Penny auction sites love to tout the incredible deals that customers walk away with, but the reality is far less pleasant.  For every person that gets a great deal on an item, there are tens or hundreds, possibly thousands that spend money to bid that they can’t get back.

Well, their credibility has taken a further blow with reports (like this and this) that some of these sites are using auto-bidding bot software to bid up the auctions, thus costing all those that participate more money.

Don’t be lured by these phony deal schemes.  If you want a discounted gift card, purchase one from one of the many legitimate secondary marketplaces, like GiftCardRescue, Plastic Jungle, or CardPool.