Gadgets

Sun Cellular’s “Text 2BID” the coolest gadgets

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief October 2, 2006 · 2 min read

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Just read in the newspaper (Philippine Star) about this Sun Cellular promo Text 2Bid. I thought they were launching a BidShot competitor of some sorts but this one looks like a regular promo.

Here are the mechanics:

Cool new gadgets will be given away in an auction — iPods, Nokia cellphones, digital cameras and Sony PSP — however, this auction will award the person who makes the lowest unique bid for that item.

An Apple iPod 60GB has a starting bid of Php250 only. If there are at least two people bidding the same amount for the gadget, they’re disqualified. The winner must have sent a unique bid amount with the lowest value.

Example:

Bid Amount : Php251.50
Number of Bids : 3 (not unique)

Bid Amount : Php252.75
Number of Bids : 6 (not unique)

Bid Amount : Php254.50
Number of Bids : 1 (unique)

Bid Amount : Php261.25
Number of Bids : 3 (not unique)

Bid Amount : Php261.50
Number of Bids : 1 (unique)

The person who bid Php254.50 wins.

Here’s the official list of items being given away:

Apple iPod 60GB
Keyword: IPOD
Starting Bid: Php250
Auction Date: September 13 – 20, 2006

Nokia N93
Keyword: N93
Starting Bid: Php300
Auction Date: September 20 – 27, 2006

Sony PSP
Keyword: PSP
Starting Bid: Php150
Auction Date: September 27 – October 4, 2006

Canon Ixus Digicam
Keyword: IXUS
Starting Bid: Php250
Auction Date: October 4 – 11, 2006

To join the auction, just text BID < keyword > to 2243 starting September 13 using any Sun Cellular SIM.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

8,007 Articles

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64 Comments

Hervie · 19 years ago

Hi to all of you guys! Just searched for my name on the net and got through here.
Sana nga ulitin ng sun promo nila like this one. Na swertehan lang talaga ako nung manalo ako kasi naka 49 bids lang yata ako nun.
More is that ako pala unang nanalo. Bdw, nice blog you got here…

pjayb69 · 19 years ago

grabe ubos na rin load ko d2 and until now my bids are not unique. the big question is is this for real or what?

Anthony · 19 years ago

@swagchaser:

Sun has recently removed this feature because it seems that it is easier to bid and the bidders tend to bid only on the last day of the bidding.

swagchaser · 19 years ago

“But now, the bid process is more interesting because they now tell you to bid higher or lower in order to boot out the lowest unique bid” by anthony

Does Sun cell really tell you to bid higher or lower? How come I dont get such alerts?

Joreh · 19 years ago

elow
pnu
po
ba
d2?
paturo
nmn
po
slamat..

yaten · 20 years ago

err… follow-up on my last post.

i need to disclaim that the feature is not for sun cell, its for the company i’m a consultant with.

just reviewed my post and it might be confused as i’m being a consultant with sun, like i said, i’m not connected to them, i’m not a consultant to them. i’m a consultant to another company that had a chance to talk to one of their technical coordinators.

just to be clear.

yaten · 20 years ago

that is legitimate, i know someone from sun cellular. i’m not connected to sun cellular in anyway, i’m an individual consultant. i get to know this sun employee because of the nature of our work, we are both technical coordinators and we had a chance to coordinate with each other for a certain feature.

that’s all i can say. i never wish to start a debate or arguement regarding their legality but i just don’t feel right just letting their good company bashed by accusations without even seeking for proof. you can’t just say they are a scam just because you don’t win.

manny · 20 years ago

just like any game , strategy is required and the more you bid the better the chance. kaya order na regular load hehe, im giving big discounts on loads para maka bid kayo marami 0922*******

rachie · 20 years ago

325.60 daw winning bid sa n73 sabi sa text alert. sa adidas naman 319 something. di pa rin ako nananalo wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

betsy · 20 years ago

papost nman agad nung latest winner ng n73 pleaseeee!

