The new "losing bidders can apply bids against the cost of the item" is just plausible deniability for their ultimate business model, which is selling 100 people the same Wii.
If they end up selling 100 people the same five Wiis (1 at a deep discount, 4 at retail), it is still the same business model from the perspective of 95% of the participants of the transaction, who end up spending a lot of money but get no Wii.
I refuse to call them an auction site because that is just sheep's clothing. Their model has absolutely nothing intrinsically auction-like about it -- take a look at their "auctions" for CASH in which the putative "bid price" will never actually be paid by anyone. It just exists to sucker more people into paying scam participation fees.
If they end up selling 100 people the same five Wiis (1 at a deep discount, 4 at retail), it is still the same business model from the perspective of 95% of the participants of the transaction, who end up spending a lot of money but get no Wii.
I refuse to call them an auction site because that is just sheep's clothing. Their model has absolutely nothing intrinsically auction-like about it -- take a look at their "auctions" for CASH in which the putative "bid price" will never actually be paid by anyone. It just exists to sucker more people into paying scam participation fees.