Japanese auction price comparison site Aucfan approved for IPO in April

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aucfan_logoAucfan, a Tokyo-based startup featuring price comparisons and quotes for items from several auction sites, was approved to IPO on Friday and is expected to be listed on the TSE Mothers stock exchange, a market for emerging companies.

Aucfan started out way back in September of 2000 as a part of Defacto Standard, a company known for operating Brandear, an online pawn shop and luxury second-hand e-commerce site. It was spun off in 2009.

Aucfan curates price quotes from major auction sites including Yahoo Auction, Moba Oku (Mobile Auction by DeNA), Rakuten Auction, and even some international sites such as eBay and Taobao. The service suggests the best bidding price for the item that you want, which is a handy feature for shoppers on the lookout for the best deals. Aucfan has acquired more than 240,000 users (as of September of 2012), and approximately 30,000 of them subscribe to premium services. Most paid users are probably avid auction traders who need to be conscious about prices, as many of them can get revenue from taking advantage of price gaps, buying items at an auction site and selling them at another one.

The company’s major shareholders include the company’s founder Shuichi Takenaga, Globis Capital Partners, Digital Garage, NetPrice.com, Gree, and Kyoto University’s startup fund. In the last fiscal period ending September of 2012, they achieved about 620 million yen ($6.5million) in net sales with 201 million yen ($2.1million) in operating income.

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