The 180-percent increase in concentrate lowered the price so low that in some cases it wasn't cost effective to pick the apples off the trees. Washington's apple industry can sell about 90 million boxes of apples a year for a profit, with about 60 million being sold domestically and 30 million exported. This growing tide of foreign apples coupled with flat demand is worrying the state's apple growers and making many leave the industry behind to try their hand at growing wine grapes and other crops. It is among a group of companies offering a specialized kind of buying by aggregating the buying power of consumers in a form of an auction. The more customers want a specific item, the cheaper Mercata can buy the product.
Consumers can actually watch prices drop on the website as they wait for deals to close.
Mercata has raised more money that its competitors, but it has also spent much more money creating a brand name and destination site as opposed to partnering on other company's websites. Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures Corp. owns a 54.7 percent stake in Mercata before the offering. Highland Capital Partners IV owns a 19.5 percent stake, and founder, president, and CEO Tom Van Horn owns 4.5 percent.