MadBid

MadBid was a Gamified eCommerce and online auction website registered under Marcandi Ltd. in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2008 by Juha Koski, Madhur Srivastava and Daniel Rovira. The company operates in ten European countries including the UK, Ireland, Spain, France, and Australia. However, in August 2018, Madbid closed up the company and ended all sales. Skype founders' venture capital firm Atomico in 2010 invested over £4 million ($6 million) in funding for MadBid. MadBid’s core business model began as a penny auction and the company has since added additional eCommerce features including a "Buy Now" option to purchase products outright, as well as an "Earned Discount" feature that allows consumers to apply the cumulative value of bids placed which did not result in an auction win, towards a discount for products, the discount remains available for 365 days after the auction closed. Most "Buy Now" auctions on MadBid have a price comparison tab so that shoppers can compare against selected online retailers. The pay-to-bid auction process employed by MadBid is based on users buying "credits" which allow them to place bids in auctions. Users must purchase these credits before participating. Credits are sold in different bulk amounts and cost between 10p and 12.5p. However the effective credit value is significantly lower due to offers and to won credits and credits purchased in "Buy Now". The number of credits to place a bid on each auction varies; smaller auctions require two credits for every bid placed, while larger and more popular auctions can use up to fifteen credits. Every bid placed raises the auction price of an item by 1p and at the same time extends the closing time of the auction by up to 60 seconds. The auction closes when time runs out, and the last bid wins the right to buy the item for the final auction price plus any processing and shipping costs. The final auction price is incremented by 1p for every bid placed during the auction.