Today is the last day for the OBJ's readers to participate in a $150,000 online auction featuring 300 items from local merchants.

Already, dozens of readers have won their bids and, in most cases, saved 50 per cent off the regular retail value of the item.

"While biddings can start as low as $1, the items must reach 50 per cent of their value to sell," explains OBJ publisher Michael Curran. "What that means is that our readers often save between 40 and 50 per cent off the regular price."

By visiting Merkado.ca, readers can view and bid on more than 300 items provided by local merchants. These items include a camper trailer, a hot tub, vacation packages, fitness memberships, funeral services and much more. (Merkado.ca is owned and opera

"Based on the success of last year's auction, we expanded it," says Mr. Curran. "Readers seem to appreciate the opportunity to save hundreds or thousands of dollars with the peace of mind of buying from local retailers who have a track record in the community."

There are two ways to bid on Merkado.ca. Readers can place a real-time bid in increments as low as $1, or they can place an automatic bid, which raises the bid to a level determined by the reader if they're outbid.

Before bidding, readers must register – a process that takes about one minute.

While the online auction will close at the end of today, some items of smaller value are closing more quickly. These more frequent auctions include restaurant gift certificates, spa packages, golf certificates, hotel stays and cleaning services. The higher-value items, such as the camper trailer valued at $10,999 or the hot tub valued at $9,999 are ending today as well.

Winning bidders can either finalize the purchase online through Eigen, one of the world's largest online payment specialists, or provide payment details to a Transcontinental representative.

"The auction is easy and fun. It allows readers to possibly save huge dollars," says Mr. Curran. "From a merchant's point of view, they trade auction items for advertising credits in our newspaper. It's a win-win-win for everyone."

Publisher's Note: Some readers reported problems logging into the auction site. This was apparently caused by a Windows update that was blocking access. The Transcontinental Internet development team has now resolved this issue. Apologies for any inconvenience this caused.