Swoopo Manual No Longer Available
The Swoopo Manual is no longer being sold due to Swoopo’s recent closure. If you’re interested in winning more penny auctions in less time, I highly recommend the following two products. Both are made by the creator of Swoopo Analytics and provide all the same tools (and more) for two other penny auction sites:
This tool will help you track auctions, set up alerts and win more auctions on Beezid.
The tool that was banned by Quibids and is unavailable except for those with the special link above. You won’t be able to get access any other way!
We’ve had a great ride with Swoopo Manual + Swoopo Analytics. We’ve helped nearly 1,00o people win more Swoopo auctions…and many of you shared your success stories with us. Thanks for your attention, your willingness to give our product a shot and your continued support. It means a lot.
- Matthew
Swoopo BidButler Changes
Swoopo recently made a change to how a BidButler Battle resets the auction clock. In the past, when two BidButlers were activated simultaneously, time was added to the clock instantaneously for every BidButler bid depleted. This often sent the clock soaring to 10 minutes or more.
Now, however, the auction clock will never increase beyond two minutes no matter how epic the BidButler Battle.
So What Does This Mean For You?
You can no longer set up a BidButler and leave the computer for a period of time. You’ll want to make sure you’re keeping close watch on every auction you’re participating in. On the other hand, however, auctions will now be MUCH shorter in total and you’ll be able to win more auctions in a shorter period of time.
Because the auction times are shorter, more auctions should be cycled through the Swoopo site in a 24 hour period. I haven’t verified this with the data yet, but I have Jason working on it as you read this. If this is indeed the case, now is a great time to bid on Swoopo. More auctions and the same number of participants means even better deals all around.
The BidButler math that I was so excited to share only a few days ago will no longer be valid for calculating how much BidButler activity has occurred in a given auction. As a result, Swoopo Analytics will need to be used now more than ever.
Overall, I think the rule change is a good one. It de-emphasizes the BidButler (granted, only in a small way) and it makes auctions more exciting and faster-paced. This is good for everyone.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments or in the continued discussion in our forums.
Swoopo: Top 100 Startup in Europe
Swoopo was named to Techcrunch Europe’s list of the top 100 startups.
Their post included this bit about the company:
Germany $10,000,000 Revenue & Traction. Raised money from August Capital.
The most interesting part of the ranking was that Swoopo was listed in a category they basically invented: Entertainment Shopping. It’s wise of Swoopo to define the market they’re competing in…it makes success that much easier.
Is Swoopo Profitable?
This question would seem to be a no-brainer for the casual Swoopo observer. After all, they auction off items at a 65% discount on average, which nets them typically 300-400% in bids over the retail price. It would seem they do quite well, no?
Excluding a Major Cost
One thing that these folks are not factoring into Swoopo’s profitability is the cost of acquiring an auction bidder. Think back to how you first discovered Swoopo. Did you discover it through a Google advertisement?
Swoopo probably spends in the tens of thousands of dollars per day attracting potential bidders to it’s site. That’s a lot of scratch…
How Does It Look Now?
So let’s say Swoopo is spending $0.50 for every potential customer that clicks a Swoopo ad. And let’s say 1 in 10 of those buys Swoopo bids. Your cost for every single customer is now $5.
Some auctions can have 50, 100 or even 200 bidders participating. See how those customer acquisition costs add up fast!
What Does This Mean for Bidders?
The reason I’m discussing Swoopo profitability is to make a very important point. The Swoopo cynics are quick to point out that Swoopo makes a killing on every auction and needs only to continue to churn customers in and out to make a buck. Fortunately for us (and unfortunately for Swoopo) that’s not the case. If Swoopo is paying $5 for every bidder upfront (and that’s probably low) then they must focus not on an endless churn of new bidders…but a business model that makes sense and leaves many bidders happy and wanting to come back.
The Swoop It Now feature was a step in the right direction. It allows anyone who’s invested a lot in an auction to recoup that investment and still get the product. No, they won’t get it for bargain basement prices…but they don’t leave empty-handed either. And the winner still gets their often amazing deal.
I don’t know what Swoopo has planned for the next iteration of their site, but you can bet they will take steps (or even a dramatic leap) in the direction of a better user experience. Their very success depends upon it.
Where Does Swoopo Get All This Stuff?
I love getting email from Swoopo Manual owners, because it makes it crystal clear what you folks want to hear. Today I want to explain how Swoopo gets all those items it auctions off every day.
Stores Work Like This
The story of how Swoopo gets and ships most of it’s items isn’t unique. It works just like your local retail or electronics store. Swoopo works with distributors who sell them large amounts of items like PS3s, MacBooks or digital cameras. Swoopo stores these items in a warehouse and ships them out when someone wins an auction. Swoopo makes a few bucks on the item because they purchased it for less than retail price. And they also make money if the total number of bids on an auction is greater than the price they paid. It’s a win / win.
Sometimes They Don’t Have Items
Sometimes Swoopo doesn’t keep items on hand. Instead, they do what’s called “drop shipping.” This is where they tell a supplier (like Amazon.com, for instance) that they just sold something. Amazon will then ship the product, brand new and in original packaging, right to the door of the customer. This usually means you get the item faster because it only needs to go one place, not two.
Regardless of how the item gets to you, Swoopo usually fulfills orders within 1-2 weeks and they are all-new, unopened and absolutely identical to anything you’d find at your local retail store.
Here’s a video where the CEO of Swoopo explains how his company fulfills Swoopo orders:
Swoopo Auction Data: Old News?
