It was time for a follow-up visit to the Bidjit team in Tampa, as they announced yesterday that their Live Global Broadcast Events will be launched on July 4th. When I arrived at their offices, Paul Fischer (COO) greeted me at the door and took me on a tour of their broadcast studio. The entire building had been gutted recently. The studio reminded me of a New York loft. The walls are off-white and the ceiling was exposed up to the rafters and painted black. Studio lights and cables traverse throughout the steel girders and wind down to meet up with high-tech gear and high definition television cameras.

Concrete floors have been transformed into hardwood floors and the creative use of ceiling lighting on walls, coupled with original contemporary art, offsets what could have been a stark cavernous place. High definition wide screen television monitors are recessed into the walls to accent the set designs and intermittently flash logos of the Bidjit brand. Paul introduces me to the "team" and I recognize many of the faces that had greeted me at our IHOP meeting just a few weeks before. After a round of handshakes, Paul and I retreat into his back office to talk about Bidjit's future, their latest acquisition and Windsor's eBay litigation.

I learned that the studio was once Windsor's brick and mortar location. As a result of eBay suspending Windsor's eBay user names (after filing their lawsuit), the store and business was closed.

"It wasn't easy saying good-bye to Windsor but, we had no choice in the matter. If another entity is in control of your future and they decide you no longer have a future, then you have to reinvent yourself and evolve to the next level".

Bidjit has a banner on its site stating that Bidjit will be offering free web hosting. When do you plan to launch that service?

"There may be a few in the industry that think we can't compete with established venues. We offer our users three listing plans to fit every budget, we give away free stores and yes, we're about to offer 100% free web hosting for our users. However, the bigger picture is that we've acquired a very large hosting company with tens of thousands of active sites. The ability to control hundreds of thousands of pages of content and direct traffic to Bidjit.com seller listings and their stores, is our main priority. We'll be introducing free web hosting to our users within the next ten days".

Does Bidjit.com plan to introduce a live auction platform?

"While a few of the larger players in the industry have announced they're launching their own platforms when eBay Live shuts down, I find it hard to believe that they're prepared to drive any substantial amount of traffic to their sites without a functioning core. Bidjit has a core, a presence and is registering buyers and sellers 24/7. In addition, while I believe that the live auction platform offers buyers an exciting buying experience, live auction sellers need to be monitored and vetted out to ensure that both the platform and buyers are not abused".

How will Bidjit Live Auctions differ from those of the competition?

"We can learn from past experience, as to what's good or bad in relation to the live auction platform. For example, eBay Motors has its own core and I always believed that eBay Live also needed it owns core, as I always viewed eBay Live as a specialty auction venue. As a former eBay Live seller, we came to learn that two competitors gained an unfair competitive edge against us within the jewelry category. No doubt, that will never be allowed to happen on Bidjit. In order to have a level playing field, one has to study the listing process closely to ensure that live auction items are not on a collision course with regular seller listings and, one live auction seller can never have a distinct advantage over another seller. However, the first order of business is to vet out the live auction seller. Who are they? Are they based in the U.S., United Kindgom or Canada? If the seller is not based in the aforementioned countries, then further investigation into their business model must be completed in order to ensure the integrity of the platform. The platform must be above reproach at all times. The attitude of "let's just make money and sign up every live auction seller we can find and collect fees" should not take precedence over the integrity of the live auction platform".

What's your idea of a level playing field within the live auction platform?

"I'm not going to sit here and offer up all of my ideas, but, I can tell you that on Bidjit.com no two auctions will be live at the same time. Events will be scheduled to ensure that one live auction seller is not competing against three or four live auctions within the same category - simultaneously. If a sellers category is jewelry, they will not be allowed to throw in a few coins or pieces of art in order crossover into categories to gain an unfair edge against another live auction seller. Full disclosures will be required for all sales as buyers must be made aware of duty and shipping charges applicable to international shipments. The "fine print" for some live auction events is where many buyers get a "bad taste" after the sale and who can blame them? We will require specific answers to questions, posed to the live auction seller, which in turn, will be presented in summary form to the buyer prior to them agreeing to the terms and conditions of any live auction event".

How do you plan to market to the live auction seller?

"We're presently in negotiations with large live auction sellers who are respected within the industry. There are live auction sellers who are seeking change from "known" industry leaders. In some cases, we're hearing from live auction sellers who wonder why some providers never thought outside of the box and opened their own platforms, long before eBay even announced they were closing down eBay Live. Quite frankly, there are enough live auction sellers out there to support more than a few platforms, however, the key for the live auction seller is not to get locked into an exclusive arrangement with any one live auction platform. Live auction sellers need to keep all of their options open and sell across a variety of venues". 

I see boxes overflowing with branded Bidjit merchandise. What are your plans to brand Bidjit?

"Yes, we have t-shirts, coffee mugs, pens and all sorts of giveaways. We are now in the process of producing a fifteen-second commercial, which will be begin airing in both the Miami and Los Angeles markets within the coming weeks. We also aggressively marketing to those within the live auction industry to come on board and grow with Bidjit. We will also continue to acquire established on line venues in order to increase our reach on the net by way of controlling content. The Bidjit name is easy to remember and users are taking to the brand quickly. I foresee establishing a firm foothold within the on line auction industry by the start of fourth quarter".

One last question. Any investment bankers knocking at the door?

"It always a good idea to entertain options for financing, however, we're well beyond a start-up at this point. A few medium sized firms have made contact with us and we're also in discussions with those exploring strategic alliances with Bidjit. We were funded by angel investors and they have pulled out all the stops in order to bring the Bidjit brand fast-forward into the market place quickly". 

About Bidjit.com..

The site combines a static auction site with real time Global Live Streaming Broadcast technology. The site offers Broadcast Channels, which substitute as selling categories. Sellers list their goods within the static auction side of the site and BidJit's Live Broadcast hosts select listings (at random) and talk about the items being offered.

Sellers can list their items auction style or opt to sell at a fixed price. The site also offers Dutch style auctions for those wish to sell in quantity.

Bidjit.com recently announced that Bidjit sellers now have three pricing plans to choose from. Sellers may list up to 100 items for $5.00 per month, up to 250 items for $10.00 per month and unlimited listings for just $25.00 per month. Sellers may also upgrade their listings to Featured status for just ten cents per listing. Additional listing upgrades such as bolding and better placement are also a dime.