drmike: The cid number is a search number stored in their database. Some sites do it to save on CPU usage when folks are all searching for the same thing over and over again.
TT_TT_TT_TT: thanks for clarifying that - thought it was some hidden afficilate/customer id as using the link without the cid part let to the exact same page so i expected a "ref id" there.
If/As i was wrong i apologize to @fr33kSh0w2012 regarding that (while i still find the site quite "meh")
Was just coming back. Scanned the source code. Appears to be a contest code. Well, the code references the number as a 'contestimg' code. I'm not logging into their website to figure out what's going on. Google'ing doesn't pull up anything nor does scanning their facebook page.
But to go back to my search results, vBulletin does their searches with a number code like that and stores the results in their database for a period of time.
I don't recall my moms talking about the website but it's one of those "If you have to give up information just to see an offer, it;s too good to be true" things. Plus they're all mostly Amazon diehards.
Disclaimer: I have no idea what's going on here. The $1 for a piece of computer equipment though sounds like one of those auction websites selling off iPads at a listing price of a buck though that we see advertisements for.