A new European player in the Internet auction market appears to have global potential — and certainly has global ambitions.
At its launch, Belgium-based auctioneer iBidLive N.V. acquired UK-based software developer Articulate UK Ltd and Dutch Internet auction company TAC
Benelux B.V., and also owns London-based subsidiary iBidLive UK Ltd.
In a statement issued late Monday, the company said that its technological edge and global product appeal, plus a strong management team and a worldwide TV presence, would ensure that it become a major contender in the auction market.
iBidLive plans to work with established auction houses, bringing auctions to buyers and allowing them to bid in real time and from remote access via television, the Internet and telephone.
The technology used by iBidLive was first used in September 1998 when 30,000 viewers watched an
auction and over a third of the items were sold to TV bidders.
There are over 3,000 auction houses worldwide, conducting auctions worth US $200 billion in sales
each year. iBidLive believes it is positioned to offer benefits both to bidders and to the auction houses themselves. It said hopes to have 5 million buyers using its system — although it gave no precise time frame for achieving that figure.
iBidLive’s first live auction will premiere over the Internet on June 25 and 26, conducted by auctioneer Van Spengen of Hilversum.