If anyone needed further evidence that consumers are embracing auctions to buy retail products, the experience of ReturnBuy should suffice. ReturnBuy, which is partly owned by eBay, sells 80% of the returned merchandise it processes for manufacturing and retail clients, including WalMart.com, Sony and Intel, at online auctions, Steve Kirchner, senior vice president of marketing, tells internetretailer.com.
The benefits of online auctions: They eliminate most of the intermediary steps between the retailer and the ultimate disposition of the merchandise and they return 30-50% more revenue, Kirchner says. Using proprietary Channel Engine software, ReturnBuy analyzes each product returned to its 250,000-square-foot processing center in Columbia, SC, to determine the best method for disposal. Four-fifths of the merchandise goes to standard auction, Dutch auction or fixed-price auction. The remainder goes the traditional disposal route to small retailers or liquidators.
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