markerbids.com

**Chronobreak** · 10-25-2011, 08:23 AM

while i wouldnt feel confident enough to call the site an outright scam I would reccomend staying away from it and not bidding, there are alot of sketchy things going on there and similar sites.

I would liken the "bidding" more to" gambling"

**cockerpunk** · 10-25-2011, 08:47 AM

if you win, you will get your stuff as promised.

IF you win being the key part. be sure you know how the system works before you get involved.

**tigar19** · 10-25-2011, 09:58 AM

It's a legit site. Mike Phillips is very well known in the PB community mainly due to his TechPB videos and forum. I believe he states somewhere on that site about how he has hired Dale Ford (The Ford Report) to randomly audit his site to make sure their are no auto bots hiking up the price.

To prove to the critics he's legit, he asks the winners to post up a picture/video of their win in exchange for some free bids.

You really should take a closer look at how the autobidder works before making such a claim. I don't remember the specifics, but it's something like each bid add time to the clock and the auto bidder will automatically place a bid for you when there is something like 10 second left or something like that. So, the consistent 18 seconds could be the difference between the added time due to a bid being placed and when the autobidder is scheduled to make another bid.

Go take another look at the site. Go check out the forum. Go dig a little deeper and I think you'll come to the conclusion that the site is legit. People win all the time. Sometimes, people win expensive things very cheaply. Sometimes not, and that's why it's a gamble.

Edit: I am not a software engineer.

**TOTShadowCompany** · 10-25-2011, 10:56 AM

If this is true..."At this time, there is a bidder, named CrewNYC who has bid 2754 times for this item" that means CrewNYC paid or bid $1,927.80 for a $1,250 marker???

Something sounds fishy there to me...

Like to old saying goes, "If it sounds too good to be true..."

**Frizzle Fry** · 10-25-2011, 11:02 AM

Ever since the APOLLO LCD issue, I tend to avoid that crowd

I would not trust it.

**tigar19** · 10-25-2011, 11:07 AM

I don't think we have the whole story. Two possible explanations (and there could be more) is he has Free bids from posting up previous winnings or he won a Bid Pack at a low price that they sometimes put up for sale. Then again, there are some people who after bidding so much money they simply cannot walk away without winning the item. Even if it meant they paid more than retail.

If you want the truth, go on their forum and ask him if he really paid that much more than what that item is worth.

I'm telling you, Mike Phillips, is a legit guy and that also goes for his Markerbids website. In the world outside of paintball I know he is taking college courses for his Accounting degree or he already has it and is studying for the CPA exam.

He also opened another similar site for selling RC items which is another hobby of his.

**DevilMan** · 10-25-2011, 11:29 AM

It's funny... this and the other companies are legit for the most part. The Beezid and Quibids and stuff like that.... they are legit and are not scamming in their process. And they are making SERIOUS money doing it.

They say that a NIB APPLE IPAD sold for $27.39!!! Well when a person has placed a bid on that product then that's worth 1 penny to the price, the thing is, all together the 1 penny bid actually cost the buyer $1 or so. So say a bidder bids 10 times and each bid has cost them $1, the bidder added only 10 cents to the BID price but has basically thrown $10 of their money out the window. It goes to the company as a bid that you lost because you still PAY for the bids you placed. It's not a matter of getting the money back if you don't win the item.

So say that the IPad sold for $27.39 and each bid cost each bidder $1. The company has just sold the IPad for $2,739.00!!!! Yes... that's almost THREE THOUSAND dollars!!!

So the companies are making major profit off of other people tossing 3 dollars, 23 dollars, XX dollars at an auction that they don't win. They put the money in and they have paid. Some win, but most do not in that aspect. It's 100% legit because it's not a scam. It's a "well ran" business. It is similar to gambling with the exception that there WILL be a winner. With gambling, it's the luck of the draw so to speak. With this stuff it's going to sell... just not sure to who.

I played it when it first started. Before it became so well known. Now there are LOTS of copies of the main ones and as they say, "The devil is in the details." Read the fine print. Understand what you are getting into. I played it, I spent about $50 learning it and I mainly bought gift cards for eateries and stores and such. I made just a little more than what I spent and called it quits. It's super easy to get sucked into the process. If you have an addictive nature I would stay away from it. If you can control yourself and understand that it's not a game to play but that you need to understand the rules on what you are doing then go for it. I don't think you'll come out ahead too often, but you never know.

DM

**Frizzle Fry** · 10-25-2011, 12:00 PM

Originally posted by tigar19

I'm telling you, Mike Phillips, is a legit guy and that also goes for his Markerbids website.

