What do you get if you cross eBay with William Hill? Swoopo!
No, that’s not a euphemism for swearing. You did read it correctly.
“Swoopo” is the cross between an auction site & gambling site. An odd idea, intelligently humourous, and well executed.
The idea is that bids only increase by a nominal amount (e.g. 10pence) for each bid made. When a bid is made it increases the auction’s countdown clock by a few seconds (e.g. 20secs). If the clock reaches zero with your username on the bid you get the goods going for a song. Music to the ears of most people during a recession, no?
It offers paticipants the potential for massive savings up to 100% off, I kid you not.
Such savings can be offered as each bid made has been prior purchased, and 50p of which goes towards meeting the company’s needs. So if we do the maths… an auction item reaching £100.00 would have involved 1000 bids, each earning the company 50p. For those of you reaching for a calculator – that’s £500 for the company. (Well I did say their idea was “intelligent” didn’t I?)
Now that’s what I call e-Commerce with an Eeeeeee!
I’m sure they will be in the news in the not too distant future…
Some bagged bargains on completed auctions
I’ve used Swoopo in the past but there are so many using it now it is SO hard to win, bidding against people from other countries as well. I found another one that is launching soon called doobids. I’d be surprised if anyone knows about it because I have not seen them advertising anywhere yet. They are getting around Facebook as a fan page but they seem a bit different from the others though because they have put extra features on it making the whole process of bidding slightly more transparent, doesn’t look as much like a scam! Theres a security certificate as well which is really important for secure transactions. UK company registered and VAT registered. Might be worth a punt for those that care.