Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report, including the consolidated financial statements and related notes, before making an investment decision regarding our common stock. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition or operating results could suffer. As a result, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment in our common stock. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only significant risks we may face. Other events that we do not currently anticipate or that we currently deem immaterial also may affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Business and Operating Risks
The success of our business depends on our ability to source a sufficient supply of assets from sellers to attract and retain active professional buyers; then more buyers attract more sellers in a virtuous cycle of growth.
Our ability to increase our revenue and earn profits depends on whether we can successfully retain existing sellers, attract new sellers, expand the supply of assets available for sale on our e-commerce marketplaces and, at the same time, attract and retain active professional buyers to purchase the assets in the categories we sell. Our ability to attract enough quantities of suitable assets and buyers with suitable interests in those assets will depend on various factors, some of which are out of our control. These factors include our ability to:
• offer sellers liquid marketplaces for their assets;
• offer buyers desirable assets;
• develop and implement effective seller and buyer marketing strategies;
• comply with regulatory and corporate seller requirements affecting marketing and disposition of certain assets;
• efficiently catalogue, handle, store, ship, and track deliver of assets; and
• achieve high levels of seller and buyer satisfaction.
Failure to continue to offer competitive assets to the marketplace, to supply assets that meet applicable regulatory requirements, or to predict market demands for, or gain market acceptance of, such assets, would have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If we do not respond to rapid technological changes or continuously upgrade our systems, we could fail to grow our business and our revenue could decrease.
To remain competitive, we must continue to enhance and improve the functionality and features of our e-commerce business, particularly those that attract and retain buyers and sellers. As an e-commerce company, we must continuously improve and upgrade our technology, transaction processing systems and network infrastructure to allow our operations to grow in both size and scope. Without such continuous improvements, our operations might suffer from unanticipated system disruptions, slow transaction processing, unreliable service levels, or impaired quality or delays in reporting accurate financial information, any of which could negatively affect our reputation and ability to attract and retain sellers and buyers. We may also face material delays in introducing new services, assets, and enhancements. The e-commerce industry is rapidly changing. If competitors introduce new assets and services using new technologies or if new industry standards and practices emerge, our existing online marketplaces and our proprietary technology and systems may become obsolete. In addition, the expansion and improvement of our systems and infrastructure may require us to commit substantial financial, operational, and technical resources, with no assurance our business will grow as a result. If we fail to respond to technological change or to adequately maintain, expand, upgrade, and develop our systems and infrastructure promptly, our ability to grow could be limited and our revenue could decrease.
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We may not realize the anticipated benefits from our recent initiatives.
We expect that our recent initiatives will increase our efficiency and productivity, the functionality of our marketplaces and our cross-selling opportunities, as well as decrease the cost of our systems infrastructure, all of which we expect will drive our scale and growth and have a positive effect on our business, competitive position, and results of operations over time. Many of our previous operating and financial systems have been recently replaced, and if these new systems do not operate as expected, we may have to incur significant additional costs and delays to modify them. We cannot assure you that these initiatives will be beneficial to the extent, or within the timeframes, expected, or that the estimated efficiency, cost savings and other improvements will be realized as anticipated or at all. If our initiatives are not implemented successfully and within budget, or if our systems do not perform in a satisfactory manner, it could disrupt or otherwise materially adversely affect our business and results of operations, as well as divert management resources. Similarly, if our buyers and sellers fail to accept our new platform or our new unified process for handling transactions across our marketplaces, it could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The information technology and digital marketing improvements that are core to our RISE strategy place a significant strain on our management, operational, financial and other resources.
We continue to decommission non-scalable legacy IT platform technology with modular technology including key modules for unified management of sellers and buyers, property handling, transaction processing and finance functions across our entire company. Our AllSurplus marketplace launched during Fiscal Year 2020 and has continued to receive regular capability updates as we leverage customer feedback and data analytics to optimize the user experience. Our AllSurplus marketplace is designed to provide our buyers with access to all the property available in our CAG and GovDeals marketplaces, provides a common account experience for sellers and simplifies our operations. We are now expanding our AllSurplus marketplace to include an online, direct-to-consumer channel for returned and overstock inventory from retailers and manufacturers. This expansion of our AllSurplus marketplace capabilities places significant strain on our management, personnel, operations, systems, technical performance and financial resources and internal financial control and reporting function. Iterative information technology and digital marketing improvements require management time and resources to educate employees, redesign internal processes and implement new ways of conducting business with our sellers and buyers. If we do not effectively manage improvements to our marketplaces, including consolidation of our GoIndustry DoveBid marketplace onto our AllSurplus marketplace, digital marketing and data driven improvements or the timing, costs, and adoption by sellers and buyers, it could negatively affect our business and our operating results, as well as damage our reputation and our prospects. In addition, the dedication of resources to sustain and enhance our existing sites constrains the ability to undertake transformation initiatives focused on growth opportunities. The continuous improvement of our new aggregated marketplace initiative limits the resources we have available to devote to other initiatives or growth opportunities, or to invest in the maintenance of our internal systems.
