From the IndustryPace archive. Originally published November 1, 2010. Revisited October 2026.

SwipeAuctions Shutting Down, Customers Say Refunds Refused

A month after the first complaints, the penny auction site told customers it was winding down. The FTC case came six months later.

By Pesach Lattin

The original text of this post was lost when IndustryPace went dark. This page keeps the original headline and date, rebuilds the subject from the public record, and says what happened next.

This November 2010 post followed up on the October report on SwipeBids and SwipeAuctions. The original headline was considerably harsher than this one.

What happened that week

Around the end of October and the first days of November 2010, consumers posting on complaint boards reported that SwipeAuctions' live-chat staff said the site was winding down because its card processor had cut it off, and that membership fees would not be refunded. Those were consumer accounts at the time.

On November 17, 2010, Jesse Willms put out a press release launching a website about his reputation. It said false information about him was circulating online and that he had sued sites over it.

What the record later showed

In May 2011 the FTC sued Willms and his companies, naming SwipeAuctions among the sites and alleging that consumers lost more than $450 million across his offers. The agency also alleged he made misleading statements to banks to keep processing alive despite chargebacks, which fits what customers were told in November 2010 about the processor. He settled in February 2012 for a suspended $359 million judgment and a permanent ban on negative-option marketing, without admitting liability.

How it aged

The lesson for the ad business was never really about one marketer. Every one of these offers was sold through affiliate networks, display buys and search ads that got paid per sign-up and had no reason to ask what happened after the sign-up. The FTC can ban a person from negative-option marketing. It has never managed to ban the incentive.

This page rebuilds a November 2010 IndustryPace post whose original text is not available; the headline has been made neutral. Facts come from consumer complaints (allegations), Willms's November 2010 press release, the FTC's 2011 complaint and the 2012 settlement, which included no admission of liability. The author co-founded LeadsCon.