A Houston entrepreneur has joined the recent wave of creative auctions by
attempting to sell off minority ownership in his online company through t=
he
eBay auction service. Neal Verma put Priceman.com, Inc. on the block shor=
tly
after midnight Tuesday, seeking to raise $10 million (US$) for a 47.39
percent stake in the company. The auction runs until next Tuesday. "Be yo=
ur
own venture capitalist and acquire a stake in Priceman.com, Earth's bigge=
st
shopping comparison engine!" reads the pitch line on Verma's eBay listing
for the share.
Selling or Marketing?
With a minimum starting bid of $10 million, it is unclear whether Verma's
auction is a tactic to avoid the traditional means of raising cash from
outside investors -- the highly volatile stock market or the overwhelmed
venture capital market -- or a marketing stunt to raise awareness of the
company. On the auction listing page, Verma reassures potential buyers th=
at
if they buy the stake via eBay, they will get a chance to resell it next
year. "We are offering an exit strategy for this investment by way of a
hopeful public offering in nine months," he says in the listing's product
description. According to a visitor counter, the auction attracted more t=
han
100 visitors Wednesday morning. There were no bidders as of press time. =
"I
decided to take an unconventional route and see if I could raise capital
through an auction site like eBay," said Verma, who founded Priceman.com
last year with his friend Neil Samuel. "If this works, it could open up a
whole new way for companies and individuals to help startups find the
capital they need to grow. It would really create a new avenue for startu=
ps
to get cash and for those who have the cash, to find startups to put mone=
y
into."
Finding a Niche
Where is such a unique sale listed on eBay, where millions of items are
offered daily in more than 1,600 categories? For lack of a more specific
category, the Priceline.com share is listed in "Miscellaneous: Business,
Office," along with such oddities as a bank vault, 50-foot rolls of bubbl=
e
wrap and a Samurai sword. Priceman.com is an Internet shopping comparison
engine. The site uses shoppers' preferences to search categories such as
Computers, Electronics, Fashion, Gifts, Books, Music, Sporting Goods and
Toys, and it provides price comparisons and information on product
availability. Priceman searches more than 30 price engines on the Web,
including auctions and classified ad sites, and claims to be the Internet=
's
largest price search site.
Source:
www.ecommercetimes.com/news/articles/990908-9.shtml
Tushar J. Mehta
email: [email protected]
voicemail: (206) 405-2335