We have vendor contracts with Amazon.com, Inc. in our RSCG segment under which we acquire a significant portion of our purchased inventory, and if our relationship with Amazon is disrupted, we would experience a significant decrease in revenue and income.
We have multiple vendor contracts with Amazon.com, Inc., under which we acquire then resell assets. The property we purchased under these contracts represented approximately 60.7%, 55.1% and 43.6% of cost of goods sold for the years ended September 30, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. If Amazon stopped selling inventory to us on acceptable terms or adversely changed the mix and quantity of the inventory that we purchase from Amazon, we likely could not procure alternative inventory from other vendors in a timely and efficient manner and on acceptable terms, or at all, and would therefore experience a significant decrease in revenue and have difficulty generating income.
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If we do not retain our senior management and other highly skilled employees, we may not achieve our business objectives.
Our future success, including our ability to successfully implement recent initiatives, depends substantially on the continued service of our senior management and other key personnel, particularly William P. Angrick, III, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. We do not have key-person insurance on any of our officers or employees. Losing any member of our existing senior management team could damage key seller relationships, result in the loss of key information, expertise or know-how, lead to unanticipated recruitment and training costs and make it more difficult to operate our business and achieve our business goals. Our future success also depends on our ability to continue to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled employees, particularly employees with technology, sales, marketing, operations and administrative technical expertise. Competition for employees in our industry is intense. We have experienced occasional difficulty in attracting personnel to support the growth of our business, and we may experience similar difficulties. If we cannot attract, assimilate and retain employees with the skills we require, we may not grow our business and revenue as expected and we could experience increased turnover, decreased levels of buyer and seller service, low morale, inefficiency or internal control failures.
We rely on attracting, training and retaining highly qualified employees at our RSCG warehouses and a loss of RSCG warehouse employees could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We must attract, train and retain a large and growing number of qualified employees in our RSCG warehouses while controlling related labor costs and maintaining our core values. Our ability to control labor and benefit costs is subject to numerous internal and external factors, including the continuing impacts of the Pandemic, regulatory changes, prevailing wage rates, and healthcare and other insurance costs. We compete with other retail and non-retail businesses for these employees and invest significant resources in training and motivating them. There is no assurance that we will be able to attract or retain highly qualified employees in the future, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We face intense competition.
Our businesses operate in intensely competitive markets. We have many competitors in different industries, including the online services market for auctioning or liquidating surplus and salvage assets and retail markets. Competitive pressures could affect our ability to attract and retain buyers and sellers, which could decrease our revenue and negatively affect our operating results.
Some of our other current and potential competitors have longer operating histories, larger seller and buyer bases, greater brand recognition and greater financial, marketing, and other resources than we do. They may devote greater financial resources to marketing and promotional campaigns, secure better terms from sellers and vendors, adopt more aggressive pricing or inventory availability policies and devote substantially more resources to technology and infrastructure than we do.
During the course of the Pandemic, several of our competitors were driven to upgrade aspects of their core information and marketing technology stacks. This heightened focus on e-commerce has increased the competition we face. If this competition continues to intensify, it may become progressively more difficult to attract enough buyers and sellers to our marketplaces to sustain growth without significant increases in resources.
In some countries, we have competitors that may have a better understanding of local culture and commerce. We increasingly may compete in other countries with local competitors that have advantages we do not, such as a greater ability to operate within the local regulatory environment.
In addition, we may face competition from certain of our retail clients. For example, a retail client may invest in its warehouse operational capacity to handle higher volumes of online returns which may cause such retailer to send us a reduced volume of returned merchandise or a product mix that is lower in value due to the removal of high value returns.
If our strategy to compete against our many competitors is not effective, we may lose market share and our results of operations may be negatively affected. We may not be able to compete successfully against competitors and our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely impacted and we may not be able to achieve long term earnings growth targets.
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Our operating results depend on our websites, network infrastructure and transaction processing systems, and our software runs on public clouds. Service interruptions or system failures could negatively affect the demand for our services and our ability to grow our revenue.
Any system interruptions that affect our websites or our transaction systems could impair the services we provide to our sellers and buyers. In addition, our systems and data centers may be vulnerable to damage from a variety of other sources, including: damage to, or failure of, our computer software or hardware, or our connections to, and outsourced service arrangements with, third parties; failure of, or defects in, the third-party systems, software or equipment on which we rely to access our data centers and other systems; errors in the processing of data; computer viruses, malware or software defects; physical or electronic break-ins, sabotage, distributed denial of service, or DDoS, penetration attacks, intentional acts of vandalism and similar events; and telecommunications failures, power outages, pandemics, political unrest, malicious human acts and natural disasters.
Improving the reliability and redundancy of our systems may be expensive, reduce our margins and may not be successful in preventing system failures.
Our ability to provide services depends substantially on systems provided by third parties, over whom we have little control. We have occasionally experienced interruptions to our services due to system failures. Any disruption to our data centers, interruptions or failures of our systems or our ability to communicate with third party systems could negatively affect the demand for our services and our ability to grow our revenue.
Many of our information technology systems consist of outsourced, cloud-based infrastructure, platform, and software-as-a-service solutions not under our direct management or control. Any disruption to either the outsourced systems or the communication links between us and the outsourced supplier could negatively affect our ability to operate our websites or our transaction systems and could impair our ability to provide services to our sellers and buyers. We may incur additional costs to remedy the damages caused by these disruptions.
