Deal Fun: Tempting and Appalling Review
DealFun offers one of the more interesting auction sites I’ve seen. The concept is simultaneously tempting and appalling.
The temptation is this: A glance at the DealFun home page shows that you could potentially get a brand new iPad, or a 32 inch lcd television, or any one of dozens of other new electronics, accessories and jewelry for as low as one cent. That’s right. One cent. The are dozens of items on the site right now: iPads, iPhones, Kindles, Laptops, LED TVs, PS3s, Watches, Jewelry and Toys.
Of course, you only get the product for one cent if no one else bids. Each time another person bids, the price goes up by a penny, and the auction is extended for 15 seconds. The item is yours if you’re the last bidder when the timer expires. From what I can tell, auctions typically last thirteen to fifteen hours.
So far, so good. But here’s the appalling part:
In order to participate, you have to purchase the right to bid at sixty cents each, prepaid in “bid packs.” Every time you place a bid, one is deducted from your reservoir. So, if you place a starting bid, that costs you sixty cents. If someone outbids you, you can get back in the game by placing another bid, which costs you another sixty cents—and extends the auction, giving someone else the chance to spend sixty cents to top you. And on and on.
DealFun thus doesn’t really care what the item sells for, as long as sufficient bids have been placed to cover the cost.
It’s pretty obvious that you could spend a ton of money here in pursuit of a hot item. Once you’re in for thirty or forty bucks, you want to keep bidding, or the money is essentially lost. So you keep bidding and bidding and bidding, all at sixty cents a pop. On the other hand, you could get lucky and get a fabulous deal.
If you check the individual items listed, you’ll see that there’s a notation on each item detailing how much the item sold for last. On one iPad auction, it shows $301.31—a significant savings over Apple’s $499 price for the same item. That auction price, however, doesn’t factor in what the buyer paid for bids he used to win the item. Maybe the buyer got lucky and only spent a buck or two—or maybe they spend forty, fifty or more. It could easily be the case that the final bid price, plus the expense of the bids exceeds the regular retail price. Or not.
One saving grace is that if you lose the auction, you still can purchase the item at a “Buy It Now” price, and the cash value of the bids you placed is deducted from the final tally. However, you have to be careful here, too. A quick check on a iPad 2 shows that the DealFun price is $200 more than the same item on the Apple site.
Another plus. Unlike, say, Ebay, you know you’re getting a new item from a seller who actually will follow through on the sale. They emphasize their customer service—something you often can’t get on other auction sites. And, to make things easy, they have “beginners auctions,” and a guarantee that you’ll win your first item in 24 hours or your bids are reset.
Finally, there’s no weekly or monthly win cap, so the savvy bidder could end up with a lot of loot.
I think you could do well on this site if you really paid attention to the details. First, compare the price of the desired item at a regular retailer to the DealFun price. If the two are comparable and you plan to buy the item in any case, give DealFun a try. You might get the item at a bargain price (remember to factor in the cost of your bids into your calculus); or in the worst case, you end up paying the “Buy It Now” price. The real winner will be the guy who jumps in at the last second, after all the other bidders are exhausted.
Deal Fun has gotten a lot of press.
Full Disclosure: This has been a sponsored post. The opinions, however, are unfiltered and uninfluenced.
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I have dealt with dealfun and if the item you won is under the (Ne Zealand) customs limit of $400 it wont cost you anything to enter the country. I have just been stung for the Iphone I won at just over nz$400 for the nz$123.00 to receive it. And now the company dealfun wont reply to my emails in regards to this! I say dont use it, cause I sure as heck wont be using it after this messing me around business!!!
Posted by Kurzty on 09/07
I wouldn’t be a bit surprise if Dealfun has a built in software system that creates straw members that randomly bid on items when the time is close to running out, thereby causing actual members (the public) to bid against a computer and creating a demand for bid packages. This system, in my opinion, is flawed. The public has no way of knowing if the “people” they are actually bidding against are real people or computer-generated members used to create demand for more bid packages.
It’s amazing to me that people will spending 100 bids, which costs around $60, trying to get a 45 bids package. In this economy, the public should be weary of spending hard earned money just for the thrill of trying to get stuff on the cheap. It makes no economic sense. You’ll end of spending hundreds of dollars for nothing.
If Dealfun is not a scam, it is certainly a racket.
Posted by Me on 09/25
when the auction is ending and someone bids over you, it should reset back to 15 secs. often it’s reset back to 16 secs or 17 secs. do you know how much longer they can prolong the bid by increasing it a second longer? tricky huh? when i tried the live chat, asking the question to the guy over the other end, he took off without answering the question. he didnt even dare to intro himself on the chat.
how much cheaper? here’s why they outsmart us. not cheap considering an ipad auction can go up to $200 = 20,000 bids.
that’s 20,000 bids x $0.50 from customers pockets.
that’s $10,000 out of our pocket to get an ipad. not done yet..
that’s what we have already paid them via our bids. plus the winner will fork out $200 to claim it!
