QuiBids Quarterly: Q3 2012

Vol. 1, No. 1

September 2012

www.QuiBids.com

QuiBids Quarterly SHOPPING WITH A SMILE

Getting it right: QuiBids and the BBB Bob Manista

President, Better Business Bureau Serving Central Oklahoma

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he Better Business Bureau has responded to many developing online sales formats and business models since the Internet first exploded into the public consciousness. The Internet has changed the way that people do business, both buying and selling, and the BBB was one of the first organizations to begin suggesting ethical, logical means of doing business online.

So-called penny auctions have proven to be no different from the A Letter from Bob Manista continues on page 2

Inside This Issue How does QuiBids work? 3 QuiBids and Oklahoma 4 A look at QuiBids’ charitable efforts 5

photo by Erik Gause

QuiBids Customer Support manager Sara Howell helps a family shop for groceries at an Oklahoma City Homeland in May. The shopping trip was set up by the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, which arranged for QuiBids employees to spend an afternoon stocking a food pantry and sponsor two underprivileged families’ trips to the grocery store. See pages 4 and 5 for more about QuiBids’ work in the community.

A Brief History of QuiBids

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uiBids started in an Oklahoma City apartment in summer 2009, after Matt Beckham and Shaun Tilford set out to build a service that improved on the online “penny auction” model started in 2005 by Swoopo, a German company. Just four months after the October 2009 launch, QuiBids surpassed Swoopo’s output of 250 auctions per day, while employing just a quarter of the staff.

With the goal to build the best, most fun alternative to traditional online shopping, QuiBids was off and running full speed. The company expanded rapidly in 2010 and 2011 in both size and public stature as it built the entertainment retail auction market. While most online entrepreneurs stake out scenic spots in Silicon Valley, QuiBids proved a successful tech startup could bloom in the Midwest.

Hear about QuiBids’ future from CEO Matt Beckham on page 6

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www.QuiBids.com

September 2012

A Letter from Bob Manista Continued from page 1

QuiBids’ Completed Auctions vs. Competitors: July 31, 2012

way the public has approached many *Competitor stats are based off estimates new offerings online. At first, there is an almost-natural level of suspicion, QuiBids ($137,427) QuiBids (2,820) then, as familiarity and the expertise of both the site designers and site users grow, there is a perceivable change DealDash ($24,400) DealDash (226) in the level of acceptance for the new marketplace.

Just when everyone was getting comfortable buying everything from Beezid ($9,500) Beezid (92) phone service to Soup at Hand through an online vendor, penny auctions popped up. Just like any other new MadBid ($7,700) MadBid (13) business format, the BBB approached them with cautious suspicion.

100000 200000 300000 1000 2000 3000 00 100 200 300 00 1,000 2,000 3,000 The BBB was familiar enough with RETAIL VALUE OF PRODUCTS AUCTIONED NUMBER OF PRODUCTS AUCTIONED online auctions to publish a book in 2007 to help eBay sellers be more successful, but — even now — many BBB managers take a dim turn on the business model, the policies in place ensure a view of penny auctions, mostly because of the way they safe experience for the savvy buyer. QuiBids has done more market themselves. It boils down to the idea that people than enough to step away from the pack and justify refervoluntarily pay a small amount on the chance that they’ll ring to itself as something different. be the high bidder at the end of the auction. If they win, QuiBids vs. The Pack great. If they do not . . . not so great, because on most auction sites, “losing bids” are gone forever.

