Have you been watching television lately? If so, you may have seen advertisements for an online auction site called QuiBids that claims to offer consumers a chance to nab high-end merchandise for almost nothing.

In case you haven’t seen the company’s commercials, I’ve embedded one below. Although I’m not thrilled about giving these guys free advertisement; since I’ll be trashing them in the coming paragraphs, it’ll probably be alright.

How they get you

The QuiBids scam works like this: you spend your hard-earned cash on bidpacks; you use these bids on one of their auctions; you lose the auction; you lose your bids. Awesome! Although someone does finally win the item for a pretty nice price, all the other bidders lose their bids and the money they used to purchase them. Meanwhile, QuiBids makes a killing, as compulsive gambling types continue to throw their money away on auction after auction.

Don’t bother

Besides being deceptive as hell, this company has also been accused of using automated bots to make fake bids that keep auctions alive longer and promote bidder failure. When comparing monthly visitors to actual bidders, some have noticed that they don’t match up, with more bidders than visitors. How interesting.

It’s not clear whether this penny auction site is underhanded or just taking advantage of consumer ignorance; however, I wouldn’t use it just because I’m smart. If you like to gamble; go to Las Vegas. If you want to score bargains online, use a reputable site like eBay.

Ryan Lawrence is a freelance copywriter and special contributor to TheMansWebsite.com.

Deals, deals, deals, they say! I’m talking about penny auctions. You’ve seen them, right? They advertise during football games on ESPN or on late-night television, when you’re too tired to think about what they’re really saying.

Sites like Skoreit and MadBid say they’ll let you in on the chance to enjoy sweet deals on expensive electronics and gold jewelry; but are they legit? No, says Sarah McDaniels, a sexy technology expert who writes for Kingofhowto.com.

“The Better Business Bureau has listed penny auctions in its top ten list of online scams,” she said. “These sites promise great bargains; but they are ultimately designed to take advantage of consumer ignorance.”

According to the lovely McDaniels, penny auction sites, such as QuiBids, Beezid and BidRivals, work by forcing members to purchase bid packs that included about 30 to 100 bids.

“Each time you place a bid on an item, you lose that bid whether you win the auction or not,” McDaniels said. “Ultimately, these sites don’t offer ‘deals, deals, deals,’ as they say; instead, they strive to take advantage of their membership.”

McDaniels says almost all penny auctions exist to profit from consumer ignorance.

“Each time you place a bid, most of these sites either reset the auction timer or add a few seconds; so more people can make a bid,” she said. “This gives the companies more opportunity to profit from an auction at the expense of its members. In the end, they can make thousands off an item that sells for just a few dollars.”

According to McDaniels, although penny auctioneers profit when bidders fail, they aren’t necessarily doing anything illegal. Still, she says there are all sorts of complaints centered on the suspicion of fake bids.

“Do a simple Google search, and you’ll see current and former members complaining about shills that make fake bids on behalf of the companies, themselves,” she said. “If this is true, members really have no chance, and even if it’s not; the fact that people are worried about it demonstrates that members aren’t satisfied with their experiences and are worried that the companies are screwing them over.”

Ryan Lawrence is a special contributor to TheMansWebsite.com. He is an online/print feature writer, SEO copywriter and interview expert.

Every man wants ripped ab muscles that draw the eyes of the opposite sex. Unfortunately, most guys don’t know how to get abs, and many resort to buying ridiculous workout gadgets that ultimately end up in their next garage sale. According to one bodybuilding and fitness expert, most of these muscle-building techniques aren’t only ineffective; they’re unecessary.

Jake Weathers, a fitness expert who writes muscle-building instructional articles for kingofhowto.com, says almost every man already has sexy abs; however, most keep them hidden under mounds of disgusting fat.

“Most guys take the wrong approach when trying to get abs,” he said. “If you want to know how to get a six pack, you need to know how to drop weight.”

According to Weathers, there’s really no point in doing any muscle-building exercises until you eliminate that frustrating layer of flab that hides your stomach muscles.

“There simply isn’t any way to build your muscles up enough for them to stand out if you’ve got fat on your belly,” he said. “Most guys are shocked to see that they already have pretty amazing ab muscles even without working out. It’s a complete waste of time to do a bunch of crunches and leg lifts unless you can already see your abs.”

To expose your hidden stomach muscles, Weathers recommends a hardcore aerobic exercise program that will reduce your body fat to almost nil.

“It’s hard work, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “When you see guys with great abdominal muscles; they had to work for that, let me tell you. But contrary to what you may think, they didn’t get abs by doing a million crunches; they did it by doing a ton of cardio and eating the right foods in the right manner.”

If you want to get sexy abs, Weathers says it’s critical that you eat a high-protein, high fiber diet. He also says you need to eat frequently, every two hours or so. According to him, this speeds the body’s metabolism and forces it to burn fat.

“Starvation diets won’t help you get nice abs,” he said. “When you deprive your body of calories, your brain goes into starvation mode. At that point, it hoards fat and burns muscle. This is not what you want when you’re trying to get ripped and lean.”

Ryan Lawrence is a special contributor to TheMansWebsite.com. He is a print/online feature writer, SEO copywriter and interview expert.