Three into one: amprice 2.0 opens up a new trading dimension

“Bring three online marketplaces together as one, equipped with every possible user-friendly tool for the trader and buyer.” Hercules would have enjoyed this job – but what amprice Managing Director Markus Burgdorf (44), his 15-strong German team and 20 Indian programmers have set up in the last twelve months is worth all the effort. Almost a million articles were transferred from the old marketplaces besteauktion.de, azubo.de and amprice.de to the new platform www.amprice.de with its sophisticated and user-friendly 2.0 software, needing 400,000 lines of programming code alone.

Instead of running three parallel marketplaces with different functions and programming, amprice, AZUBO and BesteAuktion will now all run on a scalable technical base while retaining different access modes to suit different markets.

As of 1 February, a new dimension of trading has begun for around 320,000 amprice members and all new marketplace visitors, enabling them to buy, sell, exchange, advertise and give away articles all on a single platform – and, if they like, bargain publicly in the bazaar for the best price. Add to this property trading and b2b deals and, last but not least, a separate 18+ rated area with age certification … “Today we’re starting with around a million offers from the previous marketplaces that the members are reactivating,” said the amprice MD.

Right from the start, Burgdorf is going international; the platform is set up in both German and English.

Security for buyers and sellers

Secure trading is especially important for an online marketplace, and in recent years amprice has developed effective control mechanisms, further refined for the new system. From 1 February payment procedures also can be secured over the guarantor iclear; all traders that include online payment provider iclear in their offers receive 1,000 Euro start-up credit for payment procedures. When this is used up the trader pays just 0.9 percent of the sale price – an unbeatable rate in the online commerce sector – as long as the trading parties register with iclear before their first amprice transaction. “We place tremendous importance on transaction security, so we’re delighted, of course, that the 2008 Focus online report named us as the secure alternative to ebay,” said Burgdorf. The new system also incorporates instant bank transfer, Moneybookers and Paypal as payment systems.

Member groups for enhanced security

amprice 2.0 responds to the diverse needs of buyers and sellers, also including special limited-access areas for particular member groups such as b2b trading or pharmaceuticals. Sixteen membership types are catered for in the new system, from purchasers through various grades of trader to specialists such as certified auctioneers and pharmacies. Each member group has its own privileges and special opportunities – part of enhanced security for marketplace users. Auctioneers, for example, can offer their articles with the usual commission – a function that has often been requested in discussions with auctioneers. Only pharmacists are allowed to place articles in the pharmaceuticals section, and have to apply for access so that amprice can check their professional status.

Serving the entire trading chain

In a b2b area with limited access for non-commercial members, traders and manufacturers can deal in larger quantities and batches of the most various products – and then sell them on to the end consumer on the general access platform. “In this way we serve the entire trading chain from producers to end consumers. With amprice 2.0 we’re redefining the whole idea of a marketplace. We offer especially flexible solutions for finding the right price: a new function makes it possible to haggle publicly, like in a bazaar – although there will still be auctions and fixed-price offers, of course,” said the Managing Director.

Simple to use

Along with security, another strength of amprice 2.0 is the simple user interface: “We rely on up-to-the-minute technology, scalable systems and multilingual access. Our modular structure means that we can start up new markets fast and extend the system at will.”

“Each member type makes different demands on the platform,” explains Managing Director Markus Burgdorf. “While the private seller likes to place offers manually, commercial traders and some collectors need a higher degree of automation to put a lot of offers online at once.” For this reason it was particularly important for amprice, in the run-up to the new platform, to offer an interface that would enable eCommerce services and Shopsystem providers to work easily with the new system. Partners so far are

• etope
• PlentyMarkets
• Dreamrobot
• Afterbuy
• Auctionstudio
• eFulfillment,

currently integrating the new system in their tools and systems. With these partners amprice covers over 90% of the market. In close collaboration with etope, the proven ‘ampricelister’ will be adapted to the new system and made available free to all platform users as a listing tool.

The new system also makes it possible to define closed user groups within which a trader can place offers exclusively for pre-selected customers.

Some groups of articles need daily updates on prices or availability; amprice has already been offering its own tool for this for over a year, needing just 5 minutes a day to update thousands of article data.

