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Founded in Germany in 2005, Swoopo is one of the world's most innovative auction sites. Based on a unique software solution and business model, the company sells premium products like: computers, cameras, game consoles and even cars, at very low prices, according to its Web site. Swoopo auctions over 10,000 products per month and has more than 1.2 million registered customers, its Web site says.
Here's how it works: online customers buy "bids" in advance. They cost 60 cents each and are sold in packs of 40, 75, 150, 400 or 1000. Bidders have the choice of placing single bids, or, using an electronic bid assistant called the "BidButler."
Every bid placed increases the price of the product by 12 cents and the auction countdown by up to 20 seconds. To help keep track of the money spent on bidding, each auction displays the amount spent on bids by the customer and how much the bidder would save overall, if they won the auction at that moment.
The "last bidder standing" when the countdown reaches 0:00 wins the auction -- usually at a very low price. Winners save, on average, 65 percent when compared to the recommended retail price, according to the company Web site.
In December 2007, Swoopo was successfully launched in the UK, followed by Spain in May 2008 and the US and Austria in September 2008.
Swoopo is an Internet company with a unique, worldwide business model. Swoopo states it is the creator of "Entertainment Shopping" on the Internet, and, one of the first companies to combine e-commerce and entertainment. All of our auctions are buzzing from the first to the last second. Every user can get top of the range, brandname products for extraordinarily low prices, Swoopo's Web site states.
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