National Auctioneers Association (NAA) announced the dissolution of its relationship with Ableauctions.com Inc., a high-tech liquidator and online auction facilitator that operates the domains iCollector.com and NAALive.com. NAA Live is an online auction site utilized by members of the NAA to market auctions both live and online. Ableauctions.com Inc. will continue to operate the domain name naalive.com until April 30, 2010, and effective May 1, 2010, naalive.com will direct back to the National Auctioneers Association homepage auctioneers.org.
The NAA, the nation's largest professional association dedicated to the auction profession and industry, has maintained an affinity relationship with Ableauctions.com Inc. for over 5 years.
"It was determined by the NAA and Ableauctions.com Inc. leadership that the two organizations would terminate their affinity relationship effective August 31, 2009," said Hannes Combest, NAA CEO. "Since the relationship was created, Ableauctions (NAA Live) has been a proud supporter of the association and its membership. NAA Live and other live online auction companies have led the way in the expansion of auction technology and thanks to their endeavors the auction method of marketing continues to grow and flourish both live and online in today's marketplace."
Thorsten Bonn, CEO of iCollector.com/NAALive.com, said, "While we have enjoyed our relationship with the NAA, this does not mark the end of our support for members of the association. Rather, we look forward to a new beginning with a cutting edge platform suitable for all types of auction and one which is fully adaptable to the needs of today's auction marketplace. We will continue to support the NAA wherever possible and remain a proud advocate of the auctioneering profession."
Last year, Ableauctions.com announced it was seeking a new direction as a result of eBay's decision to suspend its live auction operations and what it called the "decreasing demand for liquidation inventory from top U.S. retailers." In July, Ableauctions.com Inc. executed a Share Exchange Agreement with its significant shareholders giving 97% of its common stock to China-based SinoCoking.