Our inability to use software licensed from third parties or our use of open source software under license terms that interfere with our proprietary rights could disrupt our business.
We use software licensed from third parties, including some open-source software that we use without charge. We use, among others, the following licensed or open-source software: Akamai, Algonomy, Amazon Web Services, Google, Heroku, HubSpot, Jenkins, LeaseQuery, Liferay, Microsoft, MuleSoft, MySQL, Oracle and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Software, and we may use additional open-source software. Licenses to third party software may not continue to be available on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all.
Our inability to use third-party software or to enter into agreements on acceptable terms with providers of cloud-based solutions could cause disruptions to our business, or delays in developing future services or enhancements of existing services, which could impair our business. In addition, the terms of certain open-source software licenses may require us to provide modified versions of the open-source software or any proprietary software that we develop that incorporates all or a portion of the open-source software to others on unfavorable license terms consistent with the open-source license term. If we must license our proprietary software under the foregoing, our competitors and other third parties could obtain access to our intellectual property, which could harm our business.
Certain aspects of our marketing technology depend on third parties over whom we have no control.
Obtaining organic search engine traffic from Google is a significant traffic driver for our marketplaces. If Google modified the search engine algorithms that control our page rankings, we may experience a significant negative impact on the traffic coming to our marketplaces. A decrease in traffic would reduce the number of new buyers and sellers on our marketplaces and could harm our business.
Additionally, our marketing technology relies heavily on our ability to track our promotional campaign performance across marketing channels (i.e., email, search engines, social media and third-party banner ads). If industry leading software browsers, such as Google Chrome or Apple Safari, disable user analytics tracking or other similar capabilities, our ability to track our promotional campaign performance could be affected, which could in turn prevent us from fully optimizing the marketing spend associated with our promotional campaigns. Like many other e-commerce marketplaces, Apple’s recent upgrades to provide greater transparency as to Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) has with respect to some categories of assets made it harder and more expensive for us to target customers with the interest in purchasing those categories of assets.
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We are required to maintain the privacy and security of personal and business information amidst multiplying threat landscapes and in compliance with privacy and data protection regulations globally. Failure to do so could damage our business, including our reputation with sellers, buyers and employees, cause us to incur substantial additional costs, and become subject to litigation and regulatory action.
Increased security threats and more sophisticated cyber misconduct pose a risk to our e-commerce marketplaces, information technology systems, networks, and services. We rely upon IT systems and networks, some of which are managed by third parties, in connection with virtually all of our business activities. Additionally, we collect, store and process information relating to our business, sellers, buyers and employees. Operating these IT systems and networks, and processing and maintaining this data, in a secure manner, is critical to our business operations and strategy. Losing confidential seller or buyer information could also expose us to the risk of liability and costly litigation. In addition, if there is any perception that we cannot protect our users’ confidential information, we may lose the ability to retain existing, and attract new, sellers and buyers, and therefore our revenue could decline. Increased remote work due to the Pandemic has also increased the possible attack surfaces. Threats designed to gain unauthorized access to systems, networks and data, both ours and third parties with whom we work, are increasing in frequency and sophistication. Cybersecurity attacks may range from random attempts to coordinated and targeted attacks, including sophisticated computer crimes and advanced persistent threats. Phishing attacks have emerged as particularly prominent, including as vectors for ransomware attacks, which have increased in breadth and frequency for the Company. While we train our employees as part of our security efforts, that training cannot be completely effective. These threats pose a risk to the security of our systems and networks and the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our data. It is possible that our IT systems and networks, or those managed by third parties such as cloud providers or suppliers that otherwise host confidential information, could have vulnerabilities, which could go unnoticed for a period of time. While our cybersecurity and compliance efforts seek to mitigate such risks, there can be no guarantee that the actions and controls we and our third-party service providers have implemented and are implementing, will be sufficient to protect our systems, information or other property. We currently expend, and we may be required to expend significant additional capital and other resources, to protect against such security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches. Our insurance coverage may be inadequate to compensate us for any related losses we incur.
An interruption in the operations of our buyer and seller support service system or our warehouse distribution centers could significantly harm our business and operating results.
Our business depends, to a large degree, on the provision of effective support services to our buyers and sellers, and on effective distribution center operations (including leased commercial warehouse distribution space). These operations could be harmed by several factors, including any material disruption or slowdown at our distribution centers resulting from labor disputes, changes in the terms of our underlying lease agreements, telecommunications failures, power or service outages, human error, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, government mandated business closures and shelter-in-place guidelines designed to contain the spread of epidemic or pandemic disease or other events.
If we fail to accurately predict our ability to sell assets in which we take inventory risk and credit risk our margins may decline.
