Ballbids.com

[Don]

Yes apparently they have given back the money even to the winners and "gifted" them the snakes. This is from an email they sent out, from one of the people that had money refunded.

Here is my theory. Just a theory, based on my intel......

They might have been contacted and asked if they were aware they were violating a local law, to which of course they would have said "why, no we were unaware" TO which something along the lines of "well in order to avoid legal fees and prosecution you need to refund all money and including the "winners" of your illegal game. Giving the snakes as gifts, IF they even had real winners would be a try and cover your ass move to avoid getting sued by the winners.

That sounds reasonable. It would also explain why there has been no peep from Zach or Avi for more than a day on their facebook page and why their site is still down. Up until they went silent, they were posting frequently. Now, they are just deleting negative posts. They have not explained on their Facebook page why they refunded everyone's money. So, it seems reasonable to assume that someone is making them do it.

The thing we do not know is, if they are just keeping quiet while they obtain the proper licenses and permits, or have gone out of business. I suspect the latter. So, we may not have seen the last of Bidballs. It is pretty obvious that they have someone funding them. Those investors are not going to give up on their money easily.

I do not think those local ordinances are enough to do too much damage to them, other than make them get legit. The thing that will bring them down is if there is any proof of them rigging the bidding, or using shill bidders. So far, that has not been proven, even though there is some fairly suspicious activity. I don't think it will be too far into the future when we see penny auctions go the way of the poker sites - prohibited. No matter how much someone tries to tell you otherwise, penny auctions are simply gambling in another form.

I think everyone invested in Ballbids underestimated the cohesiveness of the reptile community and the backlash that resulted. Now that many of the big breeders have come out against them, I wonder where they will get their auction stock? Then again, they may use shill buyers.