The criticisms state that bidding fee auction websites operate as an unregulated form of gambling.
[10][11] DealDash was founded in 2009 by William Wolfram, a 16-year-old Finnish entrepreneur, who had lost $20 bidding unsuccessfully for a MacBook on an earlier penny auction site.
[12][2] DealDash obtained early financing from a youth program of Tekes, a Finnish public funding agency.
[15] It later raised approximately $1.5 to $2 million in venture financing from the Chief Executive Officers of Rovio Entertainment (publisher of Angry Birds) and Carbonite.
[12] By 2013 it had 67 employees, yearly revenues approaching $100 million,[17] and was ranked as Finland's second-most visible startup based on attention from media, bloggers, influencers, and users.
[12] In August of that year, the company also created the site DealDashReviewed.com to house and aggregate reviews and testimonials from their customers.
A company spokesperson says DealDash generates significant business from bidders who choose to buy items after losing, with hundreds of orders processed daily.
[28] Consumer organization Truth in Advertising reported that a DealDash television commercial shows "Roseanna" winning a $349 KitchenAid stand mixer for "less than $25".
[7] Both Truth in Advertising and Consumer Reports noted that DealDash's own terms of service tell users that they are likely to spend more than the retail cost for products and are unlikely to save money using the site[6][7] (the terms of service were updated in 2016 to no longer include that statement[9][10]).
Plaintiffs also argued the allegedly premium products on offer were generic items manufactured by companies with links to Wolfram.