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QuiBids 101
How It's Not Gambling
Overview
QuiBids.com is an entertainment retail auction site that offers the opportunity to score great, brand name products at deep discounts. We combine the thrill of competition with the fun of entertainment and shopping, which is why our users keep coming back for more.
Unfortunately the last year has produced allegations (and we’re not pointing any fingers) claiming that our business model technically qualifies as gambling, or a lottery. We’d now like to explain why this isn’t so.
QuiBids isn’t gambling for several reasons. Here are the two most pertinent:
- The Buy Now feature is available on every auction.
No one ever has to walk away from a QuiBids auction empty-handed. It’s entirely up to the participant whether he or she will use the value of bids spent on an auction as a rebate toward the item’s purchase price. Because of Buy Now, nobody should ever have to walk away from an auction spending anything more than the listed price, which is typically very good for the digital market. The feature eliminates the potential for loss, and thus, the risk of gambling.
- QuiBids auctions require skill.
All auctions on QuiBids are 100% customer-driven. This means that the outcomes are determined completely by our users. A variety of factors influence each auction’s outcome, including the popularity of the item up for auction, the number of bidders in the auction, the experience level of the bidders in the auction, and even the time of day.
For an activity to be considered gambling as a matter of law, three elements must be present: consideration, chance and prize. The outcomes of QuiBids’ auctions are not determined by chance; therefore, participating in QuiBids auctions does not qualify as gambling.
Is the penny auction industry considered gambling without the Buy Now feature implemented on every auction?
Still, no. The auctions are derived by the customers, not the “house” (assuming the site is legitimate, as QuiBids is).
It’s also helpful to recall the distinction between ‘gambling’ and ‘gaming,’ and to keep in mind that e-commerce is now changing the way people purchase goods and services online.
One such strategy is called ‘gamification,’ which incorporates game-like (not gambling) elements into non-game platforms as a method of increasing entertainment and engagement. Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said in a June 2011 issue of Vanity Fair that “users will gravitate to the ‘funnest’ e-commerce or other sites. Game mex [mechanics] will be the most valuable skill in the new economy.”
With the crux of our business, we agree. You can trust QuiBids to always provide a fun and engaging online experience that is also strictly legal.
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