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WarrantyNow
WarrantyNow
offers Extended Service Contracts ("ESC")
on-line.
An
ESC provides for service or repair on a product that
extends beyond the original manufacturing warranty,
if any. ESCs are generally purchased at the point of
sale, marketed by salespersons for the retail establishment
selling the product.
ESCs
are high margin, high profit products for retailers
and distributors. Traditional retailers focus their
sales force on selling ESCs. Depending on term and service
options, ESCs are typically priced at between 15-25%
of the original product price, with the margin to the
retailer as high as 40%-50% of the price of the ESC.
WarrantyNow
views its market as both traditional "bricks and
mortar" retail and on-line sales. The growth in
on-line sales of products provides WarrantyNow with
a tremendous opportunity to supply the on-line marketplace
with an efficient solution for ESC distribution. There
is currently no avenue to sell ESCs through on-line
purchases. In the traditional space, the Company can
compete with retailers by providing consumers with an
on-line alternative to the retail salesforce, a web
site where they can purchase ESCs and manage their ESC
inventory for any product they buy, regardless of where
they purchase it.
By
utilizing on-line efficiencies and eliminating the retail
sales commission, WarrantyNow will reduce the cost to
consumers while maintaining high margins.
ESC
administrators, like in the traditional space, will
carry out the task of actually administering the ESC
once it has been sold. The Company will partner with
as many administrators as possible in order to be able
to offer ESCs on the widest selection of products as
possible, and in order to guarantee the buyers are offered
competitive prices. As in the off-line world, the administrators
will offload risks inherent in ESCs to insurance companies.
In
addition to ESCs, WarrantyNow has expanded its offerings
to include in-home installation (such as high-end home
theater systems) and product authentication (used primarily
for auction sites for buyers to authenticate goods).
The
Company is generating revenue from its first online
retail affiliate, Spidergear.com, which went live in
June. The Company is also in discussions with such online
retailers as Wal-Mart Online, Amazon.com, shop.theglobe.com,
Open Market, ShopNow and many others.
The
Company recently received $5 million from CNET
in a convertible note offering. Other investors
include Peggy Taylor, Senior Vice President
of PeopleSoft; B.V. Jagadeesh, CTO and co-founder of
Exodus Communications; and Donald G. Jones. To date,
the Company has raised $14.2 million in private
equity and convertible debt.
Adrian
Vanzyl and Dave Burlington have joined the Company
as CEO and President, respectively. Dr. Vanzyl was Group
Manager of Microsoft's bCentral business development
group and VP International at LinkExchange (which
Microsoft acquired in 1998). Mr. Burlington was
formerly General Manager and VP of PeopleSoft,
where he managed its Enterprise Performance Management
product line of business intelligence applications.
Ronald
Goedendorp is co-founder and Chairman of WarrantyNow.
Mr. Goedendorp has extensive experience in e-commerce,
management, business development, marketing, database
and transaction procesing systems. Mr. Goedendorp is
a graduate of the University of California, San
Diego.
Vahid
Razavi is Vice President and co-founder. Mr. Razavi
comes from Exodus Communications and has experience
in leading e-commerce and Internet companies.
WarrantyNow
has ceased operations.
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