SANTA MONICA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/12/10 -- Biddees has announced the launch of its website Biddees.com, offering consumers a fast, fun and easy way to save on new prepaid gift cards from top retailers. Biddees is the first auction site that provides consumers an opportunity to buy new brand-name gift cards at a guaranteed discount from face value, with a portion of what they spend automatically donated to a nonprofit cause of their choice. Biddees is a 'win-win-win' -- consumers enjoy guaranteed savings while retailers and nonprofit organizations benefit at no additional cost.

Biddees offers an extensive selection of brand new gift cards in various denominations from national retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, Gap, Home Depot, iTunes, Macy's, Nordstrom, Staples, Starbucks, Target and Walmart, as well as VISA and MasterCard prepaid cash cards. The savings on prepaid cards at Biddees will also extend to retail categories such as cell phones, gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores. By providing every visitor to its auction site the opportunity to save, Biddees aims to generate millions of micro-donations for nonprofits.

"Biddees saves people money where they already shop, while simultaneously harnessing the power of the Internet to create a passive stream of micro-donations for nonprofits," said Steve Adler, CEO at Biddees. "We've created a synergistic, no-risk concept that's positive for all involved. By basically selling cash at a discount, each audience benefits. Unlike penny auction sites, Biddees.com customers enjoy an exclusive right to purchase a card at its displayed price, which is guaranteed to be less than face value. Compared to similar sites, the $0.99 cost to view the price of a card on Biddees relative to the subsequent $0.50 automatic reduction of the card's price offers better value for the customer, and each bid purchased on Biddees.com yields a contribution to a nonprofit. This business model benefits everyone who participates."

To experience and learn the Biddees process, each new customer is granted several free bid credits known as Little Biddee Things(TM) (LBTs). When the free LBTs are used up, customers can purchase more for 99 cents each -- and 15 percent of each LBT purchased goes to a nonprofit organization selected by the customer. To view the price of any card, which always starts at least $1.50 less than its face value, a customer uses one LBT. Every time a customer views the current price of a card, the price automatically drops by another 50 cents. Upon viewing the price, the customer has the exclusive right to purchase the card at the new lower price, within 30 seconds. If the customer decides not to purchase the card, it becomes available to the next participant. A quick check-out process completes the purchase, and Biddees sends the card to the customer with no sales tax and free shipping.

An auction ends when someone purchases a card or when its price reaches zero, and the last person gets the card for free. Shoppers save money through a simple process that allows $25, $50, $100 and $500 cards to sell for far less than face-value -- all while donating to a growing list of causes. These currently include the American Cancer Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters, MADD, Make-A-Wish Foundation, March of Dimes and Special Olympics.

"Biddees is fun, efficient and easy to use," said Joanne Pastula, president and CEO, Junior Achievement, San Diego and Imperial Counties. "It's the dream of every nonprofit, because it doesn't cost us anything. The big brands get paid their prices for the gift cards, the customers win because they get something at a discount and the nonprofits win because they're getting micro-donations as a result of Biddees enabling people to save on their purchases. Biddees is a unique proposition and a fabulous idea -- the reward potential is huge, especially in an economy that's slowly recovering from a recession. Customers both save money and donate to their favorite nonprofit without paying a penny more."

Biddees is the brainchild of Barry Shore, founder of Fax4Free.com. Other executives include Adler, CEO, and Dan Zuckerman as the Company's COO. Adler and Zuckerman co-founded Shoes.com (No. 162 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide) and operated the footwear e-tailer until October 2007. Adler also co-founded The Walking Company, a specialty retail chain of comfort footwear stores, where he and Zuckerman served until they co-founded Shoes.com in 2000.

According to Giving USA 2009, a report compiled annually by the American Association of Fundraising Counsel on the previous year's fundraising, total giving during 2008, adjusted for inflation, was down 5.7 percent(1). Many had expected an even sharper decline in giving with the recession. Given that 82 percent of total giving to nonprofit causes is from individuals or households(2) (vs corporations), it's important for nonprofits to find ways to make up for the losses they experience in a down economy.

To read more about how Biddees works, please visit http://biddees.com/how-it-works/. The growing list of philanthropies that benefit from Biddees.com can be found at http://biddees.com/dogood/. Follow Biddees on Twitter at @biddeesusa.

About Biddees.com

Biddees.com is a decreasing-price auction website offering consumers a fast, fun and easy way to save on new prepaid gift cards from top retailers while donating to the nonprofit organization of their choice. Biddees offers a 'win-win-win' -- consumers enjoy guaranteed savings while retailers and nonprofit organizations benefit at no additional cost. Biddees is based in Santa Monica, CA.

(1) http://www.aafrc.org/gusa/gusa_order.cfm

(2) http://www.nps.gov/partnerships/fundraising_individuals_statistics.htm