Cain McKnight has resigned as CEO for Orbit Drop. The Texas-based franchise consignment company named Alan Weinstein as his immediate replacement. Weinstein has 35 years of experience in business and finance, particularly in the specialty, franchise and department store retail industry.
In the same week, Orbit Drop announced two company acquisitions- www.VehicleMan.com and www.LiveVisual.com. VehicleMan is an affiliate network of online car salespeople, which will be used to develop the eBay Motors side of the franchise.
With software provided by LiveVisual, Orbit Drop can put real-time streaming video in eBay auctions. They intend to link to a live webcam in the store where the item is located. This is a unique opportunity for buyers to see the exact item, ask questions, and get close-ups of different areas as the auction progresses.
http://www.orbitdrop.com
Auction Mills has abandoned the brick-and-mortar drop-off store model and will be focusing solely on a business-to-business approach. They intend to liquidate overstock, dead stock and store returns as well as purchasing bulk lots of high-value merchandise to resell. They are in the process of developing their own auction software for their website. They intend to use this to save costs, but still plan to utilize eBay for some auction items. 218 million shares were also cancelled, bringing the outstanding total to 107,075,000.
http://www.auctionmills.com
eBay has modified the search feature for Trading Assistants. Now you can search by both address and/or zip code. This will return a list with the closest TA to you at the top of the list, but you can still sort it by feedback rating as before. Trading Assistants listed in the directory can now specify the distance they are willing to drive to pick up items from customers. This will be displayed in the search results.
http://shiptrack.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?TradingAssistant&page=main
Raptor Investments will be purchasing Thrifty Brothers' thrift store and eBay drop-off locations in Clearwater and Largo, Florida. Raptor has also agreed to purchase www.HotAutoWeb.com, an online-auction company and Titanium Power Seller that specializes in high-end classic cars and hot rods. Raptor's recently announced acquisition of EZ Auctions & Shipping is scheduled to close today (6/20/05).
http://www.raptorinvestments.com
QuikDrop is developing its franchise in the Southern Texas market. Melanie Meyers has been granted area development rights to open 20 eBay drop-off stores in Houston and South Texas. The first store, located in McAllen, TX, is scheduled to open next month.
http://www.quikdrop.com
