Amazon.com Buys Web-Based Provider Of Live Auctions

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, April 19, 1999

Big online retailer Amazon.com has agreed to purchase LiveBid.com, a provider of live-event auctions on the Internet. The buy expands Amazon.com's recently launched Auctions service, pairing its eight million customers with the LiveBid.com proprietary software to give local and regional auction houses full access to a growing Internet auction community.

Using LiveBid.com's real-time software, auction houses are able to broadcast their auctions over the Web. Online bidders can participate in live auctions in real time, competing directly with bidders present at the auction site. "The big winners here are the world's traditional auction houses," says Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Appraisal and authentication are important, and no one can do it better than established and expert auctioneers. We're going to actively team up with them so they can expand their reach with LiveBid.com's technology and Amazon.com's eight million customers." LiveBid.com's technology has been used successfully with a number of notable auctions including the 1999 O.J. Simpson estate auction and the auction of the only complete Titanic ticket in existence.