. The top part of the image is from Swoopo.com, and the bottom part of the image is from Swoopo.co.uk. Same amount (after conversion), same bidder, same time remaining, yet one of the listings is for an ASUS laptop and the other is for a Sony VAIO laptop.

This means that not only are you bidding against other users on the same site you’re on, and not only are you bidding against users worldwide on all of the Swoopo sites, but you may not even be bidding on the same f*cking item!! However, the bids are being combined. It’s kind of hard to win an ‘auction’ when your bids are being bumped up by someone on the other side of the globe that’s bidding on a completely different item. How the hell is this legal?

Original URL: Since the items are changing constantly I can’t just give you a URL, but if you go compare a couple of Swoopo’s sites for yourself you’ll see the same result.

Now please, just try to tell me that this isn’t a scam. Save your money and stay the hell away from Swoopo. You have no chance whatsoever of getting one of those amazing deals that they talk about. Unless you’re one of Swoopo’s bots, that is.