Under our purchase transaction model, we purchase assets and assume the risk that the assets may sell for less than we paid for it. We assume general and physical inventory and credit risk. These risks are especially significant because some of the goods we purchase and resell on our websites are impacted by rapid technological change, obsolescence and price erosion, and because we sometimes make large purchases of particular types of inventory or industrial equipment when manufacturing facilities or campuses close. In addition, we do not typically receive warranties on the assets we purchase and, as a result, we must resell or dispose of any returned goods on an as-is basis, which limits the types of buyers willing to purchase our assets. To manage our inventory successfully, we must maintain enough buyer demand to sell assets for a reasonable financial return. We may overpay for the acquired assets if we miscalculate buyer demand or the acquired assets is not as desirable as we predicted. If assets are not attractive to our buyer base, we may have to take significant losses resulting from lower sale prices, which could reduce our revenue and margins.
Occasionally, in our capital assets marketplace, we make very significant inventory acquisitions, such as the purchase of semi-conductor and oil and gas equipment and biopharma and metal-working machinery, for later resale on our energy and industrial marketplaces. We plan to continue to opportunistically make such acquisitions. The risks described above are heightened in these acquisitions due to their size and, at times, the limited market for the assets we acquire. If we obtain financing to fund such acquisitions, such financing will increase our costs, which will decrease any profits we receive from the sale of the acquired assets.
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As we grow our business, we may increase the assets we purchase directly from sellers, resulting in increased inventory levels and related risks, including increased risk of losses on the sale of the inventory acquired. Any such increase would require the use of additional working capital and any funds so used would not be available for other purposes.
Our quarterly operating results have fluctuated in the past and may do so in the future, which could cause volatility in our stock price.
Our prior operating results have fluctuated due to changes in our business and the e-commerce industry. Similarly, our future operating results may vary significantly from quarter to quarter due to many factors, including factors beyond our control. You should not rely on period-to-period comparisons of our operating results as an indication of our future performance. Factors that may, among others, affect our quarterly operating results include the following:
• our ability to increase sales to existing buyers, attract and retain new buyers and satisfy buyer demands;
• our ability to retain and expand our base of sellers;
• entry into, or the modification, termination or expiration of, contracts;
• the volume, size, timing and completion rate of transactions in our marketplaces, including variability due to the timing of large, project-based activities;
• changes in the supply and demand for and the volume, price, mix and quality of our supply of surplus and salvage assets;
• introduction of new or enhanced websites, services or product offerings by us or our competitors, which may affect our margins;
• implementation costs of new contracts, particularly those requiring custom integrations and value-added services;
• changes in our pricing policies or the pricing policies of our competitors;
• changes in the conditions and economic prospects of the e-commerce industry or the economy generally, which could alter current or prospective buyers' and sellers' priorities;
• the extent to which use of our services is affected by spyware, viruses, phishing and other spam emails, denial of service attacks, data theft, computer intrusions, outages and similar events;
• event-driven disruptions such as war, terrorism, armed hostilities, disease and natural disasters;
• changes in energy and commodities prices, including the timing and speed of recovery in energy sector macro conditions;
• seasonal patterns in selling and purchasing activity; and
• costs related to acquisitions of technology or equipment.
Our operating results may fall below the expectations of market analysts and investors in some future periods. If this occurs, even temporarily, it could cause volatility in our stock price.
The seasonality of our business places increased strain on our operations.
We experience seasonality in each portion of our business. We expect a disproportionate amount of transactions on our marketplaces to occur at certain times during the year. If we cannot effectively manage increased demand, or the increased flow of goods we typically experience during these times, it could adversely affect our revenue and our future growth. If too many buyers and sellers access our websites within a short period of time due to increased demand, we may experience system interruptions that make our websites unavailable or prevent us from providing efficient service, which may reduce our GMV and the attractiveness of our value-added services. In addition, we may not adequately staff our distribution centers during these peak periods. If we cannot staff warehouses adequately, we may not be able to process assets quickly enough which, in turn, could mean dissatisfaction of sellers and reduced GMV or increased third party storage costs and reduced profitability.
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If we fail to identify, finance and integrate acquisitions, our future operating results may be materially adversely affected.
We have expanded our business in part through acquisitions such as the most recent acquisition of Bid4Assets, Inc. We may continue to do so. The success of any future growth strategy involving acquisitions will depend on our ability to identify, and the availability of, suitable acquisition candidates. We may incur costs in connection with a potential acquisition but may ultimately be unable or unwilling to consummate the proposed transaction for various reasons. In addition, acquisitions involve numerous risks, including our ability to successfully integrate the acquired businesses and operations with our other businesses and realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisitions. If we cannot achieve these objectives in a cost-effective and timely manner, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition or it may take us longer to realize the benefits of the acquisition than we expect. Acquired operations outside the U.S. may present unique challenges or increase our exposure to risks associated with foreign operations, including foreign currency risks and risks associated with local regulatory regimes.
The integration process could cause the loss of key employees, buyers, sellers or other vendors, increase our operating or other costs, decrease our profit margins or disrupt our other businesses, each of which could impair our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits of the acquisition. Our efforts to integrate acquired businesses will divert management's attention and resources from our other businesses. Any failure to timely and cost-effectively realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, expenses and operating results.