Among the penny auctions explored by the Better BusiThat is a big hurdle for most sites, especially with con- ness Bureau Serving Central Oklahoma, QuiBids stands sumers who are wary or especially critical of the core auc- out with a far more professional appearance than most, tion arrangement, and it often leads to claims that penny and the Buy Now policy that allows customers to recoup auctions are patently misleading. Coupled money spent on bids placed in “losing” aucwith the lofty discount claims and limited tions (and spend it toward the item’s listed mention of potential losses, some penny retail price) is not common among penny QuiBids is proactive, not reauctions set themselves up for negative reauction sites. actionary, and its pioneering views. And beyond their business model, Nearly every penny auction has pages management appears to have some penny auction sites simply do not of disclaimers and rules of the road and no maintained a philosophy of do business well. They incur poor delivery site operator can force consumers to read breaking new ground while records, complaints that the product auctheir policies — although that’s often the covering all the bases — a tioned was not what showed up on the buyfirst spot of dispute for complainants (to difficult balance to maintain er’s doorstep, and other disputes that raise the tune of “I thought it worked like eBay” for any growing business. red flags for any seller. or a another conventional, more familiar But as QuiBids points out, it is not a penauction site) — but QuiBids stands alone in ny auction site, and many of the concerns pertaining to the its efforts to create a level playing field by dividing bidders industry do not apply to its business. QuiBids maintains it- according to their relative levels of experience, providing self as an “entertainment retail auction” site these days, and tutorials to help bidders learn to be successful in the hobby, differentiating itself from the roster of penny auctions is a and cross-promoting itself through different world marsmart move. QuiBids has a solid track record for deliver- kets. ing the goods to winning bidders, and, for those who take There is a level of fairness at work in QuiBids auctions the time to understand the process and QuiBids’ specific Getting it Right continues on page 4

September 2012

www.QuiBids.com

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How Does QuiBids Work?

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uiBids.com is an auction website where customers can shop for brand-new, factory-sealed consumer products risk-free. They sign up by creating a unique account and purchasing a Bid Pack, which includes 100 bids to be spent on auctions for electronics, housewares, jewelry and other products.

Each auction has a timer that counts down to zero. In the last 20 seconds of an auction, the timer resets whenever a customer places a bid, an action that also increases the auction price by one cent. The last customer to bid wins the auction, claiming the item by purchasing it at the discounted auction price.

Customers who bid on but do not

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win an auction still have the opportunity to purchase the item at the listed price, less the money used on bids. It is called Buy Now, and QuiBids was the first site to offer such a feature across its entire inventory. It is a cornerstone of the company’s success, and it guarantees that customers never have to walk away empty-handed.

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Product image — QuiBids sells thousands of items every day, all of them brand-new and factory-sealed. Electronics are the most popular items, but customers go for everything from Walmart gift cards to iPhones and kitchenware by Cuisinart.

Auction price — Every time a customer bids, one cent is added to the auction price, and the clock resets back to :10, :15, or :20. If the clock reaches :00, then the last bidder gets to buy the item for the auction price.

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Customer profile — Customers choose their own usernames and avatars, which show up every time they bid. They can add to their profiles by earning QuiBids Badges, which denote achievements and major auction wins.

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Buy Now — The Buy Now price is available to any customer, so long as they’ve bid on an auction for the particular product they wish to purchase. It’s a safeguard that creates a good situation for customers: Pay the listed price, or try to win the auction for a big bargain.

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www.QuiBids.com

September 2012

Getting it Right Continued from page 2

that does not appear to be a concern for its competitors. QuiBids is proactive, not reactionary, and its pioneering management appears to have maintained a philosophy of breaking new ground while covering all the bases — a difficult balance to maintain for any growing business. The company actively seeks and responds to criticism, tests its Bob Manista functions through independent third parties, and measures up to the BBB’s standards for marketplace conduct.

That level of customer service sets it apart from both experienced auction sites with a similar stance and newcomers to the online market. There is a more social element to QuiBids than other auction sites, more a sense of an online community than the competitive nature of others offering the same products in a similar setting.

Practically anyone with a PC could start an auction site and copy the

5 Reasons Why QuiBids is Good for Oklahoma

model now, but QuiBids has developed unique policies and a playground surrounding the auctions that would be hard to duplicate or even imitate.

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QuiBids’ business opens previously nonexistent distribution channels that funnel revenue into Oklahoma from other states and countries.

QuiBids and The BBB The BBB has certainly found QuiBids open and receptive to criticism, but the company’s staff is uncommonly eager to satisfy the terms of any disputes that arise as a routine part of doing business in this climate. That is a rare combination of circumstances.

Not every business understands how — or even why — it should participate in the online marketplace, and QuiBids has been able to communicate (in terms understandable to those lacking serious web experience) why an online presence is important to the ongoing success of any company, from a plumbing outfit to a funeral home.

Given any cross-section of the business community — and the BBB’s Accredited Businesses are that — other businesses under the BBB aegis can look to QuiBids as an entity that designed its own world and got it right.

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In nearly three years of operation, more than 90 percent of QuiBids hires came from within the state.

