Company Spotlight: NoBetterDeal.com
by Christina Lee on March 9th, 2009
In its 111-year history, GENCO has become a well-known name in third-party logistics, then business-to-business liquidation of electronics, furniture, sporting goods and more.
But the company hopes to soon observe a growing association between it and direct-to-consumer selling, as it offers select secondary market goods through NoBetterDeal.com.
Once the company’s Marketplace Direct, which sold goods in smaller quantities than its typical truckload, NoBetterDeal.com is the end result of a brainstorming session that Bob Auray, president and CEO of the GENCO Marketplace, had with summer interns.
“Maybe rename the site to something catchier,” one had suggested.
The prices, low since the products are either returned or surplus, remain that way because of a survey Auray and the company conducted with thousands of Marketplace Direct customers, to find out what they liked about the then-current version.
“A really pretty consistent theme was that, there were surprisingly good deals,” Auray said. “They felt like they got good deals from the site, that the merchandise was fairly advertised, the price was very competitive.”
And so the appeal of its rebranding is not a new concept, Auray said, “but I do see it as evolutionary.” By that, he means that the online marketplace is a venture for him as well as the rest of the company.
The creation of NoBetterDeal.com – a full-fledged effort for about six months – became the first time Auray has led one of a direct-to-consumer business. Before directing GENCO Marketplace, he founded one and led two total logistics companies, ATH Logistics Solutions and USCO Logistics.
Regardless, NoBetterDeal.com is still a natural extension of the company and what Auray has visualized of its future, he said.
“We bring the higher value captured to the source of the goods, and we bring good value to the buyer of the goods,” he said. “We definitely see it as consistent with our mission in being the most robust and effective network for buyers and sellers of secondary inventory.”