Web site offers virtual trade shows
By: SHANNON WINGARD - For the North County Times | ∞
SAN MARCOS -- Many shoppers consult search engines such as Google or Yahoo! when buying cars, jewelry or clothing.
When retailers want to buy products from wholesalers, Jason Prescott hopes that they'll surf the Web site he helped create, TopTenWholesale.com.
The company's aim is to be "the superhighway for wholesale," said Prescott, the company's chief executive officer.
It doesn't sell any of its own products. Instead, the site provides access to other Web sites offering wholesale items for anything imaginable, including cars, candles, jewelry, As Seen on TV products and countless other items.
Basically, he said TopTenWholesale.com offers the same information to wholesalers that only trade shows or trade magazines have traditionally provided. Prescott started the Web site more than two years ago, after working for more than six years at a Connecticut-based trade publisher. That taught him that there was a wonderful market for search.
"Why couldn't Google be done in B2B (business-to-business companies)?" Prescott said of his original idea.
In early 2005, he used his own money and industry contacts to start JP Communications, the company that launched TopTenWholesale.com in April of that year.
Prescott said he provided the vision while the former co-owner, Joe Preston, who still serves as the chief technical officer, offered the know-how to develop the site.
Two years later, the site has more than 1,000 wholesalers, manufacturers and importers advertising, including Overstock.com.
Prescott estimates that the company will gross $2.9 million in 2007.
The Web site, which is free to search, allows businesses to compare purchase prices of products as well as their retail value.
In addition, Prescott said, the company offers industry information, including blogs and articles, so that clients can stay current on trends and business practices.
While the company works mainly with domestic wholesalers, plans are in the works to make the network globally compatible, with a variety of languages.
Prescott said the company expanded rapidly from the start. In November 2005, Prescott said that it started Wholezilla.com, which costs a flat fee of $249 for a six-month listing. He describes the Web site as a "business-to-business shopping cart" for wholesalers.
That same year, he said that the company acquired Wholesale U ( www.wholesaleu.com), a wholesale directory that has a range of services such as auctions or "shopping-cart" services.
Prescott said the company's services continue to grow in demand. He attributes that to his sales team, which searches trade magazines for new clients, and to the public trend for using vertical search engines. Ý
Because TopTenWholesale.com is aimed at "educated, savvy customers," Prescott said, it doesn't have to offer much customer support, which helps keep costs down.
-- Contact freelance writer Shannon Wingard at scwing711@gmail.com.Ý
STANDOUT FACTS
Name: TopTenWholesale.com
Owner: Jason Prescott
Address: 970 Los Vallecitos Blvd., Suite 222-224, San Marcos
Products: Vertical search engine that provides a directory of wholesale products and suppliers as well as industry information
Web site: http://www.toptenwholesale.com
Established: 2005
Employees: 13
Estimated gross sales for 2007: $2.9 million
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