Gem · 20 years ago

N93 yung ngayon, mag end s Wednesday ulit, 1159am.. tpos nakita ko sa ad kahapon, Suunto Watch by time Depot and XBOX yung next na iaauction…:D

@bidder · 20 years ago

may schedule kayo ng mga inauauction ngayon?

rachie · 20 years ago

wala pa rin ba nananalo miski isa sa atin? i really wonder bakit ganun ung system nila. hindi kaya pinoprogram lang nila yan?

Sir Burpalot · 20 years ago

It’s much harder now that the clues are there. At the same time, it’s much more exciting.

I used to be the lowest unique bidder for a few minutes before. But, ever since the clues came out, I don’t get to last longer than a minute. Then, again, I get to be the lowest unique bidder more often now because of the clues.

I spent a lot already, but I’m enjoying it. I want to bring this down to a science. I even have an Excel file at home that tracks my bids. I also placed bid markers this time so I have an idea of where to continue bidding after work.

If I’m willing to spend 4k on bids, I think I can cover all the bids for the first 2k possibilities. Given the track record of the previous winning bids, this might work. If my strategy above doesn’t work for the N80, I’m going all out for the N93. Assuming I still have money. Hahaha!

Maybe Sun could do an EB party for the bidders and hold an on-site auction just for us. That would be cool!

Anthony · 20 years ago

@rachie:

I think strategy nila yung clues para maging mas interesting ang bidding process at may competition. Mas dadami ang sasali at ganado sila para i-boot out ang lowest unique bidder. Nakakatamad kasi pag nanghuhula ka lang at mas magastos!!

Dami ko na din load na nasayang pero no luck pa din… =(

rachie · 20 years ago

nagtataka lang ako bakit kelangan nilang magbigay ng clues. eh di ba lowest unique meaning this is a reverse auction so dapat hindi nila dini-disclose ung mga bids until the bid period ends. by giving clues, they somehow discloses the current lowest unique. madali lang naman iprogram ung ganyang klase. malay natin kung kilalang mga insider ung nananalo. sanannaman hindi. ive tried bidding na rin for 4 weeks straight perodi pa ko nananalo. spent around 1-1.5k a week pero walang luck. swerte nung mga nanalo. sana manalo naman ako

Gem · 20 years ago

Ay kayo rin pala nag bibid dto!! baka kayo yung nag ou-out sa pagiging lowest unique bidder ko! hehehe! meron sa dyaryo nkalagay, N80 yung nxt na auction.. …nakatanggap ako last wk ng alert na mag eend na ung bidding, kaya nga sobrang bid ako nung last day.. kaso sayang!! di ko nakuha..! feeling ko dpat nung monday palng nag bid na ako eh! …Lauren, ang alam ko hanggang 1159AM hindi PM yung end ng auction nila lage eh.. nakita ko rin sa dyaro si Hervie.. ang swerte tlga nila… dibale.. gagalingan ko tlga!!!!

Anthony · 20 years ago

Oo nga eh sayang at nawala din sa isip ko na tuwing Wednesday ang end at start uli ng bid. yung ALERT ON, 5x a day magtxt sau ng bids mo at 2 pesos din bwat isa. yung daily update kasi 1 beses lang.

May nanalo daw talaga sbi ni Nikoy….

lauren · 20 years ago

aww.. syng nmn. but they text u nmn kapag may panibagong item db? anu pla diff ng bid alert on? eh db nagaalert nmn tlg cla kht nd mo inactivate yun? wow! syng.. :( dpt ata pinapatnubayan mo yng end date and time.. sa n73 kc db 11:59pm ng nov 1? so inaantay k nlng. mrn bbng kilala na tlgng nanalo? prng ang impossible manalo eh..0.o

Anthony · 20 years ago

Wala pong list ng items eh.