GRAND TOTAL: $10,200 for an ipad that’s lowest at its class!
you do the math.
Posted by AnnoyedByDealFun on 09/28
My opinion is that Dealfun is a big SCAM. Let me tell you why. For example, you buy an I-Pad2 for $200.00 on Dealfun. Each bet is $0.60, and is increasing the price of the bet by 1 cent. Multiply 20000 (which is $200.00) and you get $1200, this is how much Dealfun makes from selling an I-Pad2 (16GB).
I haven’t seen an I-Pad2 sold with less than $325.00. With I-Phone 4, is the same.
If you realy want to go for it, my suggestion is to invest as less as possible.
Posted by Vince on 09/30
WHERE IS MY PURCHASE????....6 WEEKS WAITING AND NEGATIVE RESPONSE FROM DEALFUN. I DONT KNOW WHAT THE NORMAL WAIT TIME IS AFTER BUYING A PRODUCT BUT I WONDER IF I WILL EVER SEE MINE. I WILL ADD TO THIS ONCE RECEIVED.
Posted by lakelodge on 10/02
My DealFun experience went from BAD to WORSE. I wasn’t permitted to use my bids when I wanted to. I cancelled my account and these time vampires Will NOT Stop Spamming Me. I’ve contacted there customer service. I’ve requested MANY times to not get the emails, but they will not stop. Save yourself the hastle and deal with a company that will listen.
Posted by Fred on 10/03
free shipping but very very slow to receive items I’m talking months, I’ve given up on getting some items now. If you win on the deal wheel it takes even longer and they keep changing your won items to what they want, and now you get bid vouchers instead of your prizes, if you get them, because they don’t give them out instantly which you would think they can do.
Posted by Lee on 01/21
Thanks for all the comments. I only recently came across DealFun and decided to give it a whirl, deciding that $69 for the privilege to bid was an acceptable loss if it all when bad. Unlike most, I only bid on minor electronic products. I did the math, and early on knew that they were making $1000s on items that the customer seemed to get for a steal. My winning bids cost me cents, and I used only a few bids to get them. I was also prepared to wait patiently for them to arrive in the post, since I’m in New Zealand and the postage was free. HOWEVER, this week I was notified by email that every one of my purchases was cancelled. The emails came with standard wording about the sellers not being up to their standards. All were won via bidding bar two that were “buynow” options (when I saw that bidding would costs more than the products!) and one was a prize from the spinning wheel. EVERY ONE cancelled. And instead of being refunded in money, they’ve given it to me in the value of bids—all of which will have the standard 10 day time limit. Now I’m convinced it is a scam. Fortunately, my loss is under $100.
Posted by Ro on 01/26
Dealfun is very clearly a scam. I have won 3 auctions on this site. I have received an apology because the suppliers were unable to deliver and I was refunded the listed cost price of the items in more available points. I have asked they be converted into cash and credited back to my account.
I was bidding on an item and was the winning bidders 3 times in the space of 15 minutes. Each time I was outbid up to 6 seconds after the bidding should have ceased. I was watching the neighbouring auction to calculate the time I held the winning bid for.
I complained and was given 15 bid points. I said that wasn’t good enough because I had started bidding with 100 points and felt I should have got a larger credit plus the item I was bidding on.
I was credit a further 35 points making a total of 50 points refunded. I have tried to log on several times since and every time I get on the deal Wheel is undergoing repairs. When I bid on auctions my bid is not accepted - and after several attempts it will flick back to please log in - effectively I am unable to add to my current 145 points but nor can I use them.
I have e-mailed them on their support address and also advised Commerce Commission In New Zealand but the email to support has become undeliverable but has been resent to their contact e-mail. My view is they are simply a scam.
Posted by MJBEN on 02/02
Cau we sue dealfun?
Posted by kiwinz on 02/06
An update on my post dated 26 Jan: I emailed the company after the purchased items were said to be cancelled and expressed my concern and suspicions. I requested that the refunds be in money—not bids that would only expire. The company did reply and told me that they would refund the money. A week later, I received successive emails listing each item I’d purchased, and the amount I could expect in refund to my credit card. Those refunds have not come yet (and honestly, I’m not holding my breath). They also credited my account an additional bids for the inconvenience. However, as predicted, the bids have a shelf-life that will expire if not used soon. Unfortunately, as I also told them in the email, they do not currently have anything I wish to bid on. In truth, even if they did, I no longer trust them. I’ll post again if the refunds actually come through.
Posted by Ro on 02/07
I see that all the good stuff is not for auction anymore. E.g. ipads,tvs,etc…
Insyead it just has worthless junk that is only worth a few dollars at most. The spinwheel is also down for so called maintenance.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see it closed down in the not to distant future!
Posted by Ian on 02/13
Keep away from this site at all costs. The message is the same for all products. They don’t sent them. They refunded my points, then erased them before i could use them, about 90 points. White collar crime here.
Posted by Gary Lawyer on 03/02
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