Acquisitions could cause dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of debt, one-time write-offs of goodwill and substantial amortization expenses of other intangible assets. We may not obtain any required acquisition financing on favorable terms, or at all, which could make it impossible or costlier to acquire other businesses. If we can obtain financing, the terms may be onerous and restrict our operations. Further, certain acquisitions may be subject to regulatory approval, which can be time-consuming and costly to obtain, and the terms of such regulatory approvals may impose limitations on our ongoing operations or require us to divest assets or lines of business.
Damage to our reputation could harm our business.
Our positive reputation is based on our core values of integrity, customer focus, relentless improvement, innovation to support leadership, mutual trust and accountability, shared success and doing well and doing good. Our ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees, clients and buyers, and to successfully do business would be harmed if our reputation was damaged. Harm to our reputation can arise from numerous sources, including, among others, employee misconduct, security breaches, compliance failures, litigation or regulatory outcomes or governmental investigations. Our reputation could also be harmed by the failure or perceived failure of an affiliate, joint-venture, or a vendor or other third party with which we do business, to comply with laws or regulations. In addition, our reputation or prospects may be significantly damaged by adverse publicity or negative information regarding us, whether or not true, that may be posted on social media, non-mainstream news services or other parts of the internet, and this risk can be magnified by the speed and pervasiveness with which information is disseminated through those channels. Should any of these or other events or factors that can undermine our reputation occur, the additional costs and expenses that we may need to incur to address the issues giving rise to the damage to our reputation may adversely affect our earnings and results of operations. Any damage to our reputation could impair our ability to retain existing or attract new customers, investors and employees.
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Our international operations expose us to several risks.
Our international activities are significant to our revenues and profits, and we may continue to expand internationally, including through acquisitions, organic growth and through joint ventures or strategic alliances with third parties. We are required to comply with the laws of the countries or markets in which we operate. In addition, because our services are accessible worldwide and facilitate the sales of goods and provide services to users worldwide, one or more jurisdictions may claim that we or our users are required to comply with their laws based on the location of our servers, or one or more of our users, or location of the assets or service being sold or provided.
It is costly to establish, develop, and maintain international operations and websites, and promote our brand internationally. Our international operations may not be profitable on a sustained basis or at all. In addition to the risks described elsewhere in this section, our international operations are subject to several risks, including:
• local economic and political conditions, or civil unrest that may disrupt economic activity in affected countries;
• government regulation of e-commerce and other services, competition, and restrictive governmental actions (such as trade protection measures, including export duties and quotas and custom duties and tariffs), nationalization, and restrictions on foreign ownership;
• restrictions on sales or distribution of certain assets or services and uncertainty regarding liability for assets and services, including uncertainty because of less Internet-friendly legal systems, local laws, lack of legal precedent, and varying rules, regulations, and practices regarding the enforcement of intellectual property rights;
• business licensing or certification requirements, such as for imports, exports, and web services;
• limitations on the repatriation and investment of funds and foreign currency exchange restrictions;
• shorter payable and longer receivable cycles and the resultant negative impact on cash flow;
• laws and regulations regarding consumer and data protection, privacy, network security, encryption, payments, and restrictions on pricing or discounts;
• lower levels of consumer spending and fewer opportunities for growth compared to the U.S.;
• lower levels of credit card usage and increased payment risk;
• different employee/employer relationships and the existence of works councils;
• compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other applicable U.S. and foreign laws prohibiting certain payments to government officials and other third parties;
• laws and policies of the U.S. and other jurisdictions affecting trade, foreign investment, loans, and taxes; and
• geopolitical events, including war and terrorism.
If we expand internationally through joint ventures or strategic alliances, we will also face counterparty risk in addition to the risks described above. If any counterparty to our joint ventures or strategic alliances is unwilling or unable to perform its obligations to us, we may not realize the benefits of such arrangements and we may experience material unanticipated problems, expenses and liabilities.
Our international operations expose us to foreign exchange fluctuations that could harm our operations.
We conduct business in many countries around the world and receive fees and pay expenses (including salaries to our international workforce) in several different currencies despite reporting our financial results in U.S. dollars. As a result, our financial results are impacted by fluctuations in foreign currency rates. The results of our foreign subsidiaries are translated from the local currency to U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. For example, if the U.S. dollar weakens against foreign currencies, the translation of these foreign currency denominated revenues and expenses will result in increased U.S. dollar denominated revenues and expenses. These factors and others may harm our business and our results of operations. In addition, currency exchange rates may negatively affect our results if we pay for inventory using a different currency than we receive when we sell the inventory.
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Our stock price has been volatile, and your investment in our common stock could decline in value.
Worldwide financial crises have led to an increase in the overall volatility of the stock market. Increased volatility and other broad market and industry factors may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. Other factors that could cause fluctuation in our stock price may include:
• actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results;
• changes in financial estimates by us or by a securities analyst who covers our stock;
• publication of research reports about our company or industry;
• conditions or trends in our industry;
• stock market price and volume fluctuations of other publicly traded companies and, in particular, those whose business involves the Internet and e-commerce;
• announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts (or the amendment or loss of such contracts), acquisitions, commercial relationships, strategic partnerships or divestitures;
• announcements by us or our competitors of technological innovations, new services or service enhancements;
• announcements of investigations or regulatory scrutiny of our operations or lawsuits filed against us;
• the passage of legislation or other regulatory developments that adversely affect us, our sellers or buyers, or our industry;
• additions or departures of key personnel;
• sales of our common stock, including sales of our common stock by our directors and officers or specific stockholders;
• general economic conditions and slow or negative growth of related markets; and
• the continued global spread of COVID-19 and related measures to contain its spread (such as government mandated business closures and shelter in-place guidelines).
