Atlanta-based WorthPoint has signed a letter of intent to acquire Ohio-based GoAntiques, an online network for buying and selling antiques and collectibles that has 350,000 registered members and nearly a million visits and thousands of transactions each month. GoAntiques also told users this week it would launch its own auction site in September as a result of eBay's decision to close its eBay Live Auctions platform.

Founded in 1994 by Kathy Kamnikar as Antique Networking, GoAntiques offers 600,000 items from more than 1,300 dealers in 31 countries. It also offers one of the largest antiques and collectibles price guide, PriceMiner, with data collected from GoAntiques, eBay and TIAS.com, as well as auction houses.

GoAntiques was a major user of eBay's live-auction platform that also allowed auction houses to add a real-time bidding component to traditional auctions.

In a letter to users, GoAntiques pointed to eBay's decision to take away third party arbitration and mutual withdrawal of negative feedback as factors in its decision to launch its own platform. "In light of our inability to continue to conduct business in a manner that allows us to satisfy buyers and arbitrate any issues that may occur, and in light of the fact the platform is going away anyway, we have decided to launch our own auction platform in September," the email stated.

GoAntiques President Jim Kamnikar said he, his wife Kathy Kamnikar who founded the company, and the entire staff would be staying on to run GoAntiques. "This is what we have been working for - an acquisition by a company with incredible executive management, access to capital and a shared vision to provide top to bottom services including marketplace, reference, research and community in our vertical. And we strongly feel the timing couldn't be better!" Both companies are privately held and terms were not disclosed.

WorthPoint is a social network for researching the worth of antiques and collectibles and has over 50,000 registered users. WorthPoint offers a rich multimedia experience that helps collectors understand the worth of their items. As well as its team of experts on how to preserve or sell antiques and collectibles, members can share their knowledge and create online collecting communities. Worthpoint was founded in 2007 by Will Seippel.

GoAntiques' Kathy Kamnikar said she is thrilled to be part of the WorthPoint team. "Fifteen years ago my dream was to serve the antiques market. With Jim as President we've come a long way and now with WorthPoint we can go even further."

http://www.worthpoint.com

http://www.goantiques.com

Edited for clarity on 8/22/08.