It's difficult to get your SBD back on those bid bots. It's possible, but difficult and never a sure thing. Most often, they're losing money on it.
The rep system is all messed up anyway. The weight of upvotes should have nothing to do with your rep. Rep should be determined by the opinion of people with whom you interact.
Not all of the SBD no, but you also get steem power and a higher rep. Which sadly more people will vote on thinking rep and current vote payout is what a quality post is on steemit. They want the curation rewards. There is a lot broken.
That's true about the perception that rep = whale.
In most cases with those bid bots, you're losing...or paying a lot for rep. You could power up with the SBD and put it to better use most of the time.