Omaha-based marketplace Proxibid to open office in London

Proxibid is hopping the pond. The Omaha-based marketplace for buying and selling high-value goods like fine art or farm equipment has opened an office in London. It’s the company’s first move internationally. It already has an office in New York. Ryan Downs, president and CEO of the 13-year-old company says it’s another major milestone in…

Proxibid is hopping the pond.

The Omaha-based marketplace for buying and selling high-value goods like fine art or farm equipment has opened an office in London. It’s the company’s first move internationally. It already has an office in New York. 

Ryan Downs, president and CEO of the 13-year-old company says it’s another major milestone in Proxibid’s growth. 

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“It’s a big deal. We had always aspired to be in the global market,” Downs told SPN. “It’s a step in the journey. As long as there are new markets we can disrupt, our work is not done. This is just a step in that journey.”

Downs is a former PayPal executive who headed worldwide operations, so he has a bit of experience growing companies overseas. He says he knows how to effectively deal with the issues of international expansion. 

“This move enables us to better serve our existing UK and European buyers and sellers, and positions us to offer our unique portfolio of e-commerce solutions and access to our large global community of buyers to sellers throughout Europe,” he said.

Proxibid provides online selling tools to more than 3,000 auction companies, asset owners and consignors across the globe. More than $2 billion in inventory passes through Proxibid’s Marketplace annually in product categories that include heavy equipment, commercial and industrial equipment, real estate, rare coins, antiques and collectibles, guns and more.

In the UK, the company found a partner in Moffat Group, publishers of Resale Weekly, one of the largest advertising publications in the UK and Europe, and hope to capitalize on the construction equipment and farm machinery markets.

Under this new partnership, Moffat Group will use Proxibid’s transactional capabilities and online risk management expertise to provide a secure online environment for buying and selling those goods globally.

Downs says they’ve always had plans to go global, but they wouldn’t have done it without a key partnership to get them there. 

“It’s really hard to go it alone in a large, complex market with a lot of established players,” he said. “When we came in contact with Moffatt Group, we saw they had a complimentary product to what we offered and also matched out value set perfectly: working with integrity, the best customer service and doing the right thing by employees and customers.”

Two Omaha-based Proxibid employees, a sales/strategic person and an operations person, moved to London last week, joining Moffatt Group’s office of about 30 employees. It will eventually grow to a team of 10 to 12. Downs will visit this week.

Downs put out a call for two people to relocate to London. About 20 applied.

“I’m excited for these guys. They’re great, knowledgable. It’s going to be demanding, but rewarding,” Downs said. “That’s one of things I learned from helping PayPal expand: living overseas, getting exposed to new cultures is one of the best things you can do in business.”

Proxibid will bring to the table its comprehensive risk management system—a sophisticated hybrid of proprietary technology and third-party partnerships managed by an in-house team of experts. APN, the company’s payment solution, ensures all Proxibid-powered transactions are secure, making the Proxibid Marketplace the safest place to transact online, according to a release.

More than 12,000 sales events take place in the Proxibid Marketplace annually, and more than 10,000 new buyers join the Marketplace each month.

But there is more news on the horizon. Downs says it’s too early to share the plans, but there’s a lot more for Proxibid in the pipeline.

“It is a time for extreme change and opportunity,” he said.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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