404 Not Found | TechPB

http://www.techpb.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=134995&st=0

This marker was donated to TechPB by a gentleman named Dizzart I have done business with on AOG as a museum piece for Mike to make his "Traveling Paintball Museum" (similar to what EMR does, but mobile). The idea was, rather than sell it, he wanted to donate what is probably the last PL Angel LCD that's effectively unifired/new in package to someone that would appreciate it and display it rather than use it to make money and start some enormous bidding war. He contacted Mike, and explained his case, and Mike he said he wanted the gun for the collection/museum - he even sent a prepaid shipping label to Dizzart. When the marker arrived, Mike took pictures of the marker, made a video firing, and marked the box with Dizzys name.

Almost a year later the gun shows up, with the packaging but having been used, on AOG. The kid who's selling it states he bought it on Markerbids.com where Mike listed it for sale. Dizzart contacted Mike and others, and was ignored. Finally he contacted several Paintball bloggers/site managers (including Dale Ford, who claimed he did not want anything to do with MarkerBids) and tried to get to the bottom of this by making it public knowledge.

Since then Mike has been editing forum posts regarding the theft of his marker, and claimed that "TechPB sells guns so if you give us something it's reasonably to expect we'd sell it", claiming that he never intended to start a museum (documented), claiming that he didn't know who donated the gun it just showed up (documented), claiming he sold it to buy an SMG 68 (why, if there's no museum?) and even offering the buy the marker back from the kid now selling it to "burn it". Every bit of contact that was positive was ignored, and every bit that was negative was met with more of Mikes BS.

Dizzart is one of the nicest guys I've done business with on AOG, but with that said, he's not my "friend" he's just a guy I did business with and encountered on the forums and field and I respect him for how he operates. If he was a jerk like Mike Philips, he would have listed the marker on Ebay for $1000+ back when it was new in package and tried to make money on the thing - instead he tried to do something good for the sport (at great cost to himself) and has been screwed over since. Oh and if you mention it even in passing, you're in for a nice ban on TechPB; why ban people for asking questions if you don't have something to hide? It's not a public forum and Dizzarts side of this has not ever really been heard because of moderator interference. When the conversations between Dizz and Mike were posted elsewhere, Mike wasn't very happy.

Mike Phillips (and other TechPB-involved loudmouths) are far too high on their minor internet fame to ever admit that they are wrong on a subject, practicing bad business, or even that they just screwed up and made an honest mistake...

If you're looking to do "business" on MarkerBidz, take a peek at some of the comments Mike has made about honesty and business practices and make the right choice...

If hiring a third party group to audit the site was a hurdle in ensuring the site's success, I would consider it.

But I don't trust these "compliance" people. We've got a successful pay-per-bid site, that's running efficiently with a strong following and client list. We've spent thousands of dollars ensuring it runs fair, spent hundreds of hours fixing it, tweaking it, and configuring it to work it's absolute best.

We're not going to turn over a 6,000+ client list, along with the entire code of the website to a "audit agency", who could end up stealing our client list, or screwing up the site.

Sorry if we don't agree, but I'm not going to hand the keys over to a successful website, along with thousands of dollars per month, for someone to tell me what I already know.

And it doesn't matter who I hire or how much I spend, you're just going to shoot holes in that as well.

If I hired a guy with a MIT Doctorate in computer science, who was the VP of Penny Bid Website Auditing at Earnst & Young, you'd still find something to attack me with. So it's pointless.

His logic is that if he's making money, there's no reason to distrust him because other people are utilizing his "services" (OK, that works with regard to Ponzi schemes too, right?) - and that a third party audit by a professional group would be a risk to his business because they "might steal his ideas or customers" (Sure. That makes sense

).

**TechPB-Mike** · 10-25-2011, 12:11 PM

LOL good ol' Steve Warshaw!

For the record, Steve Warshaw has never patroned Markerbids, nor is he a customer. In an effort to sell his "software consulting business", he's trying to promote his own business, on the coattails of the popularity of Markerbids. Read his comments here-

Read Steve's Comments about Markerbids here

In a last ditch effort to do, whatever he was trying to do, he is threatening to "pwn my company" with a lawsuit of some sorts. Yea whatever.

He signed up for Markerbids this afternoon (after threatening to sue), bought two small bids packs which were quickly refunded.

I'm not sure who Steve's story is, nor has he ever been a customer of Markerbids. Probably he's just looking for another avenue to hock his MLM Arbonne garbage-

Welcome to nginx!

http://www.energiefitness.net/

Markerbids does not run bots, we have an independent consultant (Dale Ford) who routinely checks the site to ensure that the "automated users" is both shut off, and that none are in the que.

Kiabuckets has a Youtube channel, check it out here-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51xUdHOjObU

CrewNYC has a Youtube Channel, check it out here-

http://www.youtube.com/user/CrewNYC

kiabuckets name is Keith, and he lives in Alberta, Canada. CrewNYC's name is Chris, and he lives in New York. All of their bids and bid packs are accounted for through paypal.