If you’re relying on reems of Excel data as the sole source of your Swoopo auction data, you’re making a big mistake. There are more important things than stale historical data from 30 days ago or 3 months ago. Yesterday I explained why Swoopo skills are better than Swoopo stats. Today I’d like to share why without real-time data…you’re still bidding blind.
Real Time is Real Important
Swoopo Excel sheets have a purpose: They let you see which auctions are usually better for bidding. They reveal, for example, that bids for bids are usually a losers game. This is helpful for new Swoopo bidders because you can stay away from bids for bids.
But oddly enough, I recommend you participate in bids for bids if you’d like to start small and “trade your way” up to a laptop or digital camera. That’s confusing, huh?
The reason I can confidently recommend this strategy is because I see it work for pros time and time again. The difference, of course, is that they aren’t relying on Excel sheets. They are also using advanced bidding techniques from the Swoopo Manual. They are also using…
Swoopo Analytics is Real-Time
There’s only been one other person in the “Swoopo industry” who’ve I’ve worked with on a regular basis. His name is Jason and he developed Swoopo Analytics. And what it does is provide real-time analysis on every Swoopo auction right on the same page. You’d hardly even notice you were using it if you weren’t winning all the time 
Swoopo Analytics is much more powerful than Excel sheets because it reveals deep data about the most important Swoopo auction: the one you’re bidding on!
Swoopo Analytics gives you access to:
- Who’s bidding in an auction
- How many times every single bidder has won before
- The win/loss history of every bidder on Swoopo
- The average sales prices for that item in the past
- Much, much more
I joined forces with Jason and Swoopo Analytics a couple months back and the program is now offered only to buyers of the Swoopo Manual. If you want to learn more, you can get access here:
The Swoopo Christmas Story
Over the past few weeks I’ve started getting lots of emails that sound like this one from a reader named Abe:
I might hold off on it till after Christmas because I read somewhere that there’s more competition on Swoopo auctions during the holiday shopping season, which drives the prices up, so I think I might wait til after Christmas so there won’t be so much competition and I’ll have a better chance at it.
I don’t know where Abe read this, but I thought it was worth clarifying a few things about how Swoopo works and why things aren’t as cut & dried as some in the Swoopo world make them seem.
Swoopo Controls the Inventory
When you look at the upcoming auctions page and see the current and future auctions Swoopo is running, you’ll realize this: Swoopo controls those auctions. Swoopo decides when to have more new auctions and when to have fewer. They decide how many PS3′s to sell and how many Ginsu Knives to sell.
In this way, Swoopo auctions are a game of supply and demand, except Swoopo is the only thing controlling supply.
They’ve Done This Since the Beginning
Back when Swoopo first launched in the United States, they probably listed fewer auctions than they do today. There were fewer users back then and Swoopo hadn’t yet been written up in various national publications. If they had listed as many auctions as they do today, those auctions would only have a handful of bidders and would cause Swoopo to lose money. Not only that, but the bidding would be quite boring, too! (Yes, you can have fun and win too folks)
So Let’s Talk Christmas
If more bidders flock to Swoopo this holiday season to get great deals on popular gifts for their loved ones…it doesn’t necessarily mean higher prices for the winning bidder. If Swoopo notices the new group of bidders they can start launching more auctions on a daily basis. They increase the supply, which means lower prices for bidders and still amazing deals for the winners.
Just because it’s holiday season does NOT mean that you can’t get great deals on Swoopo.
If They Control the Inventory…
Smart readers are probably now thinking: If they control the inventory, what’s the point of knowing the best time of the day to bid? What’s the point in knowing the best days of the week? Isn’t all that data at the mercy of the Swoopo gods now?
The short answer is no. You can still study trends and learn more about Swoopo faster than they can implement supply/demand changes. I know this because I see in our data that some auctions have MUCH higher average savings than others. And the best Swoopo bidders only bid on certain auctions and at certain times of the day. They know the data too (or at least can SEE it in action) and act accordingly.
I’ll write more about the supply/demand vs. data issue in another post. For now, just know that you can treat the holiday season like any other on Swoopo as long as you follow the best practices of great Swoopo bidders and arm yourself with the latest data.
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Swoopo Bidding Strategy Guide: How to Win It
This Friday, I’m giving away one copy of Swoopo Manual absolutely free. That’s right – you’ll get access to all the tips and tricks, Swoopo auction strategies, and insider secrets just for answering one simple question.
Here’s the question:
What is the single most important thing you’ve learned through bidding on Swoopo?
Email your answer to me: matthew@swoopomanual.com by midnight US Central time on October 30th 2009. I’ll evaluate all the responses and the best, most well written and insightful response (as judged by ME) will be given access to a free copy of Swoopo Manual.
Some fine print: All entries sent to me will be my property to do with them as I see fit. The winner will be chosen at the sole discretion of me. No one is guaranteed to win the contest. And while Swoopo Manual includes Swoopo Analytics, this contest does not. Winners will get access to Swoopo Manual and Swoopers dot org, but will not be given free access to Swoopo Analytics. (It simply costs too much for us to run to allow a free membership to anyone).
Thanks in advance for your great responses! I’ll share the best ones with the Swoopers community via this blog or the forum.
Updated Swoopo Manual
Last week I quietly released an update to the Manual that includes new strategies to deal with recent Swoopo changes:
- Swoop It Now
- No concurrent BidButlers
- Auction price adjustments
- Bid price adjustments
When Swoopo zigs we’ll just have to continue to zag. As usual, you’ll find the updated Swoopo Manual here. And thanks to an excellent forum suggestion from one of our Swoopers members, I’ve now added “Published On” dates to the Manual so you know how current the information is.