www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/73392
By November 18, 1999 Mouse-clicking has been added to paddle-waving in the 255-year history of Sotheby's auction house with the opening of a Web site that combines the old money of Sotheby's and the new money of Internet retailer Amazon.com. Executives of the two companies, which announced their joint venture in June, said on Thursday that the site sothebys.amazon.com will host its first online auction starting early on Friday and closing on Sunday. They said Sotheby's stamp of guaranteed authenticity on valuable items sets the site apart from others in the increasingly competitive online auction business. "Sotheby's has a dealer network of 4,500 and growing, so the treasures and collectibles that we sell typically will be in the higher-end," Joseph Galli, president and chief operating officer of Amazon.com, said in an interview. "To have that verification of authenticity to customers buying objects online is a major step forward in the online auction experience." The auction site is limited to computer users with Internet access in the United States, Canada, Britain and Germany, but the two companies hope to extend its reach to other countries in future. The joint site will complement sothebys.com, which is expected to offer online auctions later this year. Sothebys.com will focus on fine art treasures and collectibles traditionally sold in live auction rooms while sothebys.amazon.com will offer a wider variety of objects. The site makes its debut at a time when scores of other Web sites are offering fine art and antiques at auction, including eBay, eHammer.com, iCollector.com, Artnet.com, Art.com, NextMonet.com, auctions.yahoo.com and Guild.com. Sotheby's rival Christie's plans to upgrade its site by the first half of next year to include online auctions on its site christies.com. |
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