New Web Service Caters to Closeouts
A new outlet for distressed merchandise has hit the Internet.
Ableauctions.com Inc., based in Fife, Wash., has launched iTrustee.com, a platform for buying and selling distressed merchandise from trustees, banks and other conservators to resellers, auctioneers and liquidators. Items sold include everything from big lots of apparel to machinery and office furniture.
The merchandise will be offered on iTrustee’s Web site and sales will be conducted in a sealed-bid type of scenario, said Ableauctions executive Thorsten Bonn.
Prospective buyers can view the merchandise online, order samples and submit sealed bids, which are good for 30 days. Winners pay iTrustee fees ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent of the sale price, based on the size and value of the lots.
The venture is an expansion of Ableauction’s iCollector.com, which broadcasts auctions live over the Internet for auction houses. That venture, however, deals in small lots and more traditional auction items, such as fine art and antiques.
The iTrustee portal will cater to large lots. The company expects apparel will be a regular category for the site. In its first month of sales, the site has already attracted a number of trustees looking to unload apparel and apparel-related items. One unnamed party has listed 20,800 pairs of Levi’s jeans, and others have listed footwear and sleepwear. An entire apparel factory will be put on the block in the coming weeks.
The sales are open to resellers and auctioneers only, Bonn said. The plan is to integrate iTrustee sales into the popular eBay Inc. auction Web site so prospective bidders can view the details of the sale. The company will also work closely with Unlimited Closeouts Inc., based in Ojai, Calif., to help keep the merchandise flowing and has engaged a prominent liquidator, also in Ojai, to direct its operations.
“We don’t want to start eBay all over again,” Bonn said. “This just fits well with the clicks-and-bricks business we’ve been working in.”
Ableauctions also owns RapidFusion Technologies, which develops point-of-sale software for mostly Web-based retailers.
—R.M.
