Columbia-based brokerage cultivates small online vendors

BC-MD--Business Beat, Bjt,0812

Columbia-based brokerage cultivates small online vendors

AP Photos

mdbad-sb

By KARA KRIDLER

The (Baltimore) Daily Record

COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) -- Robin Shiller and Gayle Seker love shopping, especially for clothing.

Last April, the longtime friends decided to turn their retail hobby into a business venture, so they formed Sassy Princess, a consignment shop that sells secondhand formal wear and fine jewelry -- "anything for a night out, except shoes," Shiller said.

But when the duo searched Howard County for the perfect spot for their store and couldn't find it, they decided instead to hook up with a new company, Auction Safari Inc., to try selling their products online.

Columbia-based Auction Safari is an eBay brokerage that is certified to recruit and support independent brokers such as Shiller and Seker who are trying to start their own e-commerce businesses. The company was founded late last year by lawyers Ronald Bratt and Jeff Shiller, who also happens to be Robin Shiller's husband.

Nepotism aside, Auction Safari seemed like a great fit for Sassy Princess.

The brokerage helps small e-tailers get their businesses up and running by offering eBay training and seminars, professional photography services, help listing items on the Web, shipping support and advice on Web advertising placement.

Auction Safari also has a warehouse where sellers can store products before they are shipped.

With this kind of backend support, it didn't matter that Robin Shiller had only bought items from eBay, never sold them.

"That is the best thing about Auction Safari -- you don't have to know a thing about eBay or computers at all; they take care of all of that," she said.

Bratt and Jeff Shiller claim Auction Safari is the first company with this business model. "We have never heard of anyone providing an actual physical brokerage house for independent brokers," Shiller said.

Facilitators

There are reportedly 430,000 full- and part-time entrepreneurs making their living on eBay. "But most work from home in their pajamas," said Jeff Shiller.

"People are pumped up, juiced about just being just being involved in eBay, so we wanted to try to find a model that allowed people to start their own business for not a lot of money, but (also allow them to) be able to take their business to the next level. And that's how this model started to play out," he said.

Auction Safari looks for small companies that are really excited about selling and that already have something to sell, according to Bratt.

Because it's so overwhelming to start a business -- online or otherwise -- the brokerage "opens the door for a lot of people who would not be able to start their own business because of the costs and maintenance associated with it," Jeff Shiller said.

The initiation fee for sellers is $2,000, and there is an additional monthly fee of $500 to $1,000 for office space, depending on the office size. Other costs include a 10 percent processing fee on each order total and a monthly fee of $250 for online advertising.

Auction Safari began recruiting sellers this month. So far, Sassy Princess is the only online broker that has signed up, but Bratt and Jeff Shiller said they are interviewing four to five potential businesses every day.

"The office can easily hold 30 brokers," Bratt said. But the company plans to expand its office space as needed.

Sassy Princess' goods only posted on eBay recently, so it's too soon to tell how sales are doing, according to Robin Shiller. Bratt estimates it will take about six months before sellers start seeing a profit.

"It really varies by industry, but you have to give it some time before you start making money, as with any new business," he said. "Obviously, the more time and capital invested, the quicker the turnaround for profit."

Auction Safari and companies with similar functions do serve a purpose in the retail market, according to P.K. Kannan, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"They are trying to make entrepreneurs out of regular people ... and e-commerce is a great market for that right now. It allows people without much computer expertise or educational background to start their own businesses and do business online," he said

There is the possibility, however, that sellers will leave after the training because Auction Safari takes a 10 percent piece of their profits, "but that's always going to be a risk," Kannan said. "It doesn't sound like that would be advantageous" for the sellers.

Auction Safari's business model is set up to use networking among sellers and buyers to make the market bigger, Kannan said.

"A single broker does not have the advantage of cross selling among products," he said.

-- -- --

Information from: The Daily Record, http://www.mddailyrecord.com

AP-ES-01-25-05 1606EST