-- SOTHEBYS.COM, the combined site, will now include “Arcade” property --
BIDDING TO BE EXTENDED TO NINE ADDITIONAL COUNTRIES
Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand
New York, New York, -- October 10, 2000 -- Sotheby’s and Amazon.com today announced that they will combine SOTHEBYS.COM and sothebys.amazon.com into one online auction Web site for the sale of authenticated and guaranteed arts and antiques. The unified site, which will bear the name SOTHEBYS.COM, and can be found at www.sothebys.com, will offer collectors the largest selection of authenticated and guaranteed fine and decorative arts, antiques, books, fine jewelry and collectibles anywhere in the world.
“It has become clearer than ever before that what matters in this business is scale,” said Craig Moffett, President of SOTHEBYS.COM. “By combining our two sites, we can now offer our customers a much deeper selection in a single venue; and our network of 5,000 Associates will now have a clearer and simpler way to conduct business online.”
“Whether customers are looking for sports memorabilia or Impressionist paintings, the unified site will offer Amazon.com customers a better customer experience by combining the largest selection of authenticated art, antiques and collectibles in a single site,” said Victoria Treyger, general manager of sothebys.amazon.com.
Bidders will be able to access the combined site either directly at www.sothebys.com, or from www.amazon.com where it will be featured on the Auctions homepage. The joining of the two sites, under which Amazon.com will receive annual cash payments, is expected to take place during the next 30 days. SOTHEBYS.COM will be Amazon.com’s exclusive online auction aggregator for authenticated fine arts, antiques and collectibles. In addition to site placement, Amazon.com will promote SOTHEBYS.COM to its customers through marketing campaigns.
The combined SOTHEBYS.COM site will continue to offer quality property that has been carefully examined, authenticated, catalogued and offered for sale by professionals. The site will include nearly 300 collecting categories, expanding to include those categories specific to sothebys.amazon.com, such as sports and entertainment memorabilia, stamps and coins, antique toys and other collectibles. In the process, SOTHEBYS.COM will introduce “Arcade” property - affordable objects with moderate estimates for the general collector. A wide and diverse array of “Arcade” lots will be offered in select categories such as fine arts, furniture, decorative arts and jewelry. The “Arcade” will facilitate browsing a site that will have a much wider range of property. The designation “Arcade” comes from Sotheby’s live auction business, where “Arcade” auctions have a devoted following.
William F. Ruprecht, CEO of Sotheby’s Holdings Inc., stated, “The combination of our two sites will be a terrific benefit for both our customers and dealer Associates. We’re excited that our SOTHEBYS.COM site will now share the benefit of access to Amazon.com’s tremendous pool of registered customers.”
“With its vast dealer network and more than two centuries of experience in sourcing and authenticating property, Sotheby’s is the kind of category leader we want to make available to our customers,” said Amazon.com’s David Risher, senior vice president of U.S. stores.
International Expansion
SOTHEBYS.COM also announced that coinciding with the joining of the two sites, it will enable bidding in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand – countries that boast some of the highest Internet usage rates in the world. “Sotheby’s has a significant live auction clientele in each of these locations, and we will continue to provide our customers and Associates with the same high level of security protection and customer service in these countries,” said Mr. Moffett.
Online Auction Results to Date
SOTHEBYS.COM and sothebys.amazon.com have established themselves as the two leading Web sites for the sale of authenticated and guaranteed fine art and antiques. To date, sales across the two sites have exceeded the annual sales of any high-end art and antiques Web site for authenticated and guaranteed property, indicating that Sotheby’s is the clear leader in the emerging online art and antiques market. In total, more than 60,000 works of art, antiques and collectibles have been sold online in just 10 months.
