278:
providing high quality, unique merchandise, and a shopper- and merchant-friendly experience. Each seller within
Rakuten.com's marketplace could customize their page's layouts, photos and promotions, and can communicate with customers directly. With the rebranding, the site was populated entirely by individual merchants, whereas previous iterations of Buy.com had just a portion of the site devoted to independent sellers. Rakuten also launched e-commerce sites in Germany, Brazil, France, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, Austria, Russia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
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274:, the largest e-commerce retailer in Japan, for $ 250 million in cash. This was considered Rakuten's attempt to enter the American e-retail market, and to compete globally with e-commerce competitors such as Amazon.com and eBay. At the time, Rakuten in Japan had 64 million members, and Buy.com had 14 million customers, mostly located in the US and Europe. Half its products were sold directly to customers and half were sold through other e-commerce businesses using its online store.
240:
customers that Buy.com would prove to be the better buying option. This statement came shortly after Buy.com announced a 10% below Amazon.com cost on all books sold on the site and free shipping site-wide, with no minimum purchase required. At the time, Amazon had 25 million customers, approximately
217:
in 1998 and 1999, founder Scott Blum sold a portion of his stake to SoftBank in 1999 shortly before Buy.com's $ 195 million initial public offering in early 2000. On
February 8, 2000, Buy.com went public at $ 13 per share and rose to $ 37.50 per share that day, its peak price. Mr. Blum still owned
305:
In May 2013, some users started complaining about alleged fraudulent charges on credit cards after using their cards on
Rakuten.com. In some cases, it was alleged that the victims' names, social security numbers, dates of birth and credit card information were used to open accounts at other online
205:
Buy.com originally sold only computers, at below cost, intending to bring in revenue through advertising and ancillary services such as sales of warranties and equipment leases, before expanding into numerous other categories, including software, books, videos and games. The company sold $ 125
277:
On
January 10, 2013, Rakuten announced the official rebranding of Buy.com to Rakuten.com Shopping, which became effective on January 31, 2013. On the site, rebranded as Rakuten.com, there were a series of unique virtual storefronts for shoppers to browse and connect online, with the focus on
285:
for $ 1 billion in cash. The acquisition of Ebates, a website that allows customers to earn cash back when shopping online with over 2,600 retailers, gave
Rakuten.com additional presence in the US e-commerce market, as well as a way to offer items such as online e-coupons.
296:
On August 12, 2020, Rakuten.com sent an email to its customers stating that it would be closing its US operations as of
September 15, 2020: "Rakuten's United States marketplace service located at Rakuten.com/shop will stop taking orders from September 15, 2020".
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in April 2008, striking a deal to sell millions of items on eBay. Buy.com would quickly become the largest seller on eBay. Many independent sellers were upset that, unlike other sellers, Buy.com was allowed to sell on eBay without paying listing fees.
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In 2002, Buy.com went beyond selling solely electronics, movies and music, adding more soft goods to their catalog, such as sports equipment, apparel, shoes, health and beauty products. It was at this time that Blum placed a full-page ad in
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vendors. In response, Rakuten.com issued a statement that the company had undertaken significant measures to validate the security of the site, and that a third-party technical forensics investigation found no wrongdoing on their end.
226:, and the technology was repurposed to create a new transactional website for the John Lewis chain. In November 2001, Blum reacquired Buy.com for $ 23.6 million (about 17 cents per share), and took the company private.
248:, providing information about the latest electronic devices and computers, with four issues per year and a circulation of five million. The magazine was later converted into an all-digital publication.
262:
From 2007 to 2009, the number of products for sale in Buy.com's marketplace grew from 2.3 million to 5 million, positioning it as the number two e-commerce site behind Amazon.com.
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approximately 48% of the company at the time of the IPO. Stock values dropped in the year following Buy.com's initial public offering, and it was delisted from the
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for failing to maintain a stock price above $ 1 per share. In
February 2001, the UK arm of buy.com was sold to the UK department store
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On
January 25, 2005, Buy.com filed to go public again, before withdrawing those plans in May 2007.
