Online electronics store NewEgg files for $175M IPO

September 28, 2009 | Camille Ricketts | Comments | |

205042NewEgg, a consumer-facing online retailer that sells computer components and other electronics, including software, digital cameras, cell phones and laptops, has filed to go public, expecting to raise $175 million, reports PE Hub. Founded in 2001, the company says it brought in $2.2 billion in revenue in the last year alone. That’s a pretty solid figure for a niche site competing with Amazon and Best Buy’s web property, among others.

Insight Venture Partners stands to benefit the most from the potential IPO. The firm sunk $20 million into the City of Industry, Calif. company in 2005, giving it a 12.7 percent stake.

Last year, NewEgg made news when it stopped charging New York State sales tax — something that Amazon still does — in response to customer feedback. Other than that, the site is known for its emphasis on bargains and running much-hyped sales, including a pre-Black Friday sale and its ongoing Shell Shocker sale. Right now it is running a major Fall Sale on everything from televisions to GPS systems.

Clearly tailored for consumers looking just for electronics, the NewEgg site puts lists of new product releases and savings opportunities — including a directory of refurbished products and the 36 best offers of the day. And just like Amazon, it allows you to set up a regular account so that the site can recommend products based on past purchases, and keep track of buying information.

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About the Author, Camille Ricketts

Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.

  • pamelab
    Its an amazing success story. The user interface is poor. The market is crowded. How did they do it?
  • Newegg's user interface isn't poor, it's functional. Flashy crap websites aren't keys to success nearly as often as they're detrimental and a sign of putting money where it doesn't count. You can get perfect results with Newegg AND they're cheap AND they're fast. The selection is amazing and they basically have everything you could want at all times. I'm not a shill, I swear, just a devoted tech nerd and customer for the last 8 years nearly exclusively... I only stopped buying from them when i moved to SF and found a local computer store that has prices only slightly higher than newegg and figured it's better to support local businesses BUT if the local store doesn't have what I want, I'm totally looking at newegg first and they'll probably be within a couple of bucks of any other web store so why go somewhere else?

    Sometimes a company "does it" by being simple and being the best at what they do, which is pretty much what Newegg does. Will an IPO turn them into a different company? I sure hope not.
  • Sean
    That's horrible news. Any company who has to answer to shareholders suffers badly. Their prices will go up and their great customer service, which they're very well known for, will go way down as they probably lay off 2/3 of the CS staff to save money so the shareholders can make more profit. God damn I hate the public company system.
  • 2.1 Billion in sales is a misleading figure. Retail is very low margin businesses. First half of 2009 the company made 15.8 million. Their net profit margin is only around 1 - 1.5%. That means for every $100 worth of goods newegg sells the company make only around $1.

    However they are ambitious enough to expand to China. Their service is top notch and prices are excellent.
  • Here you have provided nice and helpful information about Online electronics store NewEgg files for $175M IPO. We know that people always look for sale and discount on various things. Now a days economy of the world is not going good so people are facing recession problem. Therefore people feel glad to hear this type of sale and discount.
  • Nice information about Online electronics store. Thanks for the posting.
  • By now most everyone is familiar with the term Black Friday 2009, the big shopping day right after Thanksgiving Day. Retail store, including Walmart, open their doors early and lure shoppers in with incredible bargains on certain merchandise. Like others on Thanksgiving Day, Walmart limits these sales to just a few hours, but the items are usually gone well before the deadline.