Scott Blum founded Buy.com in 1997. The company sold electronics at below cost and made up the difference with advertising and ancillary services like warranties and equipment leases.
Buy.com had the record for first year sales of any company with $111 million in 1998, its first full year of business.
Scott Blum sold his stake in the company to SoftBank in 1999 for $195 million, right before the company filed an IPO. Stock values plummeted the following year and he bought his stake back for $23.6 million in 2001.
In 2002 Buy.com expanded beyond electronics and began adding soft goods to their catalog.
Buy.com has an extensive eBay store and has over 1 million positive reviews.
In 2010 Buy.com was acquired by Rakuten, Inc., Japan’s biggest e-commerce company. The acquisition had an approximate value of $250 million.
In 2013 Rakuten, Inc. announced the official rebranding of Buy.com to “Rakuten.com Shopping.”
Rakuten.com Shopping offers more than 17 million products and is ranked in the top three e-commerce companies in the world.
Rakuten.com ShoppingScott Blum founded Buy.com in 1997. The company sold electronics at below cost and made up the difference with advertising and ancillary services like warranties and equipment leases.
Buy.com had the record for first year sales of any company with $111 million in 1998, its first full year of business.
Scott Blum sold his stake in the company to SoftBank in 1999 for $195 million, right before the company filed an IPO. Stock values plummeted the following year and he bought his stake back for $23.6 million in 2001.
History
In 2002 Buy.com expanded beyond electronics and began adding soft goods to their catalog.
Buy.com has an extensive eBay store and has over 1 million positive reviews.
In 2010 Buy.com was acquired by Rakuten, Inc., Japan’s biggest e-commerce company. The acquisition had an approximate value of $250 million.
In 2013 Rakuten, Inc. announced the official rebranding of Buy.com to “Rakuten.com Shopping.”
Rakuten.com Shopping offers more than 17 million products and is ranked in the top three e-commerce companies in the world.
