Converge Launches ConvergeTrade

Electronic News, August 20, 2001 by Rob Spiegel

CONVERGE INC., A CONSORTIUM E-MARKETPLACE BASED IN Peabody, Mass., last week announced the launch of its global marketplace, ConvergeTrade. The platform allows buyers and sellers to secure or liquidate inventory across 180 different families of electronic components using auctions, negotiations or quotes. Since its inception in May, Converge has conducted more than 230 successful online auctions, moving more than $16.4 million in inventory, according to company representatives. They also claimed that 70 percent of all computer product forward auctions have found a buyer.

Bob Kramich, Converge's vice president of marketing, noted that Converge had added-in functionality, including the ability to conduct anonymous online auctions. "In the offline world we were anonymous, but in the online world we did not have the ability to keep people anonymous," Kramich said. He also explained that traders can conduct auctions in multiple currencies and can receive reports and review bid history. "These are functions the founders (of Converge) drove."