I think Steve Warshaw has let the fumes of that Arbonne he's been hocking get to his head. He claims he's going to "pwn" the website with a lawsuit. I'm definitely looking forward to meeting (and thanking) Chris & Keith in person at the court hearing.

Steve is looking to either "self promote" his personal training business, his software consulting business, or his arbonne business by attempting to attack my site under the threat of a lawsuit.

We'll see how much "pwn'ing" is done when we all show up with our paypal receipts, matching bank records, and corresponding bids used.

The only thing more fun than being sued... is counter-sueing! I apologize to the mods in advance for this nonsense that Steve has decided to vomit on your forums. I'm not here to sell Markerbids to anyone, just defending it against someone who woke up yesterday and has taken on a desperate agenda to use my company to hopefully promote his own

**TechPB-Mike** · 10-25-2011, 12:31 PM

Also, the thing with the Angel was simple - he donated it to TechPB, we did a couple shows on it, and we sold it. People donate things to TechPB all the time, we use them and we sell them.

The problem was how Dizzart and TB decided to handle the issue. Instead of contacting me (the only person who had the ability to get the gun back), they went on a week long smear campaign, calling me everything from a thief, a liar, a fraud, yada yada blah blah

Had Dizzart simply contacted me and said "Hey Mike, I noticed you sold the Angel that I donated to TechPB. That gun meant alot to me and I was hoping that maybe you could get it back." I would have gladly gotten the gun back. I could have bought it back in cash, gave the buyer free bids, I could have printed a label that would have shipped the gun, via FedEx Overnight, directly from the buyer to Dizzart.

If TB would have contacted me and said "Hey Mike, I got someone here who is pretty upset. He donated an Angel to you a year ago, and you recently sold it on Markerbids. Any chance you could undo that sale, and get the Angel back to him?"

We had that Angel, sitting in storage for almost a year, and he never contacted me asking about the condition of it, the status of it, or when he could expect it to be returned.

As far as the paintball museum, that was going to be of my PERSONAL markers. I am not interested in being responsible for other people's property. If I want a paintball gun bad enough, I'll just go buy it. How much are Angel LCD's going for? $150? Maybe less?

The museum idea was of my own PERSONAL marker collection. At one time, I had over 100+ markers in my possession, most of which were showcased on TechPB. My local pawn shops are practically giving away classic paintball guns, there is nothing "rare" or "unique" about 99.99999% of the markers in paintball. Just like the FN303, if I want it, I go buy it.

If Dizzart was truly interested in getting the Angel back, he should have contacted me instead of launching his smear campaign. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being smeared on multiple websites.

And as he learned, that's no way to get help from me. Had he handled it differently, I would have gladly gotten it back into his hands. You guys can have the last word here, I won't be posting in this thread again

**Frizzle Fry** · 10-25-2011, 12:46 PM

AOG had pretty well documented this thing since the marker came up for sale. The supporting members section was discussing this and his attempts to contact you long before any "smear campaigns" started, and in fact the reason he went to 3rd parties to get attention was that his TechPB PMs were ignored and his posts edited, and you refused to be civil.

Since you're clearly in it for the cash and only the cash, you might have trouble understanding this - Dizzart wanted to DONATE his marker to a MUSEUM to SUPPORT THE SPORT. If he wanted to sell it, he would have sold it unfired for plenty more than what you sold it for after you used it... He bought your bogus story about caring about the sport and made the mistake of getting involved with you - the reasons he wanted his gun back were many and varied but it boiled down to the fact that you outright lied to him time and time again, and took his donation to the "cause" of bettering the sport of paintball and preserving it's history for the next generation of players and sold it for personal profit.

**cockerpunk** · 10-25-2011, 01:56 PM

Originally posted by Frizzle Fry

Since you're clearly in it for the cash and only the cash

mike can be called a lot of things, in paintball for the money is not one of them.

**Frizzle Fry** · 10-25-2011, 02:25 PM

Originally posted by cockerpunk

mike can be called a lot of things, in paintball for the money is not one of them.

...so he starts a pay-per-bid site (the modern equivalent of 3 Card Monte) filled with autobidding scripts which sells guns/gear that people give him for free? He sells markers that people donate to him for educational/historical purposes? And plasters banner ads over everything he touches? Whatever you say. That doesn't sound profitable at all. How much do your moderators get paid over on TechPB by the way, do they get a cut of the profits?

**cockerpunk** · 10-25-2011, 02:29 PM

Originally posted by Frizzle Fry

...so he starts a pay-per-bid site (the modern equivalent of 3 Card Monte) filled with autobidding scripts which sells guns/gear that people give him for free? He sells markers that people donate to him for educational/historical purposes? And plasters banner ads over everything he touches? Whatever you say. That doesn't sound profitable at all. How much do your moderators get paid over on TechPB by the way, do they get a cut of the profits?

zero, and what profits?

there is no money in paintball dude, anyone who produces anything in this sport knows it and can tell you that.