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CB Online Shopping Review of Cost Dropper
Cost Dropper

Cost Dropper review: Scam 16

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Author of the review
9:26 pm EDT
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They claimed they have brand name products but none. The stupid items they do have you cant win for cheap because somehow magically bid always goes up. I did some research and they have some kind of bidding mechanism that automatically inflates the price of the product so that the customer doesnt get any significant discount on the few decent items available.

Update by Jenny_Profits
May 31, 2011 7:30 pm EDT

Yea its terrible, I really hope someone can do something about them. If anyone else has stories, please feel free to share. The more the merrier.

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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

16 comments
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biddy41
US
May 25, 2011 7:29 am EDT

Product selection is terrible and there's only auctions at 1 time in the day - other than the ones that keep getting bid-up endlessly because they are the only thing worth bidding on anyway! Also, I don't remember a website that authorized a transaction without my confirmation of what I am buying. I suddenly had purchased a bid-pack without ever seeing an option to choose one, and no checkout screen where I would confirm (which is unlike any website transaction I have ever experienced.) Is that even legal?

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Robert198733
US
Jun 05, 2011 8:15 pm EDT

Yes, I was a victim of the fine print as well. Called CCBILL, they said to call costdropper; lo and behold, all contact information lead back to CCBILL. When I called to cancel my order I was told the cost was on the left hand side where you enter the credit card information. In going back to look, the FREE is in dark green while the 125 bid pack you just bought is in light green (easily overlooked). Crooked site; I hope word gets out so others do not fall for the con.

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aha_707
Vallejo, US
Jun 07, 2011 7:52 pm EDT

The 49.99 for 125 bids is actually 40 cents for every bid you make. the 1 cent a bid for most items is misleading, you actually bidding 41 cents per bid and you automatically lost 40 cents a bid if you did not win. How they make money? Simple, as an example, if someone won an i-pad of $170 the total amount of money went to cost dropper is $680. Total profit is $180 assuming everyone that bids is an actual user NOT a GHOST/S user from cost dropper. In fact for every person that has already signed-up, costdropper already pocketed those money. Bottom line, be careful on what you sign up for, no such thing as FREE i-pad or 1 cent i-pad.

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IgnorantBeater
San Francisco, US
Jun 08, 2011 1:43 am EDT

It's called PENNY AUCTIONS guys! This is a business model. If you don't like PENNY AUCTIONS, then stay away. They don't charge anyone out of nowhere and it's your fault for signing up. Stop being ignorant, this thread is useless. Either have real complaints about something that makes sense, or just accept your ignorance as a consumer.

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mxfreestyie
fdafdsa, US
Jun 19, 2011 3:20 pm EDT

Actually your math is wrong... If the iPad sold for $170.00 that would mean 17000 bids were posted to get it there. That means costdropper would get $6800.00 not including the 170 you pay for the iPad. They are genius'. It's not their fault most people are too stupid to even realize they just payed for 125 bids. The people on here complaining are probably the same ones that waste all their bids on an iPad before it even gets down to 15 seconds. This isnt ebay..

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mprimera
New Orleans, US
Jun 19, 2011 8:32 pm EDT

I tried to get in touch with customer service and they do not answer or even acknowledge my emails. Something is very fishy about this site. Today I attempted to access the bids I still have coming to me and I couldn't do that either. I have wasted my money big time. Where to turn next? This company is difficult to deal with Na impossible to contact.

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cevile
Las Vegas, US
Jun 23, 2011 7:12 pm EDT

i think they have there own people bidding on the stuff or what I want to say popullar expensive items because there have been couple of items that i was tracking one item in particular Xbox 360 4gb that I noticed that there was this regular user that had bidded on that xbox 360 over 700 times now lets do the math item finnaly sold for $14.56 + $19.99 shipping so this user sent them a payment of $34.55 + the 700 bids that he had to buy at a average price of a bid is $0.40 so lets see what he or sherealy spent 700x0.40=$280 +$34.55=$314.55 now this very individual could have walked into a nearby target or walmart and gotten the very same Xbox 360 4gb for $199 and at that time both target and walmart were offering customer a choice of free game or $40.00 gift card meaning he could have gotten the game console for $159.00 a person who is so wise enough to be such penny pincher or saver that could comparetively shop online through penny auction was not able to do that type of math is not beliveable so therefore in conclussion they have there own people bidding in this auction or some kind of automated program also that keeps driving the prices up I dont belive people are that stupid that they would spend double the money for an item from auction that they have readly available in local market for half the price. Also if you follow closely it is the same few people who always win the auctions also if you follow there pattern you will notice that some of the user bidding habbits also can determine that they have multiple user accounts. In my opinion this website is nothing but a scam and due to lack of goverment regulations they are getting away with it now once in a while somebody real will win those products but after that item has been recycled thru couple of days of auction so beaware and stay away from this website this is a scam if dont believe me follow some of the auctions live and see for yourself pardon my english as it is not my first language but I hope you all get the gest of it. In conclusion all I got to say is that this is a simple but effective Con and Scam

