1SaleADay

1Sale L.L.C.
Industry Retail
Founded 2007
Founder Ben Federman, President & CEO
Headquarters Miami, Florida, U.S.[1]
Key people
 Ben Federman, CEO
Eli Federman, Senior VP [2]
Products Electronics, Gadgets, Watches, Jewelry, etc.
Revenue IncreaseUS $98,000,000 (2011)[3]
Number of employees
 300+[4]
Website www.1saleaday.com

1Sale (previous 1SaleADay) is an Internet retailer with a deal-a-day format. The site was founded in 2007 by Ben Federman.[5] 1Sale's main site offers one discounted item a day, the product can vary from a computer-related product to a magazine subscription. Products are listed at up to 80-90% off retail.[1] 1Sale also has four spinoff sites specializing in electronics, watches, family and jewelry. Each site offers one item per 24-hour period beginning at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time. In 2010, the company's CEO donated more than half of the site's net earnings to charities.[5]

Overview

Business model

U.S News & World Report described 1Sale as a product daily deal site which buys products in bulk at large discounts and passes the savings on to consumers.[6] 1Sale has one product for sale in each of its five categories - Main, Wireless, Watch, Family and Jewelry. In 2013, 1Sale launched a Fashion category focusing on men's/women's apparel, accessories, and decor, according to a press release published in the Wall Street Journal.[7] At midnight Eastern Time the product is changed.[8] Occasionally a product will sell out and nothing will be available in that category until the next product is available. To keep prices low and create excitement about the site, prices are sometimes cheaper than the cost to the site.[5] 1Sale does not seem to offer product support, as of December 2010. 1Sale.com is an Elite Member on the independent review site Reseller Ratings.[9]

In 2009, the company had 80+ employees[10] and earned about US $30 million.[5]

Marketing

1Sale.com's loss leader marketing strategy of rewarding its consumers was featured in the PBS Nightly Business Report[11] and Entrepreneur Magazine.[12] In a Huffington Post article, 1Sale's senior vice president Eli Federman discussed using social media to establish connections with consumers.[13] Writing for CFO (magazine) Eli Federman explained how acknowledging and openly discussing the concerns of disgruntled customers on social media, small and midsize businesses may actually boost their reputations –and their bottom lines.[14]

Popularity

As of December 2010, the site gets approximately 350,000 daily visitors.[5] 1Sale.com is in the top 400 most visited websites in the United States according Alexa's traffic rankings.[15]

In the media

A 2010 Huffington Post article about the best lesser-known websites for finding deals asked readers to recommend their favorites—1Sale.com came in number one.[16]

In the January 2011 issue of Woman's Day, 1Sale was listed as one of the best ways to get a deal that year.[17] On January 17, 2011 Nate Berkus featured 1Sale.com on The Nate Berkus Show.[18] Also in 2011 Lifehacker listed 1Sale as one of the five top daily deal sites along with Groupon, Living Social and others.[19]

Consumer advocate Clark Howard recommends 1Sale to save money in the Deal a Day space.[20]

On June 15, 2012, The View featured an underwater camcorder sold by 1Sale.[21]

The TV show Extra featured a 1Sale exclusive offer for 2-carat white topaz earrings.[22] The View featured 1Sale's sale of a Fujifilm high-definition camcorder.[23]

1Sale's CEO Ben Federman was featured on Fox Business in 2011 with David Asman.[24]

ABC News and Yahoo News quoted Eli Federman discussing 1Sale's approach of embracing negative customer feedback to help facilitate customer dialogue and improve customer service.[25]

Investment

On March 1, 2011, the New York Times reported that 1Sale raised tens of millions of dollars (exact figure was undisclosed) from Optima Ventures to form Octagon Commerce, an e-Commerce conglomerate consisting of 1SaleaDay, Shadora for jewelry, Ben’s Outlet for electronics, Dynamite Time for watches, and Glasses Unlimited for glasses.[26] 1Sale described the investment as a "massive capital injection," according to a press release on CNBC.[27]

Florida Attorney General Settlement

Beginning in or around at least 2011, the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Florida began receiving complaints from consumers regarding lSALEADAY.COM'S online sales and business practices. While 1SALEADAY denies wrongdoing, 1SALEADAY did agree to 20+ changes to their business practices to satisfy the Attorney General Department of Legal Affairs. In addition to those changes, 1SALEADAY agreed to pay fees totaling $55,745.93 to cover attorneys fees and outstanding customer complaints. The settlement was signed 9/30/14. [28]

