There's eBay. It's stuffed with merchandise for sale, hasmillions of Web visitors daily, and it cleared $23 million inprofits last year.
Then there's ePier. The Spokane-based online auction site has afew thousand visitors a day. It generates no income yet, and it'scosting its founder, James Kim, about $6,000 a month in expenses.
Kim, 30, doesn't pretend that his first start-up business willmuscle its way to the top ranks of Web auctions.
He just wants some of that action.
"Our goal for now is to become one of the top two dozen auctionsites," said Kim, who founded ePier in 1998 and launched it in July.
Kim graduated from Mead High School in 1988 and earned a biologydegree from Pomona College in Los Angeles. He worked nine months atStanford's research center.
"I learned that research and academics don't fit my personality,"he said.
After returning to Spokane, he took a few computer classes atSpokane Falls Community College. When the Internet boomed around1994, Kim decided to develop a user-friendly business Web site.
By 1998 he had registered about 60 different Web domain names,including ePier. "A pier is a place for ships to unload or take oncargo. And I figured any name with an "E" in front of it had to beworth something," he said.
He moved the company to a duplex he purchased on North Regal, twoblocks west of Spokane Community College.
Kim then hired two full- and five part-time workers to prepare tolaunch ePier.
One programmer, 23-year-old Eric Schaller, took a job at ePierfor the challenge of working in a new company.
"It's got great moments, and it can also be frustrating," saidSchaller.
Kim figures he's invested about $250,000 of his own money in theproject so far. Additional funding came from his parents, he said.
"We're at a crucial stage right now," Kim said.
He's looking for an investment from venture capitalists in theregion to bring on additional staff and to market the company.
"We'd accept as little as $240,000, or as much as between $1 and$2 million," said Kim.
He sees signs that ePier will continue to grow. Since launchingin July, visitor traffic has grown 15-fold, he said. That's occurredby word of mouth. Kim hasn't advertised.
Revenue could come in several ways, Kim said. He hopes toestablish Web site exchanges and banner ads on ePier for otherbusinesses.
ePier's current item list is heavy on coins, stamps andcollectibles. Kim would like to recruit advertising from companiesselling similar products, such as trading cards or sportsmemorabilia.
He's also developing a subscription plan.
For a yet-undetermined monthly fee, ePier subscribers would gainfeatures and benefits to assist their Web experience, said Kim.
On eBay, anyone selling an item through auction ends up payingeBay a fractional fee. They also face assorted insertion and listingfees, depending on the type of item sold.
EPier doesn't have any seller fees.
"That's one thing we're doing to give our sellers an advantage. Aseller who doesn't have to pay a fee is able to accept a lower priceand still make money," said Kim.
Bonnie Goodwin, a Pekin, Ill., collector of vintage clothes andcollectible toys, has tried unsuccessfully to sell several items onePier over the past two weeks.
"We have not sold anything at ePier at this time. Peoplesearching ePier seem to be more lookers than buyers. They may notfeel secure with the site yet."
If ePier starts generating money, Kim admits his company's smallsize will play a key role.
EBay has so much traffic now that bidders are competing againstthemselves, said Kim.
The result is they're paying nearly market prices when the wholepoint of an auction is to find good deals, he added.
Because ePier has fewer overall bidders than big sites like eBay,visitors at ePier are more likely to find great deals, said Kim.
What the site needs, however, are more than the current 500-somesellers. "We need to gain business and attract more visitors," Kimsaid.
Though he's a business novice, Kim said he's gone through a two-year crash course in Start-up 101.
"A lot of what I'm doing I learned by looking at other placesonline. The Net is a great resource," he said.
Two sidebars appeared with the story:
1. AT A GLANCE
Top auction sites
The top nine Web auction sites, based on a survey by Gomez.com:
1. eBay
2. Amazon.com
3. Yahoo Auctions
4. FairMarket Network
5. Boxlot
6. eDeal
7. eHammer
8. Auctions.com
9. Haggle Online
2. ONLINE
Epier's Web address is www.epier.com
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