CrazyBidNow.com completes sprint, gets into operation

When the dozen employees of CrazyBidNow.com flipped on the switches in the company's south Reno broadcast studio, they barely had time to take a deep breath after a six-week sprint to get the company into operation.

In barely more than a month, the operation's parent CBN Inc. had raised capital, hired on-air, production and administrative staffs, and built the studio with its four stages.

The site works something like a combination of Home Shopping Network and eBay, with elements of the newly popular "penny auctions" added in.

The seven on-camera hosts work three-hour shifts, whipping up the enthusiasm of on-line viewers. As the company launched last month, consumer electronics accounted for nearly all of its auctions.

Viewers buy packages of bids from the company that they use in the auctions, and some of the early participants got mind-boggling bargains a Ninetendo Wii for $1.02, a 52-inch Sony television for 86 cents, an Amazon Kindle for 79 cents.

"It's fun, and they can get a great deal," says Wesley Kikuchi, a veteran technology marketer who's among the six founders of CBN Inc.

The technology developed by Steve Caudle, the company's chief information officer and one of its founders, also allows users to create a "Bid Butler" that bids automatically up to a predetermined limit.

Unsuccessful bidders or folks who don't want to play in the auction game can buy directly from the site. The auctions currently run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific time, Monday through Saturday.

The Web site's early results are getting the attention of electronics companies that are eager to tap into an audience of young male buyers.

Unlike cable shopping networks, which draw heavily from middle-aged women, CrazyBidNow.com targets young males. And in the site's first few weeks, Kikuchi says viewers stayed on the site for an average of 40 minutes at a time an eternity in the click-click world of the Internet.

"Once we hook them, that's what the manufacturers want," says Kikuchi.

CBN also sells 15-minute interview segments in which manufacturers can talk about their products at length. That, Kikuchi says, gets the attention of small and medium-sized companies that can't afford traditional broadcast advertising for products that otherwise might get lost on the shelves of big electronics retailers.

"We're a perfect fit for them," Kikuchi says. "A lot of what we are doing is demonstrating. Consumer electronics need explaining."

The Reno company has enough space in its 8,000-square-foot facility on Louie Lane to handle some fulfillment operations for companies that want to develop a foothold in U.S. markets. The company initially is shipping only to U.S. addresses.

Although its initial focus has been on consumer electronics, CBN likely will expand its auctions to include other hard goods such as sports equipment. Auctions of apparel, Kikuchi says, are unlikely because of the large number of returned items that are common in that sector.

The Web site initially relies on low-budget viral campaigns to draw viewers, although Kikuchi says traditional media advertising also may be employed.

CBN contracted last month with TransMedia group of Boca Raton, Fla., to generate some buzz about CrazyBidNow.com. Two weeks after the site's launch, CrazyBidNow had more than 16,000 followers on Twitter.

With $1 million invested into its studio, CBN also hopes to generate some revenues through rental of the facility to other producers. The studio's green-screen stage, used to create special effects, is the largest in the region, Kikuchi says.

The company has leased 8,000 square feet and expects to fill it quickly.

Michael Parness, chief executive officer of CBN Inc., has said the company expects that it will employ 100 people in Reno within six months.