Thursday, May 27, 2010

BidRodeo's anniversary

Last summer, I got an email from Weronika Cybulska, head of marketing of at BidRodeo, saying nice things about this blog, and suggesting I write a blog-post covering her site. I did write a blog-post, but you know me, most of the post was making merry of her name. There's a reason why this site isn't called "Mature and Polite Penny Auction Insider". When she responded, sounding a little hurt, I apologized and removed the post.

So now it's BidRodeo's first anniversary and I get another email, not from Weronika herself, but Weronika's PR representative. Hmmm, I thought, BidRodeo doing well enough that they need their own flack. Then I saw the flack's name: Heddi Cundle.

I'm not criticizing, it's a great name. I will probably mutter it in my sleep tonight. I don't know if I remember my first girlfriend's full name, but I'll remember Heddi Cundle's wondrous appellation to my dying day and I bet that now you, gentle reader, will too. It's Dickensian, in a vaguely suggestive way. I hope to meet Heddi Cundle some day, if only to see if she matches the mental picture her name paints. Of course, if I do meet her, I hope she hasn't read this post.

Anyway, BidRodeo seems to be doing well. The site looks beautiful: elegant and animated. Take a look.

On the business side, Heddi Cundle's email said, "Users have saved average 67% on video games." I assume that she's quoting that category because it's showing higher savings than other categories. Say the site-wide average is 50%. Don't forget, BidRodeo's revenue from tokens might be 50 or 60 times what the winner pays for the merchandise, so their gross margins must be staggering, 95%, 98%. Nice work if you can get it.
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