Several of those who won items seemed surprised at the media attention that followed.
Users can decorate their avatar's personal apartment ("HomeSpace") with default, bought, or won items.
* Sponsor a contest by Apple Inc. for best-designed med device from an independent party, and the winning item will receive a makeover from Jonathan Ive himself.
Mr. Clayberg, for example, has perfected several strategies for finding and winning items he wants.
They can also present their items at a Time Capsule Fair, explaining their choices to parents and other visitors, with the winning items going into the capsule.
Where older players were happy to win items like golf balls and canned corned beef in small shops, the bigger new parlors try to attract younger players with prizes like leather handbags and Swiss Army knives.
Contestants on a recently taped episode of "The Price Is Right" competed for the chance to win items associated with the former host Bob Barker's forthcoming autobiography, including a computer for purchasing the book and a truck to carry multiple copies home.
After you sign up, you can customize your profile, add friends and win items.
This second model was to help retailers with their merchandise selection by assembling a consumer panel of women who had proven that they could pick winning items.
For the uninitiated, Amazon offers several rounds of three-item deals, everyone votes on one of the three deals, and limited quantities of the winning items are sold at various times and dates throughout the holidays to randomly selected voters.