Volatility in the market price of shares may prevent investors from being able to sell their shares of common stock at prices they view as attractive. In the past, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in their stock price. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs and divert our management's attention and resources.
We may need additional financing in the future, which may not be available on favorable terms, if at all.
We may need additional funds to finance our operations, as well as to enhance our services, acquire inventory for our businesses, fund initiatives, respond to competitive pressures, acquire complementary businesses or technologies or otherwise support our growth. We may also require additional funds if vendors and other third parties from whom we purchase inventory, other goods or services extend less favorable credit terms to us. Our business may not generate the cash needed to finance such requirements. We do not have a credit facility with third-party lenders from which we may draw funds. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership of our existing stockholders would be reduced, and these securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock. The general economic and capital market conditions in the United States and other parts of the world can deteriorate significantly, limiting access to capital and increasing the cost of capital. A large degree of economic uncertainty remains both domestically and abroad, which can adversely affect access to capital, and the cost of capital. If adequate funds are not available or are not available on acceptable terms, our ability to enhance our services, fund strategic initiatives, respond to competitive pressures, take advantage of business opportunities or grow our business would be limited, and we might need to restrict our operations and initiatives.
The global COVID-19 pandemic could harm our business and results of operations.
The global spread of COVID-19 (the “Pandemic”) and related measures to contain its spread (such as government mandated business closures and shelter in-place guidelines experienced in Q2 and Q3 of FY2020) have created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. Although the Pandemic and the related measures to contain its spread have not had a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations to date, they have adversely affected certain components of our business, particularly revenues during times and in places in which governments ordered business and governmental closures and issued the most restrictive shelter in-place guidelines. The extent to which the Pandemic impacts our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity in the future will depend on numerous evolving factors that we cannot predict, including the severity and duration of future mutations or related variants of the virus in areas in which we operate for which there may not be an effective vaccine.
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Global and regional economic conditions.
Our operations and performance depend significantly on global and economic conditions. Adverse economic conditions and events include, but are not limited to, uncertainties and instability due to the Pandemic and its impact on global macroeconomic economic trends. These conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business by reducing the ability of international buyers and sellers to conduct businesses due to travel restrictions impacting the ability of: sellers and their agents to travel to prepare assets for sale; buyers travelling to inspect assets; sellers and buyers completing international transactions requiring assets to cross export and import border control points; and the overall willingness of sellers and buyers to decommission capital assets and engage in cross-border transactions. Separately, any factors that reduce cross border trade or make such trade more difficult could harm our business. Increasing costs, such as increasing tariffs and trade wars between nations, may make international trade less profitable and adversely affect our global business.
Legal and Regulatory Risks
We face legal uncertainties relating to the internet in general and to the e-commerce industry in particular and may become subject to costly government regulation.
The laws and regulations related to the internet and e-commerce are evolving. These laws and regulations relate to issues such as user privacy, freedom of expression, pricing, fraud, quality of assets and services, taxation, advertising, intellectual property rights and information security. Laws governing issues such as property ownership, title registration, security interests in assets, copyrights and other intellectual property issues, taxation, libel and defamation, obscenity and personal privacy could also affect our business. Laws adopted prior to the advent of the internet may not contemplate or address the unique issues of the Internet and related technologies and it is not clear how they will apply. Current and future laws and regulations could increase our cost of doing business and/or decrease the demand for our services.
Our auction business may be subject to a variety of additional costly government regulations.
Many states and other jurisdictions have regulations governing the conduct of traditional "auctions," the liability of traditional "auctioneers" in conducting auctions and handling property by "secondhand dealers", which may apply to online auction services. In addition, certain states have laws or regulations that expressly apply to online auction services. We expect to continue to incur costs in complying with these laws and could be subject to fines or other penalties for any failure to comply with these laws. We may be required to make changes in our business to comply with these laws, which could increase our costs, reduce our revenue, cause us to prohibit the listing of certain items or restrict certain listing formats in some locations, which may adversely affect our financial condition or operating results.
In addition, the body of law regarding the potential liability of an online auction service for the activities of its users is not clear. Users of our websites may not always comply with our terms and conditions or with laws and regulations applicable to them and their transactions. It is possible that we may be subject to allegations of civil or criminal liability for any unlawful activities conducted by sellers or buyers. Any costs we incur because of any such allegations, or because of actual or alleged unlawful transactions using our marketplaces, or in our efforts to prevent any such transactions, may harm our opportunities for future revenue growth. In addition, any negative publicity we receive regarding any such transactions or allegations may damage our reputation, our ability to attract new sellers and buyers and our business.
In addition, if our sellers violate laws or regulations, or implement practices regarded as unethical, unsafe, or hazardous to the environment, it could damage our reputation, limit our growth, and negatively affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
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If we violate privacy regulations, our business could suffer harm.
