Remote control

Whitley auctioneer conducts sales via satellite, Internet -- By Urvaksh Karkaria The Journal Gazette

(PRWEB) February 4, 2004--Manhattan metrosexuals can now bid on that Depression-era bureau up for auction in a Grabill barnyard right on their iMacs.

Columbia City-based CatBecca.com is using the same technology for broadcasting the Super Bowl to transmit auctions over the Internet.

"We bring the auction to you," said Michael Whelchel, a co-owner.

CatBecca, founded in 2002, uses a truck - similar to those used by TV stations - to transmit pictures and data via satellite from the auction site to eBay Live's Web site.

The company says it is the only auction house using the technology - known as mobile high-speed Uplink technology - in the country.

The auctioneer, which employs about 10, has invested about $50,000 in the system, Whelchel said.

The company launched the maiden test of its technology Jan. 25 at CatBecca's Auction House, from where it broadcast a 700-item auction of art glass and pottery estimated to be worth more than $50,000 on eBay Live.

Upon arrival at the auction site - such as a garage in a rural home - CatBecca photographs the items for auction and transmits the images to the eBay Live servers from its truck.

When the auction begins, CatBecca updates the eBay Live Web site in real time with the latest bids made at the auction site. Online bids, meanwhile, are transmitted to CatBecca computers at the location and submitted to the auctioneer.

CatBecca's Internet-based business model makes sense, said Patrick Duparcq, director of the Center for E-business Education and Research at Purdue University in West Lafayette.

"We know that if you put things up at an auction online or (on) television, you get better prices on what you sell because you potentially have a lot more bidders," Duparcq said.

CatBecca's customers include charities, estates and collectors, Whelchel said.

The company appears to have found the right niche, Duparcq said. The market for auctions, he said, can be divided into three categories - garage sales, auctions by estates and small collectors, and major auctions conducted by blue-chip firms such as Sotheby's and Christie's.

"If you look at where the Internet has played an important role and where it's been successful, it is often in that middle segment," he said.

CatBecca can cover auctions using its high-tech truck in 90 percent of the country, giving it a broad market base, Whelchel said.

The company typically charges customers about 20 to 30 percent of their profits for its services, Welchel said. The company also processes auction-related financial transactions and shipping, he said.

While CatBecca performs traditional site-based auctions, that is not its primary business.

Bidders at the auction site account for about 80 percent of business for most auction houses, Whelchel said. But under CatBecca's model, bidders on the Internet account for 80 percent to 90 percent of its business.

CatBecca eventually hopes to license its service and software to traditional auction houses so they can open up remote auctions to online bidders.

Auburn-based auctioneer Kruse International was the first company to use Internet bidding starting in 1997, spokeswoman Stephanny Smith said. But Kruse does not have CatBecca's mobile technology to allow it to broadcast auctions live over the Internet from remote locations, she said.

Kruse does not view CatBecca as competition but as another promoter of online bidding, Smith said.

"The more people that use eBay and the more companies that integrate eBay into the auction business," she said, "just helps us out in the long run by bringing more people to eBay for live auctions."

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Article by Urvaksh Karkaria

The Journal Gazette

Fort Wayne, IN Newspaper