Two major online auctioneers—the New York-based Paddle8 and Berlin’s Auctionata—have joined forces to form a new company with almost 800,000 registered users. Alexander Zacke, the chief executive of Auctionata, says that the complementary business models and brands of both firms prompted the move. Paddle8, founded in 2011, focuses on timed auctions, private and charity sales, while Auctionata, established a year later, calls itself the “inventor of the livestream auction” and runs an after-sales shop where browsers can pick up unsold items. The financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.
