AwardsW, a Hong Kong-based penny auction startup, launched in December 2011, joining a global trend of such schemes. Its website, AwardsW.com, operates alongside YouBidWin.com, both claiming ownership by Awards World Co. Ltd. This model mirrors structures seen in companies like Zeek Rewards and Bidify, which also attracted significant member investment despite business model concerns.
The company operates as the multi-level marketing arm for the penny auction site YouBidWin. Both websites state they are owned by Awards World Co. Ltd, with headquarters in Hong Kong's commercial center. The company provides no additional information about its ownership or management.
AwardsW.com and YouBidWin.com were registered on December 7, 2011. Their domain registration information is set to private. Hong Kong lists an "Awards World Co. Limited" as a locally registered company under CR No. 1697776, but offers no further public details. Both AwardsW and YouBidWin websites are hosted in the United States.
AwardsW identifies bids sold through its YouBidWin platform as its primary product. YouBidWin offers a single type of retail bid, available to both affiliates and customers. The websites do not disclose the cost of these retail bids. A retail store link on the AwardsW website has displayed an "under construction" message for nearly eight months since the company's launch.
The AwardsW compensation plan uses a profit-sharing model. It states that 70% of daily net profits from bid sales are distributed among company affiliates. Each affiliate's share of this daily profit pool depends on their accumulated "points." Affiliates earn points when their referred customers buy retail bids, or when affiliates transfer their own purchased bids to customer accounts.