Last year I wrote about Andy's Garage Sale , a unit of Fingerhut. Well, the site became so successful it's gotten its own buyers, who now scour other suppliers, looking for bargains to offer online. The Clue here is that, since transaction and publishing costs are minimal online, this can be a very good business if you've got the necessary back-end systems, warehouses, and shipping wherewithal. Recently I took a call from eMarketLive , which is trying to take this one step further. They sign consignment deals on computers and related equipment then put it online in live auctions.
Users place their bids, and when they're accepted they win a bargain.
The company's biggest problem is finding the goods, I was told. A recent visit found a nearly blank page, with a promise to email me when something came in. The Clues here are how the Internet makes markets more efficient, and what it takes to get in on the action. Products that don't move are getting bid-up in price, and moving through distribution quickly, as large businesses increasingly take to the Internet to move the merchandise in innovative ways. You can get into this business, if you understand that the requirements aren't just online, but offline.