Sothebys.amazon.com and SOTHEBYS.COM have experienced tremendous success with selling rare and valuable items online. Examples from sothebys.amazon.com include Center Court from the Boston Garden Parquet Floor ($331,100), Lou Gehrig’s 1930s Yankees Cap ($56,650), and the Psychedelic VW Beetle from “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” ($54,411.50). On SOTHEBYS.COM, notable sales include a first printing of the Declaration of Independence ($8.14 million), Andy Warhol’s work on paper entitled Gold and Silver Shoe ($63,250) and a circa 1518 rare illustrated edition of “The Boke of Hawkynge and Huntynge and Fysshynge” ($88,000). Furthermore, Sotheby’s Associate network of the world’s leading art and antiques dealers has grown to more than 5,000 members from around the globe. “It is our intention to continue to expand this network of carefully selected partners,” said Mr. Moffett. “This will ensure that our customers will have access to the broadest and deepest selection of property on SOTHEBYS.COM.”
Fall Online Highlights
SOTHEBYS.COM has an exciting sales line-up this fall. From November 1 to November 15 SOTHEBYS.COM will conduct an online auction of Andy Warhol’s Nine Multicolored Marilyns. In this painting, which is estimated to bring between $450,000 and $600,000, the genius of Andy Warhol captures nine different moods of Marilyn Monroe, one of the greatest icons of the 20th Century. Also this fall, in a special online auction, The Moderns: From Maillol to Miro, November 1 – 15, 2000, SOTHEBYS.COM will offer a stunning life-size bronze sculpture by Aristide Maillol from the important New York Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. Pflueger entitled Venus sans bras. This wonderful sculpture has an estimate of $500/$700,000, the most valuable work of art to be sold online to date.
Other forthcoming online sales include The Dee and Evan Pancake Collection of Paperweights (November 8–29), a Major Private Collection of Crown and Handbuilt HO Trains (November 9–20), 18th Century American Furniture and Decorative Arts (November 15–December 6), The American Landscape (November 15–December 6) and The Griffith Toy Collection of Robots and Space Toys (December 1–24), to name a few.
About Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc.
Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. is the parent company of Sotheby’s worldwide live and Internet auction businesses, art-related financing and real estate activities. The Company operates in 38 countries, with principal salesrooms located in New York and London. The Company also regularly conducts auctions in 15 other salesrooms around the world, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Taiwan. Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.
This release contains certain “forward-looking statements” (as such term is defined in the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) relating to future events and the financial performance of Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. Such statements are only predictions and involve risks and uncertainties, resulting in the possibility that the actual events or performance will differ materially from such predictions. Major factors which the Company believes could cause the actual results to differ materially from the predicted results in the “forward-looking statements” include the overall strength of the international economy and financial markets, competition with other auctioneers and art dealers, the volume of consigned property and the marketability at auction of such property, the Company’s success in developing and implementing its Internet auction strategy, and the resolution of the Department of Justice investigation and other related investigations and civil lawsuits.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the Internet’s No. 1 music, No. 1 DVD and video, and No. 1 book retailer. Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com seeks to be the world’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, tools and hardware, lawn and patio items, kitchen products, camera and photo services, software, and computer and video games. Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com’s more than 23 million customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, sellers can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments.
Amazon.com operates three international Web sites: www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.de. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web’s comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 220,000 movies and entertainment programs and 800,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to 2003.
Amazon Anywhere is the leader in mobile e-commerce, providing access from anywhere in the world to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and through handheld wireless Internet devices that use HDML or the Wireless Application Protocol.
Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: Greenlight.com, the only company that offers car buyers the control of auto purchasing online with ongoing service and support from local dealerships, at www.greenlight.com; drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com; Ashford.com, the leading Internet retailer of luxury and premium products and the Web’s No. 1 retailer of watches and jewelry, at www.ashford.com; Audible, Inc., the leader in Internet-delivered spoken audio for PC-based listening or playback on AudibleReady portable digital audio devices, at www.audible.com; and eZiba.com, a leading online retailer of handcrafted products from around the world, at www.eziba.com.
Amazon.com also has a minority interest in NextCard, Inc., considered the industry’s leading issuer of consumer credit on the Internet, at www.nextcard.com; and Kozmo.com, the world’s leading “e-mmediate” Internet-to-door delivery service, at www.kozmo.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com’s limited operating history, anticipated losses, significant amount of indebtedness, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risk of distribution center expansion, risks related to fourth quarter performance, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, inventory risks, risks related to auction and zShops services, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, strategic alliances and the Amazon Commerce Network. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2000, and June 30, 2000.