Wednesday, December 6, 2006

TWay Spends Its Money on Better Customer Service, Not Acquisitions of Other Companies

TWay Spends Its Money on Better Customer Service, Not Acquisitions of Other Companies

Unlike some competitors, TWay is an online auction site that is focused on investing its money on improving its services to its customers.

TAMPA, Fla. (PRWEB) September 17, 2005

TWay. com, a small but customer-focused online auction site, continues to invest its dollars on better services that make online buying and selling more pleasurable for its customers.

That philosophy keeps TWay’s commissions and rate structures lean and mean – something that its customers appreciate.

In contrast, the online auction industryÂ’s biggest player, EBay, charges commission rates and listing fees that generate much more corporate revenue -- enough cash for the online auction giant to afford more than $1 billion worth of company acquisitions so far this year.

EBay’s recent acquisition of Shopping. com for $620 million in cash was only the latest such purchase in 2005. Earlier this year, EBay. com purchased Rent. com for $435 million, and also purchased several classified ad websites – Gumtree. com, LoQUo and OpusForum – for a total of $81.6 million.

Analysts say EBayÂ’s shopping spree is an effort to bolster a declining growth rate.

“Whatever the reason for all these acquisitions, it certainly illustrates what EBay feels it can do with the money generated by some of the highest commissions and fees in the online auction business,” said Dean Burnetti, the president of a competing online auction website, TWay. com.

“Unfortunately, it’s the little guy who must underwrite these expensive corporate purchases – people who are trying to make a few dollars by selling their items over the internet,” Burnetti said. “There’s nothing wrong with healthy profits, but these cash purchases present a clear picture of the kind of money EBay is generating through its fee structure.”

Burnetti recently pointed out that EBay has an enormous work force of more than 8,900 people – and an expensive payroll to go with it.

But those big EBay fees are welcomed by TWay and EBayÂ’s other competitors, Burnetti said, because it creates a market opportunity for other online auction sites which can charge rates and fees that are a fraction of those offered by EBay.

“For example, our low overhead allows TWay to avoid listing fees of any kind,” Burnetti said.

TWayÂ’s founders first looked at ways for keeping rates and overhead low and service high. The result is a lean-and-mean auction site that puts buyers and sellers first.

TWay. com’s success has resulted largely from its lack of listing fees and its slimmer overall commission rates – rates that are significantly lower than those found on EBay.

“Plus, we’ll be spending our time and money building a better and more responsive TWay, with low rates and good customer service,” Burnetti said. “Swallowing up smaller companies for millions and millions of dollars is not in our business plan.”

About TWAY. COM:

TWay. com moves online buying and selling to the next level with unparalleled flexibility, options and service. It also offers marketing partnership opportunities to savvy entrepreneurs. To learn more, visit the website at www. TWay. com.

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