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To: Impristine who wrote (49618)	4/8/1999 9:13:00 PM
From: Jenne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164685

AFTER THE BELL - theglobe.com up on stock split NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) - Online community theglobe.com Inc. (Nasdaq:TGLO - news) rose nearly 20 in after-hours trading after it announced a two-for-one stock split in an otherwise quiet session, dealers said Thursday. ''There's not much else,'' said one of them. theglobe.com shares went up to 74-1/2 from a close of 59 after the news, which was released after the market closed. The lack of activity contrasted with the level of trading during regular hours, which pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to its third record close of the week. Strong retailer sales and investor optimism about corporate earnings helped the index rise 112.39 points or 1.11 percent to close at 10,197.70. Company news released after the market close did not spur the return of investors. Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS - news), which announced plans to launch a 24-hour soap opera network, ended 1-1/8 higher

To: Impristine who wrote (49618)	4/9/1999 9:22:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164685

Web auctioneers on a roll, but problems looming By Nadja Rogoszynski NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - Need a color computer printer cartridge for $9.35 or a silver and gold Japanese sword for $1,325? Get online. Thousands of items, mostly mundane but sometimes exotic, are going, going, gone on Internet auction sites led by eBay Inc. <EBAY.O>, whose sky-high stock reflects the faith investors have in the industry's growth potential. Indeed, the Internet has created a new market for people who are more inclined to bid on a discontinued beanie baby than on a Van Gogh at Christie's. And prices are often so low they are a steal. "Online auctioning, like eBay's, is auctioning for the middle class," said Rakesh Sood, an analyst at Goldman Sachs who follows eBay, a company he says controls 89 percent of a market some say will grow to over $3 billion a year by 2002. But the low, low prices and other aspects of the business may spoil the party for Web auctioneers. Among the challenges, particularly for eBay, are fraud and, of all things, e-mail. EBay, unlike other cyber auctioneers OnSale Inc. <ONSL.O>, uBid Inc. <UBID.O> and online bookseller Amazon.com <AMZN.O> -- a newcomer to auctioneering -- isn't actually selling any goods, which makes problems like fraud a possibility. While "retail auctioneers" like OnSale actually own the products they sell, eBay acts only as a broker, providing an electronic format where buyers and sellers can do business. It now lists as many as 250,000 new items on the Web site (http://www.ebay.com) each day. EBay's profitability is based in part on its not having to use capital to hold inventory for sale. But this low overhead advantage may prove temporary. A somewhat vexing problem haunts eBay -- namely the challenge of keeping customers on the Web site long enough to make money from the deals they close. On the eBay Web site, a buyer sees a listing of items and can then place bids. Once the item is bought, the seller has to pay a small commission to the auction site. But during the process, the parties can leave the auction site and instead e-mail each other to negotiate transactions, representing a loss in revenues that is difficult to estimate. "E-mail is a very real problem," said Jerry Kaplan, CEO of OnSale Inc, referring to eBay's business. "I think much of the selling and buying is going on outside the auction process...I suspect this could have an impact on revenues." Analysts, like Derek Brown at Volpe Brown & Whelan Co, agree with Kaplan. "The problem comes from the fact that eBay never takes possession of the product...because of that, the success of the auction depends entirely on the trust of the two individuals," Brown said. Kaplan says the advantage of actually owning and selling the goods, like OnSale does, is higher commissions than on person-to-person sites like eBay's. "Retail auctions are in general more secure because we stand behind the goods...we give post-sale support, much like in a regular retail store," Kaplan said. Another advantage for retail auctioneers like OnSale and uBid is that they know what they're selling and therefore face virtually no risk of fraud. That lack of security has gotten eBay in trouble with regulators from New York City, who blew the whistle on the company after fake sporting goods memorabilia changed hands on eBay's site. The company signed a legal document last month agreeing to make "reasonable" efforts to halt deceptive sales practices. Another problem that all online auctioneers may increasingly face, stems from the simple fact that the usually inexpensive goods sold on the Web sites -- the very draw for most users -- could seriously cut into earnings. Commissions charged are linked to prices of auctioned items, so overall profit margins may remain slim as long as low-priced items remain the bread and butter of such sites. EBay is looking at ways to improve commissi...