The internet has exploded with one penny auction sites. You may think they are another kind of eBay, but they may be more like a progressive slot machine.

"It's a lot like gambling," said SFU professor Judy Zaichkowsky, an expert on consumer behaviour.

"It's quite an attraction. It's a little addictive," she said.

Every time you click the mouse to bid, the price goes up by a penny. But you've had to buy each of your one penny bids for a lot more than a penny

"The cost of each of those bids is 60 cents, 90 cents, [or] a dollar," Zaichkowsky said.

The auction counts down and in the final few seconds there is a flurry of activity.

"Not a lot of time to think there," she said.

And when bids are placed in the last few seconds, more time is added to the auction so the cycle keeps repeating.

"Keeps your brain very active in the reward centre so it keeps you very entertained and focused on that," Zaichkowsky said.

For all that fun, you may not be the successful bidder, in which case the money you spent buying bids is gone on most sites.

And so what looks like an amazing bargain for the lucky winner can be an amazing money maker for the website.

For example on one site CTV found a 55" Samsung TV with a suggested retail price of $4,499.

Bidding has reached $192.68. Who would sell it for that?

The answer is in the math: $192.68 means 19,268 separate one-penny bids.

At 65 cents each, the website has taken in over $12,500.

"The people who are selling the goods are the definite winners," Zaichkowsky said.

You might ask if anyone is regulating these websites. The answer is no.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen