Yahoo! Introduces Merchant Auctions

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Dec. 15, 1999 -- Do you have a business and are you looking to take full advantage of Yahoo!'s commerce platform and audience? Then look no further than Yahoo!® Auctions (http://auctions.yahoo.com). Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) today introduced Yahoo! Merchant Auctions, a low-cost, high-quality solution designed to enable retailers and power sellers to utilize a variable-price format to transact business on the Web.

Yahoo! Merchant Auctions is the latest integrated business solution in Yahoo!'s suite of commerce services. Before and after the holiday rush, businesses of any size can now sell items, from high-demand products and unique wares to clearance inventory and special offers. Today, Yahoo! also announced the launch of Online Auctions for Yahoos, the first in a series of Yahoo! "how to" books for building an online business.

"Yahoo! Merchant Auctions are part of Yahoo!'s integrated commerce strategy to be the one centralized place people can come to build a business online and reach millions of qualified consumers," said Tony Surtees, vice president and general manager of the Commerce Group at Yahoo!. "Merchants now have available a unique combination of integrated selling channels. Through the new program, the more than 8,500 Yahoo! Store retailers have a cost-free way to tap into Yahoo! Auctions as a valuable distribution channel to market their products in a variable-priced selling environment. At the same time businesses of any size can realize the power of marketing products using an auction-model without investing in complicated or costly technology or staff to support a 24-hour, seven-day a week auction presence."

Getting Started
As a leading commerce player, Yahoo! reaches 72 percent of all online purchasers according to Intelliquest's latest research findings (Q3 1999). Retailers and businesses can participate in Yahoo! Merchant Auctions if they are registered for Yahoo! Store (http://store.yahoo.com), which offers merchants the ability to instantly create, publish and manage secure online stores to market and sell goods and services. Power sellers can register for the Merchant Auctions Order Manager, a new service which allows sellers to process an unlimited number of orders each month for just $29.95. These services are only available to U.S. merchants that have a merchant ID.

Once signed up for Yahoo! Store or the Merchant Auctions Order Manager, participants can submit items individually or automatically upload hundreds of items and run multiple auctions. Yahoo! Store merchants have the ability to move inventory from their Yahoo! Store Manager directly into Yahoo! Auctions with just a few quick clicks, creating a real-world equivalent of a "clearance" area for excess inventory or a "specials area" for unique items while letting the marketplace determine the price of these items.

For Yahoo! Auctions' sellers who want to expand their business online, Yahoo!'s Merchant Auctions Order Manager gives them the order management and secure credit card processing capability of Yahoo! Store with the option of purchasing the fixed-price storefront component as their business grows. In addition, Yahoo! users have the ability to customize billing and shipping information as well as payment methods; personalize e-mail order confirmations; control access to the manager tool, which allows multiple users to access orders; view, sort, summarize and export order information in multiple formats; and more.

A Powerful Combination
From entrepreneurs and small businesses to brick and mortar retailers, Yahoo! Merchant Auctions offers merchants an easy solution to help them differentiate themselves as full-service merchants. Participants in the new program can rise above the crowd as their listings are marked with a unique "Merchant Auctions" icon. By displaying their business logo which can link to the merchants' Yahoo! Store or Web site, merchants also can build their own brand with each and every auction posted.

At the close of each of auction, the winning bidder can pay the merchant immediately with a credit card. Both Yahoo! Store and the Merchant Auctions Order Manager allow participants to set up a merchant account and process orders online through a direct link to solutions offered through Banc One Payment Services and First Data Merchant Services. By offering customers easy credit card check out, merchants can further streamline the purchasing process and expedite both payment and shipping options.

Taking Your Lemonade Stand to the Web's Main Street
Yahoo! continues to underscore the company's commitment to providing businesses with information and tools to help them successfully sell their products, grow their hobbies and passions into businesses, and reach a global audience of interested buyers. Today, Yahoo! introduced Online Auctions for Yahoos, a new publication that provides hands-on advice for anyone wanting to build a business online. Co-written by Tony Surtees and Seth Godin, author of dozens of books including the national bestseller Permission Marketing, the book gives an inside look at building an online business and having fun, focusing on everything from the key ingredients of an online auction business and guerilla sales tactics to finding suppliers and impacting purchasing decisions. The book is currently available at Yahoo! Gear (http://gear.yahoo.com). As part of today's announcement and running through Jan. 1, 2000, anyone who opens a Yahoo! Store also will receive one free month of service.

Yahoo!® Auctions (http://auctions.yahoo.com), currently has more than 1.2 million listings and is the fastest-growing, globally-branded free auction site on the Internet. Through Yahoo! Auctions, sellers and buyers have access to an ever-expanding world of collectibles, a global community, a comprehensive set of tools, and unique programs such as Featured Auctions, Auctions Express, My Auctions Booth and Charity Auctions. Since May 1999, Yahoo! has rolled out 16 international auction services in 11 languages, most recently Yahoo! Taiwan.

About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) is a global Internet media company that offers a branded network of media, commerce, and communication services to more than 100 million users worldwide. As the first online navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach, and is one of the most recognized brands associated with the Internet. The company also provides online business services designed to enhance Yahoo!'s clients' Web services, including audio and video streaming, store hosting and management, and Web site tools and services. The company's global Web network includes 21 World properties. Yahoo! has offices in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Canada and the United States, and is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif.

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