Man buys brand new Camaro SS for $5

[Vaderzer0]

Reported on Camaro5 HOMEPAGE.

Not sure if posted before or not, its on the front page of CNN.com right now. Dude got lucky, these sites are pretty scammy to the untrained bidder.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/...nem?&hpt=hp_c2
http://www.wnem.com/story/15062471/f...camaro-for-528

FRANKENMUTH, Mich. -

Maybe you've seen the ads on the Internet, promising a Macbook $23.50, an iPhone for $5 or a $50 gift card for just pennies.

If it sounds too good to be true, welcome to the world of penny auctions. It isn't a scam, people actually win, but there are things you should know before you jump in.

Jonathan Mason from Frankenmuth is the proud owner of a brand new $35K Chevrolet Camaro, and you're not going to believe what he paid for it: $5.28. When he won, Mason says his wife didn't believe it either. "I said wake the baby up we just won this car, she made me show her on the Internet that it was my screen name that won."

Mason took advantage of a brand new website called fastpennycars.com. The owners of the website are here in Mid-Michigan, and this Camaro was its first-ever auction.

"We wanted to do something different, and there are no other websites selling new cars," said website founder Kent Kern.

Kern admits that the website took a huge loss on this first auction, but he's quick to point out selling the car for $5 earned them a ton of free publicity, which leads to new bidders. "It has helped, when the mustang goes up for sale on the 16th we are hoping it goes for more than the last one," Kern said.

Most of the well-known penny auction sites like Quibids, Beezid or Skoreit don't sell cars, they auction off gift cards, computers and other gadgets. On any penny auction site bidders have to sign up and buy bids. Bids generally cost anywhere from a dime to a dollar apiece.

Once they have bids, then the bidder chooses an item to try to win. Items for auction are on a timer, and the clock winds down to zero. Each bid adds time to the clock. In theory, the auction could go on forever, but since bids cost money, bidders drop out of the auction. The bidder who puts the final bid in before the clock hits zero wins the item.

Not every bidder wins a car like Jonathan Mason. In every auction, there is only one winner, and the rest lose their bids. It can be a fun and lucrative hobby, but people can and do lose money.

[DAVID12691]

Wow...Words escape me. Lucky guy.

[IBM]

Repost, but still cool nonetheless.

[VADR_H8R]

the bidding formula sounds like rocket science!!

[SolarFlare]

yay 30 second ads :(

[slick rick]

Kern admits that the website took a huge loss on this first auction, but he's quick to point out selling the car for $5 earned them a ton of free publicity, which leads to new bidders.

Wonder how many times they can do this before they run out of money

[garcmol]

What the, how the....

[PM Designs]

Wonder how long he keeps the car?

[Nessal]

I'm pretty sure he still has to pay tax on the purchase of the car at market value.

[snkeyes069]

Just saw this and was gonna post. Unreal!

[Nightfall]

i cant post what i think too meny swear words dude HOLY F&*&^

[lawman007]

The story indicated that that was his his first time bidding. Also that bids cost $0.60 and there could be 85 bids on a given auction. Buyer beware...

[Inuyashas_Brother]

It's a marketing gimmick to get idiots like CNN to give the auction website free publicity, like ebay back in the day. Nevertheless, lucky guy. I doubt there will be any more deals like that again.

[Ghost1LE]

Originally Posted by Nessal

I'm pretty sure he still has to pay tax on the purchase of the car at market value.

He still paid $5 for the Car, I think he wouldn't mind paying the taxes.

But, beware these sites are not very easy to win at, don't expect to win a car for $5, he's probably the only guy who's done it and i wouldn't be surprised if he is part of that business just trying to advertise it or they paid him to do so.