Though QuiBids does business internationally, its employees work with local charities like the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Children’s Hospital.

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QuiBids employs about 150 well-educated people with high-quality jobs. About 85 percent of them hold a bachelor’s degree or greater qualification, and most obtained them at in-state universities.

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QuiBids employees affiliate with many organizations that promote in-state business, including the Oklahoma Business Roundtable, Young President’s Organization, and Leadership Oklahoma City, as well as various trade groups like PRSA, OCHRS, and OSCPA.

This letter by Bob Manista was written July 6, 2012, and edited to fit this newsletter.

What is Entertainment Shopping?

A niche of the online retail (or “e-tailer”) industry, entertainment shopping (or entertainment retail) surfaced in 2005 when the German company Telebid developed the “penny auction” business model. It has since evolved into several different strains of operation but at the core of every entertainment shopping outlet is a fresh alternative to traditional online shopping.

By 2010, lots of unscrupulous

sites used the “penny auction” model to get in on entertainment shopping and the whole industry’s young reputation was marred by unethical and often fraudulent strategies like shill bidding and bot bidding, providing little or no customer support, or even outright failure to ship customers their products. As a reactionary measure, QuiBids rebranded as an “entertainment retail auction site” in early 2011 to distance itself from

the unethical behavior piling up on the web.

Now that the dust has settled, QuiBids leads the entertainment shopping niche — controlling more than 80 percent of the young market. The Oklahoma City business now aspires to continue innovating on entertainment shopping in hopes of pushing out of the niche and into mainstream awareness, to compete with major online retailers like Amazon and eBay.

September 2012

www.QuiBids.com

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QuiBids in the Community

Bring on the Fun! A

t QuiBids, our business hinges on fun.

It’s an important component of the service we provide, but it’s also the defining characteristic of our corporate culture — it’s who we are, and what we do.

No matter the situation, we Bring on the Fun — that’s our slogan — with our charitable work, too, whether it’s playing games with recuperating kids at the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital or packing food for the needy at the Oklahoma Regional Food Bank.

Our idea of a good time is doing the hands-on work that builds a better, more fun place to live out of our Oklahoma City community.

photos by Erik Gause

Customer Support Manager Kristi McMullen helps the mother of a family chosen by the Food Bank shop for groceries at a southwest OKC Homeland store in May. QuiBids picked up the bill on the shopping trip.

ABOVE: After a few hours of packing boxes at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma in February 2011, a host of QuiBids employees pose for a photo.

Customer Support Director Josh Walker plays a wall-sized game of bingo at a July 2012 visit to the Children’s Hospital.

LEFT: Posing with the shopping carts they decorated for the May shopping trip to Homeland.

Place postage here

4 NE 10th St., Ste. 242 Oklahoma City, OK 73104

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www.QuiBids.com

September 2012

A letter from the CEO A

bout this time three fic, and full-office moves to years ago, QuiBids Leadership Square in downwas still just a project un- town Oklahoma City and der construction, one that eventually our current home Shaun Tilford (now the at Valliance Bank Tower.

CTO) and I were In doing so, piecing together we bested our in the Oklahoma competitors in City apartment I our niche indusshared with Josh try by providing Duty (now our customers with a COO) during the consistent, reliafter-hours from able service that our day jobs. innovated on the A lot’s haptraditional model Matt pened since then. of online shopBeckham We’ve survived ping. terrorist attacks on our servNow at about 150 emer (our first case of black- ployees doing business in mail!), unexpectedly large six countries, our outlook waves of Black Friday traf- for the future entails con-

tinued international expansion, providing our customers with more purchasing options, and simply making QuiBids a more fun, more entertaining place to shop.

We’re prepared to launch in France and Germany, two markets that will be our footholds into the European Union. We also introduced a new game, Word Scramble, that moves us further into the gamification trend in online retail.

As a company solidifying its customer base and international brand partnerships, we’re uniquely positioned to grow without outsourcing meaningful

Get in touch with QuiBids! www.QuiBids.com (405) 253-3883 4 NE 10th St., Ste. 242 Oklahoma City, OK 73104 Jill Farrand Public Relations Director jfarrand@quibids.com

work beyond our own office here in Oklahoma. That’s the future we’re reaching toward here at QuiBids!