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On
September 9, 2014, Rakuten announced the purchase of San Francisco–based online rebate site
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This article is about the US e-commerce website. For its
Japanese parent company, see
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681:"Buy.com Gets Acquired by Japanese E-Commerce Giant Rakuten For $ 250 Million"
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853:"Rakuten To Put Its Bitnet Investment To Work And Accept Bitcoin Worldwide"
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893:"Here's Everything We Know About The Rakuten/Buy.com Credit Card Breaches"
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million worth of goods and services in 1998, its first full year, beating
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817:"Rakuten of Japan to Buy Ebates, a U.S. Rebate Site, for $ 1 Billion"
767:"Buy.com to Become a Marketplace-only Site, Hopes to Take on Amazon"
709:"Rakuten, Japan’s ‘Amazon,’ launches U.S. brand, the former Buy.com"
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396:"Rakuten is shuttering the online shop formerly known as Buy.com"
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918:"Rakuten Is Taking Credit Card Fraud Complaints Very Seriously"
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784:"Rakuten Global Branding Continues with UK Marketplace Launch"
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566:"Japan’s Rakuten acquires e-commerce site Buy.com for $ 250M"
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654:"Rakuten: The biggest e-commerce site you haven’t heard of"
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In March 2015, Rakuten.com partnered with Bitnet to accept
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947:
323:"Rakuten.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools"
867:"Bogota police warn website users of suspicious charges"
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After raising $ 120 million from Japanese tech company
940:
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728:"Rakuten Buy.com Relaunches as Rakuten.com Shopping"
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In March 2002, Buy.com announced its first issue of
754:"Rakuten rolls out a new name and new seller fees"
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254:Buy.com officially launched a partnership with
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377:"Buy.com Makes Its Biggest Sale Yet: Itself"
266:Rakuten purchase and rebranding (2010–2020)
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210:'s 1984 record for most first-year sales.
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1204:Companies based in San Mateo, California
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515:"Buy.com vows to undersell Amazon books"
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612:"Buy.com Deal With eBay Angers Sellers"
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1219:Online retailers of the United States
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800:"Rakuten Buys Ebates For $ 1 Billion"
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270:In May 2010, Buy.com was acquired by
1234:Retail companies established in 1997
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585:Renfrow, Jacqueline (1 March 2009).
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540:"Buy.com Launches Buy.com Magazine"
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13:
834:"Rakuten Starts Accepting Bitcoin"
546:. Writers Write, Inc. 1 March 2002
14:
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421:"Meet Mister Buy(everything).com"
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513:Wolverton, Troy (25 June 2002).
349:"Buy.com is sold to its founder"
1168:Rakuten Institute of Technology
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480:"Back to the Future at Buy.com"
454:"The Death and Life of Buy.com"
241:five times as many as Buy.com.
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1:
1199:2010 mergers and acquisitions
1114:Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
855:, TechCrunch, March 17, 2015.
587:"Buy.com Grows Up in a Hurry"
498:"John Lewis snaps up buy.com"
309:
679:Toto, Serkan (20 May 2010).
7:
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88:Shutdown in 2020 by Rakuten
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1209:Customer loyalty programs
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419:Nee, Eric (1999-03-29).
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233:The Wall Street Journal
62:September 12, 1997
485:Bloomberg Businessweek
184:. Previously known as
64:; 26 years ago
182:San Mateo, California
180:marketplace based in
97:San Mateo, California
865:Superville, Denisa.
823:, September 9, 2014.
806:, September 9, 2014.
375:Claire Cain Miller,
832:Takashi Mochizuki,
773:, January 28, 2013.
717:, February 2, 2013.
488:, January 25, 2005.
462:, January 21, 2002.
220:NASDAQ Stock Market
201:Buy.com (1997–2010)
28:
1175:(formerly Voyagin)
821:The New York Times
616:The New York Times
382:The New York Times
357:, August 12, 2001.
347:Richard Fletcher,
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16:E-commerce website
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1134:Telecommunication
1061:Rakuten Linkshare
1029:Internet services
1008:
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891:Northrup, Laura.
842:, March 16, 2015.
752:Allison Enright,
734:. 10 January 2013
662:, March 22, 2013.
591:Response Magazine
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1119:Vissel Kobe
1051:Rakuten.com
923:Consumerist
897:Consumerist
738:12 February
570:VentureBeat
301:Controversy
105:Area served
1193:Categories
1096:Rakuten DX
1066:Rakuten TV
804:TechCrunch
690:7 February
685:TechCrunch
596:7 February
550:7 February
524:7 February
430:2008-02-27
405:2021-03-17
400:TechCrunch
334:2016-08-05
310:References
283:Ebates.com
238:Amazon.com
236:promising
224:John Lewis
178:e-commerce
115:Key people
80:Scott Blum
69:1997-09-12
44:Subsidiary
1142:Altiostar
1041:Kobo Inc.
1001:(founder)
109:Worldwide
1088:Software
1022:Products
714:PC World
502:BBC News
215:SoftBank
136:Services
126:Products
53:Internet
49:Industry
1229:Rakuten
980:Rakuten
659:Fortune
425:Fortune
291:bitcoin
196:History
190:Rakuten
186:Buy.com
176:was an
163:rakuten
158:Website
77:Founder
67: (
59:Founded
21:Rakuten
1106:Sports
988:People
902:6 June
876:6 June
459:Forbes
208:Compaq
147:Parent
130:Retail
99:, U.S.
1161:Other
1152:Viber
328:WHOIS
1078:Viki
904:2013
878:2013
740:2013
692:2013
633:Inc.
598:2013
552:2013
526:2013
519:CNET
256:eBay
165:.com
85:Fate
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