Online auctioneer eBay Inc, still reeling from the massive system outages it suffered last week (CI No 3,681), now faces a further threat from its rival Amazon.com, which yesterday announced a joint venture with Sotheby’s Holdings Inc. As part of a ten year alliance, the two will launch a joint online auction site, sothebys.amazon.com, and Amazon will invest $45m in one million shares for a 1.7% stake in the auction house.
Sotheby’s, the London and New York-based auction house which was founded in 1744, already has its own web site listing information about its conventional auctions, which will continue at http://www.sothebys.com. The new joint site will concentrate on the general antiques collector and collectibles. The move follows eBay’s acquisition of Butterfield & Butterfield Auctioneers Corp, a traditional auction house specializing in fine art and collectibles, for about $260m back in April. Christie’s International Plc also launched itself onto the web earlier this year (http://www.christies.com/), but doesn’t offer online selling yet.