We are subject to regulation at the federal, state and international levels relating to privacy and the use of third-party data, including personal user information and employee data. These statutory and regulatory requirements are evolving, increasing in complexity and number, sometimes conflicting and may change significantly. How companies collect, process, use, store, share or transmit personal and employee data is subject to increasing scrutiny by governments and the public, which could accelerate the adoption of additional legislation or regulation. New statutory or regulatory developments may restrict our ability to collect and use demographic and personal information from our buyers and our sellers, which could be costly or harm our marketing efforts. Further, there may be conflicts among the privacy and data protections laws adopted by the countries in which we operate. Judicial and regulatory application and interpretation of these statutory and regulatory requirements are often uncertain and may also limit our marketing efforts. Compliance with regulations regarding privacy, security and protection of user and employee data, increased government or private enforcement, and changing public attitudes about data privacy, may increase the cost of growing our business and require us to expend significant capital and other resources. Our failure to comply with these federal, state and international laws and regulations could subject us to lawsuits, fines, criminal penalties, statutory damages, adverse publicity and other costs which could decrease our profitability.
Certain categories of assets sold on our marketplaces are subject to government restrictions.
We sell assets, such as scientific instruments, information technology equipment and aircraft parts, that is subject to export control and economic sanctions laws, among other laws, imposed by the United States and other governments. Such restrictions include the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and economic sanctions and embargo laws administered by the Office of the Foreign Assets Control Regulations. These restrictions prohibit us from selling property to (1) persons or entities that appear on lists of restricted or prohibited parties maintained by the United States or other governments or (2) countries, regimes, or nationals that are the target of applicable economic sanctions or other embargoes.
We may incur significant costs or be required to modify our business to comply with these requirements. If we are alleged to have violated these laws or regulations we may be subject to civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines, and suspension or debarment from doing business with U.S. federal government agencies. In addition, we could suffer serious harm to our reputation if allegations of impropriety are made against us, whether or not true.
We may be subject to product liability claims if people or property are harmed by the assets we sell.
Some assets we sell through our e-commerce marketplaces may expose us to product liability claims relating to personal injury, death, or environmental or property damage, and may be the subject of product recalls or other actions. Our exposure to product liability claims may be increased if, for example, the manufacturers of the relevant assets do not have enough protection from such claims. Defense of any such actions could be costly and involve significant time and attention of our management and commitment of other resources, may cause us to incur monetary liabilities or penalties, and may require us to change our business in ways adverse to us. We cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all. In addition, some of our agreements with our vendors and sellers do not indemnify us against product liability.
Unfavorable findings resulting from audit or investigation could subject us to a variety of penalties and sanctions, could negatively impact our future operating results and could force us to adjust previously reported operating results.
Many of our sellers, including large commercial corporations and governmental entities, have the right to audit our performance under our contracts. Any adverse findings from audits or reviews of our performance could result in a significant adjustment to our previously reported operating results. The results of an audit could significantly limit the volume and type of assets made available to us, resulting in lower GMV, revenue and profitability. If such an audit uncovers improper or illegal activities, we could be subject to civil and criminal penalties, administrative sanctions and could suffer serious harm to our reputation. Government and law enforcement agencies may also investigate our activities under contracts with commercial businesses and governmental entities. If such an investigation alleges that we engaged in improper or illegal activities, we could be subject to civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines, and suspension or debarment from doing business with government agencies. If, as the result of a government audit or investigation, or for any other reason, we are suspended or debarred from contracting with governments generally, or any specific agency, if our reputation or relationship with government agencies is impaired, or if any government otherwise ceases doing business with us or significantly decreases the amount of business it does with us, our revenue and profitability could substantially decrease.
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Our operations are subject to extensive anti-corruption laws and regulations.
Due to the international scope of our operations, we are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and similar anti-corruption laws of other countries. These laws generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments or providing anything of value to improperly influence foreign government officials to obtain or retain business or obtain an unfair advantage. Global enforcement of these laws has increased substantially in recent years. Our practices and policies to promote compliance with such laws and regulations may not be effective and violations of anti-corruption laws or regulations by our employees or by intermediaries acting on our behalf may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, disrupt our business and adversely affect our reputation, business and results of operations or financial condition.
Fraudulent activities involving our websites and disputes relating to transactions on our websites may cause us to lose sellers and buyers and hurt our ability to grow our business.
We periodically receive complaints of fraudulent activities of buyers or sellers on our marketplace, including disputes over the quality of goods and services, unauthorized use of credit card and bank account information and identity theft, credit chargebacks that are fraudulent in nature, potential breaches of system security, and infringement of third-party copyrights, trademarks and trade names or other intellectual property rights. From time to time, we have received complaints that our sellers or buyers trading in our marketplaces are alleged to have engaged in fraudulent or unlawful activity. In addition, we may suffer losses because of purchases paid for with fraudulent credit card data even though the associated financial institution approved payment. If a transaction is disputed, we may not be able to require users of our services to make required payments or to deliver promised goods. We also may receive complaints from buyers about the quality of purchased goods, requests for reimbursement or communications threatening or commencing legal actions against us. Negative publicity generated because of fraudulent conduct by third parties or failure to satisfactorily settle disputes related to transactions on our websites could damage our reputation, cause us to lose sellers and buyers and hurt our ability to grow our business.