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Cost-Dropper is A Rip Off
Buffalo Grove, US
Jul 05, 2011 9:59 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

They have NO Customer Service, either! I called to inform them that they sent me the wrong gift card than the one I bid on; I was on hold for 10 minutes and then told to email them instead of calling. I called back again and AGAIN, at the 10 minute mark I was told to email them. This place is a big scam and a rip-off. DO NOT get suckered into the same mistake as me!

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CostDropper
Burbank, US
Jul 06, 2011 5:50 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Lu, we apologize for placing you on hold for such a long time. It appears as though Dustin replied to your e-mail less than an hour after he received it and apologized for the mishap. He also provided you with specific instructions on how to return the incorrect gift card and stated that the correct one would get sent out to you in a timely manner. In fact, it appears as though you won another gift card yesterday, so you should expect to receive 2 gift cards in just a matter of days. 25 additional bids have also been credited to your account for the inconvenience. Please feel free to contact our support team if you need further assistance.

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Cost-Dropper is A Rip Off
Buffalo Grove, US
Jul 06, 2011 7:19 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I did not receive the email mentioned above, so I checked my spam folder and there WAS a prompt reply with the above info. I apologize to CostDropper for "jumping the gun" and filing a complaint so quickly. I have nothing to complain about & wish I could withdraw my complaint against CostDropper.

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jadeed
Milford, US
Jul 08, 2011 1:50 am EDT

total ###s join penny auctions I joined not being a ### just for the entertainment to monitor the stupid or mentally challenged people fight it out. Bid on bids?
c ya wouldn't wanna beee ya

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jumpalready
Murphy, US
Jul 20, 2011 12:13 am EDT

These penny auction sites just play on peoples human nature to irrationally bid up auction items. They make I'm guessing at least 20cents per bid, plus cost of item, plus outrageous shipping. Some of the penny auction sites have great items and do a good job. CostDropper is not one of them. 2 months ago CostDropper had 1 Ipad2, 1 xbox or wii, 1 apple tv, 1 hdtv (36inch Acer) PER DAY. Thrown in a few gift cards, Ginsu knife set and a handful of other "low value" items, mostly they sell their Bid Packs and you'd better read the print, they expire at 45 days! Now here's the real kicker, they all of a sudden have quit offering any high value (ipad, xbox...) items at all, out of the blue. All cheap watches overpriced at $49.99 each, they've lured everyone in with big ticket items and poof they are gone, good like on the cheap products or loose your bids in 45 days which you already paid for a can't get a refund.

This is certainly deceptive and false adverstising that'd I've ever seen. They even used to put a picture of all the high value items on their website, its now gone as well. They are just trying to force you to go for cheap crud or lose your bids. This has to be an illegal scam. I'm guessing we have to go to India to find them.

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whelands
Fort Lauderdale, US
Nov 14, 2011 11:29 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am trying to cancel my remaining bids and can not find their phone no. I want my money back. The bid item are just sunglasses. This auction is a piece of ###. If anyone has the corp. no. please let me know.
Don

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loanne
Gardena, US
Dec 06, 2011 4:45 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have the same your problem. The bid items are just sunglasses. Nobody want to bid. It's cheating.

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Henry VIII
Hollywood, US
Dec 07, 2011 1:19 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

FYI, I think they're out of business. They laid off their customer service dept. about six months ago. They were in California, not India.

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Pauluni
Ottawa, CA
Dec 14, 2011 12:50 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I was a victim of the fine print as well. . The FREE is in dark green while the 125 bid pack you just bought is in light green (easily overlooked). I called right away the costumer service right away and they refused to credit me back my money
When I had found that I can't get back my money I thought I will use them...It was waste of my time...I decided to let go my $50 instead of wasting my time and more money
I don't recommend this company at all