Advantages for Premium Members

Premium Members will enjoy special advantages, with advance inside knowledge: price developments and search enquiries for specific products are available at the press of a button, statistics on their favourite trading categories are delivered automatically and so they’re faster on the track of new trends. After registration every user enjoys free Premium Status for the first three months and can then decide whether to continue using the service at a cost of 9.95 Euro a month.

Live elements raise the game

Along with the search function, the new amprice platform also offers browsing capacity for users to view a series of offers on the start page. The bright idea: a live category-sorted function shows all auctions with just five minutes to run in an extra window - bargain hunters can then cut in on promising auctions at very short notice. The page updates automatically. In this way users can have their favourite categories running on a separate screen and are kept right up to date. Bids are notified by unobtrusive optical signal.

“We offer users a whole new world of experiences, with extensive play modes and chances to try out our unique search functions in many fascinating ways,” says Markus Burgdorf. For the presentation of search results alone there are hundreds of variations that respond perfectly to the searcher’s criteria. Hannover daily paper Neue Presse (15 Oct. 2008) pre-tested the convenient new search function in a Beta version; the verdict: “Very good if it runs like this in real time! You can refine your search without starting again from scratch.”

There are three search result presentation modes: a conventional list of results with pictures and prices, a matrix view according to predefined parameters, and a graphic view with colour-coded presentation of auction deadlines and articles.

White label marketplace

The new system is also interesting for those looking to extend their own online offers onto a marketplace. For companies, amprice delivers a finished-design marketplace in the desired format as a ‘white label’ outlet linked to the main system.

“Everyone who joins is linked to a well-stocked marketplace, a vast range of articles, hundreds of thousands of members and a professional membership service. This is especially interesting, for example, for publishers, internet portals or TV broadcasting companies. At no additional outlay, companies can earn from their marketplace and offer their readers, audiences and users enhanced value,” explains the MD. amprice has identified a growing need in publishing especially that can be fully met by the possibilities of the new system.

Fairer feedback

The much-discussed feedback extortion on other online marketplaces is not an issue with amprice 2.0. “We have a fair assessment system that excludes malicious feedback. Commercially motivated feedback vendettas have no chance – our system checks each assessment for plausibility,” explained Burgdorf. It’s easy to give someone a good comment, but to give negative feedback the complainer must detail the criticism and deal with further probing questions from the amprice system. Checks are made on whether one trading partner had reminded the other of their obligations under the terms of sale. Traders are thus protected from malicious feedback, which usually comes from competitors.

Own trading expands

amprice itself will also be trading on the new platform. Headed by Simon Thomas, the amprice-Trading section is establishing a new system working directly with selected manufacturers to secure high-quality marketing of diverse products by amprice. “Many manufacturers are dissatisfied with internet sales operations for their products and unsure how to respond appropriately to false developments,” says Burgdorf. “We offer them a clearly agreed and controlled way of offering their products through b2c and b2b channels.” This service guarantees manufacturers security, and amprice raises the quality of offers in the high-class market segment. Agreements are already in place with manufacturers of household appliances, watches, tools and gift articles.

Live shopping

In the amprice ‘Live Shopping’ area there will always be a special offer of the day, of the week and of the month, selected by amprice on very particular desirability and value for money criteria. Priority will be given to offers from amprice-registered traders and manufacturers, and only when members make no suitable offer will amprice-Trading present its own offers in limited numbers.

amprice.inc is a share company under American law with a subsidiary in Germany, amprice GmbH, and another in Morocco, Moulaha & Co. The company has run the amprice.de online marketplace in Germany since 2005, later joined by the reverse auction house Azubo.de and collectors’ marketplace BesteAuktion.de. Through its own growth and integrating the BesteAuktion and Azubo auction houses, around a million current offers and over 7,000 successful transactions a month have placed amprice GmbH in the Top 3 German online marketplace enterprises – and that in the space of just three years.

Media contact:
Managing Director Markus Burgdorf
tel. +49 (0)511 410 445-290, mobile +49 (0)171 220 79 97
email markus.burgdorf@amprice.de
amprice GmbH, Göttinger Chaussee 115, D-30459 Hannover

This release was published on openPR.