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To: re3 who wrote (51729)	4/20/1999 11:20:00 AM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Howard re bid.com (Bids). I checked it out the other day. It looks interesting especially their business to business model but I personally choose not mess with a $3 stock. I do have shares in Ebid @ .45c but that's because I know the owners, their strategy and they're right here in Carlbad. Are you buying it today? >> Toronto, April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Bid.Com International Inc., a Canadian Internet auction operator, said it received Nasdaq approval to begin trading tomorrow on the U.S. stock market. ''We are a U.S. story,'' Bid.com Chairman, Chief Executive and co-founder Paul Godin said. ''Ninety percent of our revenue comes from the U.S. marketplace in U.S. dollars.'' The Mississauga, Ontario-based company has been listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange since 1997 and will continue to trade on the TSE after it's listed on Nasdaq. Bid.Com, which sells retail products to its users at auction, is trying to raise its profile among U.S. consumers and investors. ''It's critical for one or a couple of companies to separate themselves from the pack to establish a brand name that is ubiquitous and will draw customers in at a low cost,'' said analyst Derek Brown at Volpe Brown Whelan & Co. Bid.Com is a business-to-consumer auction company, unlike eBay Inc., which sells consumer-to-consumer. Bid.Com competes with companies such as uBid Inc. and Onsale Inc., which sell products from companies to its online users. ''It all comes back to the idea of building a virtuous circle so a brand name will become well known and they'll be able to attract the majority of buyers and sellers,'' said Brown, who has a ''buy'' rating on eBay shares. He said eBay has established its brand name in the consumer-to-consumer auction market. Business-to-Consumer Market Godin wants Bid.Com to become a premier company in the business-to-consumer market. The company also sells products from businesses to other business on closed Web sites, which it also plans to expand, he said. ''We want to have our story out to a global audience from an investor standpoint,'' Godin said. He said Nasdaq has a broad exposure and Bid.Com plans to add European auctions to its U.S. and Canadian auctions later this year to increase its reach. Godin said that while it's doing the majority of its business in the U.S., the company will continue to be based in Toronto because it's less expensive at the current Canadian-U.S. dollar exchange rate. The company will begin trading tomorrow morning in the U.S. under the ticker ''BIDS.'' It currently trades under the ''BII'' ticker in Toronto. Its shares began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Composite Index on Friday. Bid.Com stock fell C$3.45 (US$2.28) to C$24.25 in Toronto trading of 4.28 million shares. Its stock price has risen more than threefold since it applied for Nasdaq approval in February. Registered Users The company gained notoriety last month as it began selling a talking Michael Jordan trading card to boost sales and the audience on its Web site. After a customer buys a card, they are automatically registered as a Bid.Com user. The company now has more than 100,000 registered users. Also last month, the company formed an alliance with Canada's Rogers Media Inc. and added Canada's online music retailer CD-Plus.com Inc., business directory Yellow.ca and Indigo Books Music and Cafe as advertisers on its Canadian Web site. The company also said it added CDNow Inc. to advertising on its U.S. auction site. Bid.Com sells items such as jewelry, perfume, computers, electronics and sports collectibles. The company, which was founded by its President Jeff Lymburner and Godin in 1995, runs separate auctions in the U.S. and Canada. It began auctioning products in the U.S. in 1996 and in Canada last year. Last month, the company also received a patent for its declining-price, or ''Dutch,'' auction using a computer. The company has 40 employees in its Toronto offices and five in Tampa, Florida. It plans to add more employees when it opens a European office later this year. Apr/19/1999 16:24 For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here. (C) Copyright 1999 Bloomberg L.P. <<