Reddit isn't the same thing. Reddit is a place for people to find interesting content and interesting discussions. If those discussions and links are being created by 500 people or 1 frantic person the end product is the same.

Having people waste time bidding on fake projects that have no chance of happening is not the same end product as a realistic site where projects are posted by real people and have a chance of happening.

Also I'll tell you from experience: Even if your product is 100% real people who lose their bids are going to think it is a fraud. If you site actually is a fraud you are just going to burn through all the early adopters extremely quickly. The strategy should be the opposite --- have the content be so good that early adopters feel like they've hit a goldmine.

I would love to read/know more if you don't mind