ReturnBuy Inc., a liquidator claiming to be one of the top 5 sellers on eBay, filed for bankruptcy last week. Recently named in Internet Retailer magazine's list of Top 50 "Best of the Web," ReturnBuy sold returned merchandise on eBay under the names "BrandNewBuy," "ReturnBuy" and "Real Crazy Mo." ReturnBuy may owe creditors as much as $10 million.

Lawrence Snapp and Jeffrey Rogers founded ReturnBuy.com as IvyVentures.com in the fall of 1999 with the aim of reinventing the way returns are handled. They sought to offer a new channel of virtually new, top-of-the-line merchandise to shoppers looking for a deal. ReturnBuy used eBay and their own Web site to reach those shoppers, and operated a brick-and-mortar outlet store in Columbia, South Carolina.

eBay participated in ReturnBuy's $15 million second-round funding completed in mid-March 2001. eBay has also made investments in other partners, including FairMarket and ChannelAdvisor.

Walt Shill, ReturnBuy's President and CEO, told the Washington Post late last week that ReturnBuy had agreed to be acquired by a $4 billion company, and that "the Chapter 11 process is one to basically allow us to restructure debt and restructure our cost structure."

http://www.returnbuy.com