Trademark dispute

On September 27, 2010, 1Sale.com and its CEO, Ben Federman, won an extended, international legal dispute with the owners of One Sale A Day Australia.[29] World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) panelist, Andrew F. Christie, ruled that domain names onesaleaday.com.au and 1saleaday.com.au be transferred to Mr. Federman. As of December 2010, 1Sale.com.au states: "The former holders of the 1Sale.au domain names were found to be infringing on the intellectual property rights of the 1Sale U.S. website... Please be advised that 1Sale.com.au may be out of service for a while as a result of this transition. We will keep you posted. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Sincerely, 1Sale."[30] 1Sale is considering opening a franchise in Australia, according to Vice President Eli Federman.[31]

There has been some commentary on the legal significance of this particular UDRP case. The World Trademark Review reported that even though there was a verbal preexisting business arrangement between the Australian and U.S. companies the initial bad faith registration of the 1Sale.com.au and OneSaleADay.com.au domain names trumped the subsequent business agreement between the parties.[32]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Miami Herald - Ina Paiva Cordle (October 20, 2011) "Daily sale site 1Sale moves to Miami Lakes."
  2. ↑ CNN Money (May 31, 2013) "Free lunch vs. other perks: Why not let employees vote?"
  3. ↑ Listed as #177. Internet Retailer "Internet Retailer Top 500."
  4. ↑ Provost, Taylor. CFO Magazine (Feb. 15, 2013) "Don’t Curse the Chit-Chat; Host the Conversation."
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Fisher, Anne (November 12, 2010). Crain's New York Business.com Executive Inbox
  6. ↑ U.S. News & World Report Money (September 30, 2011) "A Survival Guide to the Deluge of Daily Deals."
  7. ↑ 1Sale.com Debuts New Fashion Tab 1Sale Reseller Ratings.
  8. ↑ 1Sale.com About Us
  9. ↑ 1Sale Reseller Ratings.
  10. ↑ Gwen, Moran. Entrepreneur (Sept. 5, 2011) "1Sale.com's Ben Federman and the Value of a Daily Steal."
  11. ↑ PBS Business Nighlty Report (Sept. 5, 2011)"Ben Federman CEO of 1Sale.com on the PBS Nightly Business Report."
  12. ↑ Gwen, Moran. Entrepreneur (Sept. 5, 2011) "1Sale.com's Ben Federman and the Value of a Daily Steal."
  13. ↑ Federman, Eliyahu (August 23, 2012). "Business Marketing: Taking a Cue From Politics "
  14. ↑ Federman, Eliyahu (April 22, 2013). "Why SMBs Should Embrace Negative Customer Feedback "
  15. ↑ Alexa.com Rankings http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/1saleaday.com#
  16. ↑ Kiser, Grace ( April 7, 2010). "Websites You Didn't Know Could Save You BIG Bucks: HuffPost Readers' Recommendations"
  17. ↑ Woman's Day Magazine, One Tip a Day. January 2011, p. 14.
  18. ↑ Nate Finds Great Deals (January 17, 2011)."Nate finds a great website that has amazing deals every day, 1SALEADay.com."
  19. ↑ Pinola, Melanie. Lifehacker (April 10, 2011)."Five Best Daily Deals Sites."
  20. ↑ "The Free and Cheap List" (retrieved Aug. 29, 2012)
  21. ↑ "Fun Summer Gadgets for the Whole Family" The View (retrieved Aug. 29, 2012)
  22. ↑ "'Extra' Kicks Off New Season with ExtraPalooza!" Extra (retrieved Sept. 11, 2012)
  23. ↑ "1Sale.com on The View" The View (retrieved Nov. 15, 2012)
  24. ↑ 1Sale.com Fox Business (Aug. 6, 2011)
  25. ↑ "$1.44 Dispute Reveals Billions at Stake in Online Customer Feedback" ABC News (retrieved May. 26, 2013)
  26. ↑ Ha, Anthony (March 1, 2011). "Daily Deals Site 1SaleaDay Raises Tens of Millions"
  27. ↑ CNBC Press Release (March 1, 2011). "E-Commerce Daily Deal Giant 1Sale.com Gets Massive Capital Injection Optima Ventures Buys into 1Sale to Optimize its Continued Growth"
  28. ↑ http://www.myfloridalegal.com/EC_Edoc.nsf/0/4F419175AC88763D85257D66006E7B92/$file/1SaleaDay.pdf
  29. ↑ WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, Christie, Andrew, F., Sole Panelist (September 27, 2010). Case No. DAU2010-0016
  30. ↑ "1Sale.com.au". Archived from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  31. ↑ Salek, Negar (October 21, 2010). "WIPO shuts down 1saleaday.com.au"
  32. ↑ Gynell, Julian ( Dec. 3, 2010). "Domain name transfer ordered despite business agreement."