The company operates in ten European countries including the UK, Ireland, Spain, France, and Australia.

Atomico founder Niklas Zennström, best known as a cofounder of Skype, explained the investment by citing his belief at the time that MadBid “allows the most skillful to get amazing bargains” and the company had gained a lot of traction “in a short period of time.”[1][2][3] MadBid’s core business model began as a penny auction and the company has since added additional eCommerce features including a "Buy Now" option to purchase products outright, as well as an "Earned Discount" feature that allows consumers to apply the cumulative value of bids placed which did not result in an auction win, towards a discount for products, the discount remains available for 365 days after the auction closed.

Most "Buy Now" auctions on MadBid have a price comparison tab so that shoppers can compare against selected online retailers.

Additionally credit accrued from bids placed on auctions which weren't won ("Earned Discount"), can be used to reduce the cost of "Buy Now".

The true worth of this discount is debated as in instances the base MadBid price is claimed to be significantly more expensive than other online shops.

After growth fueled by a 2009 seed round, the partners in 2010 raised £4 million equity financing in a Series A venture round from Skype and Kazaa founders' venture capital fund Atomico; the funding was aimed towards a Europe-wide roll out of services.

[3][4][18] Due to the possibility of participants losing an auction, some analysts have criticized the model or compared it to gambling, even when operating without fraud.

[25] In May 2015, The Guardian exposed irregularities across three Madbid markets (USA, UK and Europe) where the prices successful bidders were shown to have paid were inaccurate.

However, the software that drives this is not sophisticated enough to deal with the currency conversion and interest rate variables between the pound, dollar and euro.

'[8] The Guardian also claim that winners of auctions may pay considerably more for their goods than had they purchased them through conventional retail channels, using the example of a toaster with RRP of £79.99 that sold for £36.27 plus £8.99 delivery, but was available for £24.99 delivered from another website.