Some provisions of our charter, bylaws and Delaware law inhibit potential acquisition bids that some investors may consider favorable to management.
Our corporate documents and Delaware law contain provisions that may enable our board of directors to resist a change in control of our company even if a change in control were to be considered favorable by you and other stockholders. These provisions include: a staggered board of directors; a prohibition on actions by our stockholders by written consent; limitations on persons authorized to call a special meeting of stockholders; the authorization of undesignated preferred stock, the terms of which may be established and shares of which may be issued without stockholder approval; advance notice procedures required for stockholders to nominate candidates for election as directors or to bring matters before an annual meeting of stockholders; and the requirement that board vacancies be filled by a majority of our directors then in office.
These provisions could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and cause us to take other corporate actions you desire. In addition, our bylaws provide that the Delaware Court of Chancery will be the exclusive forum for certain types of legal action (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, another state court or a federal court within Delaware). This provision may make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to challenge certain corporate actions we take.
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We may not adequately protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, which could harm our reputation and negatively affect the growth of our business.
We regard our intellectual property, particularly domain names, copyrights and buyer database trade secrets, as critical to our success. We rely on contractual restrictions and copyright and trade secret laws to protect our proprietary rights, know-how, information and technology. Despite these protections, a third party could copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property without authorization or independently develop similar intellectual property.
We currently are the registered owners of several Internet domain names, including www.liquidation.com, www.govdeals.com, www.allsurplus.com, www.secondipity.com, www.go-dove.com, www.machinio.com, www.machineryhost.com and www.bid4assets.com. We pursue the registration of our domain names in the U.S. and internationally. We have no patents or registered copyrights. Effective patent, copyright, trademark, service mark, trade secret and domain name protection are expensive to maintain and may require litigation to enforce. We have licensed in the past, and expect to license in the future, certain of our proprietary rights, such as trademarks or copyrighted material, to others. These licensees may take actions that diminish the value of our proprietary rights or harm our reputation. Our competitors may adopt trade names or domain names similar to ours, impeding our ability to promote our marketplaces and possibly leading to buyer or seller confusion. In addition, we could face trade name, trademark or service mark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks, including trademarks or service marks that may incorporate variations of our marketplace names. Any claims related to our intellectual property or confusion related to our marketplaces could damage our reputation and negatively affect the growth of our business.
Assertions that we infringe on intellectual property rights of others could result in significant costs and substantially harm our business and operating results.
Third parties may assert that we have infringed their intellectual property rights in technology or otherwise. We use internally developed systems and licensed technology to operate our online auction platform and related websites. Third parties could assert intellectual property infringement claims against us based on our internally developed systems or use of licensed third-party technology. Third parties also could assert intellectual property infringement claims against parties from whom we license technology. If we are forced to defend against any infringement claims, whether they are with or without merit or are determined in our favor, we may face costly litigation, diversion of technical and management personnel and/or delays in completion of sales. Furthermore, the outcome of a dispute may require us to change technology, develop non-infringing technology or enter into royalty or licensing agreements. A switch to different technology could interrupt our business. Internal development of a non-infringing technology may be expensive and time-consuming, if we are able to successfully develop such technology at all. Royalty or licensing agreements, if required, may be unavailable on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Incurrence of any of these costs could negatively impact our operating results.
General Business Risks
Failure to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and stock price.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that we include in our annual report a report containing management's assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting as of the end of our fiscal year and a statement as to whether or not such internal controls are effective. Compliance with these requirements has resulted in, and is likely to continue to result in, significant costs and the commitment of time and operational resources. Recently completed initiatives, as well as other changes in our business (including initiatives to invest in information systems, transition particular functions to third party providers, and acquire new businesses such as Bid4Assets and Machinio) have and will necessitate modifications to our internal controls. We cannot be certain that our design for internal control over financial reporting, or any changes to be made, will enable management to determine that our internal controls are effective for any period. If we cannot conclude that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, market perception of our financial condition and the trading price of our stock may be adversely affected, and seller and buyer perception of our business may suffer.
Our internal control policies and procedures may not always protect us from reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees or agents, or by third parties with whom we work. Internal controls may become less effective over time because of, among other things, changes in conditions, failures to comply with our policies and procedures or new business that strains our system of internal controls.
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Changes in accounting and reporting policies or practices may affect our financial results, which may affect our stock price.
Our accounting policies are fundamental to determining and understanding our financial results and condition. Some require our management to use estimates and make subjective and complex judgments about matters that are uncertain. Factors may arise over time that lead us to change our estimates and judgments. Sometimes, our management must select the accounting policy or method to apply from two or more alternatives, any of which may be reasonable under the circumstances, yet may cause us to report materially different results than would have been reported under a different alternative. Any changes in accounting policies or methods could reduce our net income, which reductions may be independent of changes in our operations. These reductions in reported net income could cause our stock price to decline.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.