Ako naman naiinis ako kasi Php 1000 ang nagastos ko para sa ipod+bose sound dock.

Dati may warning kung patapos na ang bidding on that day para magbid ka to the last minute. Yung last day ng ipod, walang warning na tapos na ang bidding on that day kaya hindi muna ako nag-bid. Ayun, nung tapos na, saka nag-text na tapos na pala kaya bale wala lahat ng bid ko!!!!!

lauren · 20 years ago

hi lam nyo ba kng san ko pwde mkta lht ng items up for bidding and the dates (wen magstart and end)? thanx. :) syng ngyn ko lng nkta to! nkalampas 300 text na ata ako.. :( sa nov 1 p pla mttpos n73.. grrr..

Anthony · 20 years ago

@lagosite:

Baka mali lang ang tingin mo kasi pag sakto na yung bid, wala ng HIGHER or LOWER. Pag-sinabing hindi unique, ibig sabihin na-boot out mo na yung lowest bidder at siguradong HIGHER bid na ang kailangan mo.

Pag ok ang bid mo, may text saying na ikaw ang lowest unique bidder at kung mamalasin, ma-boot out ka uli. My text ka na ma-receive kung di na unique ang bid mo.

Kaya ako sa last day na mag-bid para siguradong patapos na ang raffle at sisiguraduhin lang na ikaw ang last lowest unique bidder.

lagosite · 20 years ago

@anthony:

totoo pre? ang nangyari naman sakin, na-narrow down ko na yung bid, as in…sabi kasi ng sun, nung nag bid ako ng something, lower daw, tapos nagbid uli ako, higher daw…e eksaktong isang number lang yung nasa gitna, nung yun na yung bid ko, biglang sabi lower daw…pucha…inisip ko na lang, meron ng nakabid dun tapos na “dethrone ko”…

e kung sakaling ganun, sino na ang magiging unique bid?

Anthony · 20 years ago

Yup, it’s very addictive! With the new setup, the bid can go up to 600 i think because you are tempted to beat the lowest bid and of the higher and lower indicators.

May the most patient man wins!

Pero ok kung sa last day na mag-bid para tipid!!! hehehehe

Sir Burpalot · 20 years ago

Oops. Yeah, maybe your sister got it wrong.

So, you’re bidding now. If I didn’t know better, I’d be thinking you were trying to get rid of the competition by telling people not to bid. Hahaha!

Anyway, the iPod 80GB with the Bose SoundDock is going to be mine, so give it up. Bwahahaha!

Okay, seriously, if I fail or succeed at that, I’m going for the N73. And whatever else they offer. This is addictive…

Anthony · 20 years ago

Maybe my sister does not remember it correctly. =)

But now, the bid process is more interesting because they now tell you to bid higher or lower in order to boot out the lowest unique bid.

I’m still playing for an 80GB Ipod with Bose sound station =)

Sir Burpalot · 20 years ago

I doubt if anyone else made a legal bid of 165.77 for the PSP. If I were to do a con, I’d make sure no one would figure it out. Using a number that someone else used would be plain stupid.

Sorry, Anthony, but I doubt you remember things correctly.

A publicly listed company would never risk a scam anyway.

Nikoy · 20 years ago

I read an article in Philstar and the guy who won the iPod has a face and a name — and a very big smile, too. He’s Hervie Fajardo, according to the caption.

So I’d say it’s a real service. Well, I have not won though. And I’ve spent quite a sum already. But hey, at least I’m sending the bids and getting charged for it. Di katulad dun sa dati kong SIM, I receive stuff I did not ask for.

Anthony · 20 years ago

I have joined this and almost spent Php500 on load just to make the unique bid on the PSP! The winning bidder texted in Php165.77 and got the PSP as reported via SMS, but there are no names. In short, I never won.

The funny thing is that my sister has texted the same amount… smells fishy, unfortunately my sister has already deleted the msg containing her bid of Php165.77.

Wag na kayong sumali!!!!