Andale, Honesty.com Merge
July 24-28, 2000
Issue 206
New York and London

Online auction management services firm Andale is merging with Honesty.com, an auction community and support site. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Andale CEO Munjal Shah says that with the acquisition of Honesty "We have beyond a shadow of a doubt become the largest auction services provider." The combined company will have 600,000 active sellers doing $1.7 billion worth of sales per year. They'll also account for 31% of all ads placed on eBay.

Honesty provides free tools and services such as counters, image storage and quick listing tools for casual or new sellers. It also has the Online Traders Web Alliance (OTWA) message forum, which will become industry's first sellers' council. The OTWA will now feature regular hosted guest forums, educational business seminars, seller chapter meetings, networking events, sellers' polls, buyer services as well as other informational activities. It will also be the auction sellers' business liaison and develop an intermediary function that helps to resolve disputes and pools merchant interests on issues such as fraud, deadbeat bidders, advertising fees and other topics.

Andale's goal, says Shah, is to create a platform that provides "all sellers all the services they need for all the markets they sell to." People often start out selling a couple of items on an online auction site then check out message boards to pick up tips on how to sell more and eventually need management services. Honesty provides the entry-level services Andale was missing and Shah says the company would consider other similar deals to pick up additional higher-end services. Andale itself has been focused mostly in the middle of the market, taking care of power users and small businesses with its new B2B Channel Manager offering for large companies wanting to sell on auction sites exchanges.

The Honesty brand will remain intact. Scott Samuel, Honesty CEO has been named Andale's chief community officer.