E-tail and interactive TV business Bid-up.tv will double sales this year and break even for the first time since its launch in October 2000.
By the year-end next month, Bid-up will have increased sales from£26 million last year to£60 million.
The business is owned by Sit-up, which bought Screenshop last year. Chris Manson, former finance and sales director of Sit-up, was made managing director earlier this month.
He said the business, which enables customers to bid through digital TV or on the Web for items ranging from jewellery to bicycles, is producing sales of£2 million a week.
According to one supplier, Bid-up.tv's sales make it the third largest retailer of bicycles in the UK. It will sell more than 20,000 bicycles this year compared to 7,300 last year.
Manson said the retailer works as a discounter, offering up to 60 per cent off high street prices. He claimed the business has saved customers more than£100 million on high street prices since its launch. Around 425,000 people watch the TV service each day. Approximately 6 per cent participate in bids.
In the summer, Sit-up received a£5 million cash injection from New York private merchant bank Alpine Equity Partners. It will launch a new channel with the money next year.
No comments yet