Internet start-up company MarketLive Inc., San Francisco, launched a computer-equipment liquidation site earlier this month that automatically adjusts prices based on supply and demand.
The site, emarktetLive at www.emarketlive.com, features a ticker running across the top of the Web page that includes products' current pricing, how many of the items are left in stock and an arrow indicating whether the price has stabilized or whether the last price change was a rise or drop. Each product has a confidential lowest-price limit.
According to Dan Monberg, chief operating officer at MarketLive, site visitors can buy at a product's ticker price anytime or register bidding prices along with their credit-card information. If the product hits the visitor's bid before it sells out, the transaction automatically takes place, and the buyer is notified by e-mail.
If a product sells out before it reaches a visitor's bidding price, MarketLive will destroy the bidder's credit-card information, Monberg said, adding that MarketLive will keep visitors' e-mail addresses to notify them of future sales.
Visitors also can download emarketLive's ticker, watch it as they use other programs on their PCs and use it to click back to the emarketLive site, he said.
The site launched with 25 each of four computer peripherals. Monberg said that within a month, the site will sell laptops, computers, printers and other hardware from Intel, IBM, Apple, Hewlett-Packard and other manufacturers.
“For instance, we will probably end up offering from 300 to 500 Pentium products,” he said. “We want to ramp up to [big-ticket items] as soon as possible, because that's when the site will get exciting.”
Monberg said the site was designed with resellers in mind, but its deep discounts should appeal to consumers. Many of the products on emarketLive will be refurbished, excess inventory and end-of-lifecycle items.
Monberg said MarketLive has a database of 5,000 dealers to whom the company will market via e-mail.
The site is live from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST daily. Visitors who try to buy products after hours will be notified that the market is closed and asked to register their e-mail addresses.
