ow do you feel about a Sony Playstation 3 for 156 dollars when it should cost over 300? If it sounds like a scam, you'd be wrong. Welcome to Swoopo, an auction site similar to eBay but with an entirely different business model. Prices for high end products (provided by Swoopo) start very, very low and users bid on each item like a normal auction. However, each bid costs the individual a certain amount and everytime they bid, the time clock gains 10 seconds. Bids for items increase by 12 cents but packages of bids must be purchased. Items can go for really cheap if you have the time and patience to watch the clock make it to 1 second before placing your bid for two or so hours. Swoopo makes money on all of the bids that people forget costs them to place. For every bid placed, swoopo gains at least 60 cents (and there are tons of bids every hour).
Swoopo also features a built in discount if you lose the bid but still would like to buy the product. For every bid you placed on the item, Swoopo will hook youup with that much in discount from the retailer you receive the product from, hence it makes sense to only bid on things you really want. For example, if you spent $2 in bids on an item, you'll get the 2$ discount when you buy the item.

It's a complicated process, but if you can master the tricks, you'll get some good picks.

YouTube announced today that it will begin offering movie rentals on its site. Starting small, users will be able to rent one of five films from the Sundance Film Festival by using their GoogleCheckout accounts. However, YouTube is already in the works to expand this collection to include movies from the education and health industries.

While this may not be much right now, it is easy to see where this step could lead. Youtube could easily become the next Netflix if it begins to offer access to popular full length films from its site. It is already taking steps toward making its site more HD compatable, allowing for better quality on a big screen format. This could become a very profitable business model for YouTube if they continue to keep making these steps toward improving their site.

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In an article the was published by BusinessWeek, the author discusses how the popular online shoe retailer is selling their business model to other business. Their model is based upon the idea that "business should be fun," and this is shown when you get a tour of the headquarters and you have staffers ringing cowbell and blowing horns as you walk through the offices. Zappos says that they have mastered the art of selling shoes, so now it is time to make money off of people and their fixation upon the business model of the shoe retailer.