Look what a cat dragged in! On plurk, a user shared a link to a new and locally maintained online bidding site, Winila.com. What made me curious to try signing up for this site, after navigating it and despite me ever engaging in online auctions, are the past winning bids on premium gadgets on Winila’s Past Auctions archive. Observe:

iPod Shuffle 2Gb: winning bid, $5.10 (retail price $73.75)
iPod Shuffle 4Gb: winning bid, $0.14 (retail price $98.75)
Apple iPod Nano 8GB: winning bid, $3.14 (retail price $186.25)
Skullcandy Lowrider: winning bid, $0.40 (retail price $65.00)
HP 250GB Pocket Media Drive: winning bid, $0.14 (retail price $59.99)
Sony PlayStation 3 Slim (120GB): winning bid, $2.33 (retail price $410.00)

The true test here, however, and I could only verify after winning one or more (hopefully) of the bids is the ease of payment, hassle-free shipment, and smooth/fast claim of product after payment has been made. That one still remains to be seen. For you to bid, you will need to have “bid vouchers,” and 20 bid vouchers cost $10.00. Bid vouchers are also being offered for bidding and could be had for much less. As I understand it, one bid voucher for one bid. Should you want to out-bid a current bid (that out-bid your previous bid), that will cost you another bid voucher. I saw that bids came in increments of $0.01 so 20 bid vouchers can go a long way.

[Edit, around 4 hours from original date of post] I got to see an iPod Touch 8Gb auction near its close and, boy, was it intense!! Apparently, per winila’s Help Center page, “WiniLa Open Auctions have additional rules to make bidding fair – each bid you place increases the auction timer by 10 seconds, and every 30^th bid increases the auction timer by 2 minutes.  The last bidder to place a bid when the timer hits zero is the winner!” Each time a bid goes in, the time counter gets extended accordingly! There was no need to refresh the screen because you will see the updated time and latest bid price at real time. I watched in earnest as the bids rose from $0.04 until the final price of $0.92.

Below is the Press Release material sent to me by Winila. Let’s do this!

Entertainment shopping site Winila to Launch in IP e-Games Domination IV

Bringing you the best of online shopping, e-Game’s partner WiniLa invites everyone to its grand launch at Domination IV–the biggest online gaming event in the Philippines.

WiniLa is a new and exciting online auction offering daily discounts on the hottest gadgets and accessories in the market. Developed and maintained locally, the site allows bidders to receive up to 80% savings on pre-selected technology and lifestyle brands such as Playstation 3, Wii, XboX, Blackberry, iPhone, iPod, Mac Mini, Apple TV, Sony digital cameras, and Nokia mobile phones.

Just register for FREE at www.Winila.com to avail these features:

• Choose from different bid-credit packages that suits your budget
• Engage in auctions that start at a price of zero
• Buy an item outright without bidding
• Use an automated Winbroker who will do the bidding for you
• Ease of use with multiple bid windows
• Earn free bid credits for every friend referral

You may also experience WiniLa at Domination IV happening on April 10, 2010 (Saturday) at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. To celebrate its grand launch, a special live auction will be held at the Winila booth for its registered users. Up for bid are i-Pods, Skullcandy headphones, Samsung 19” LCD, Sony Playstation 3 Slim, PSP Go, and other cool items.

Winila–Spend small, Win Big!

See you there!