Power Sellers Unite

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17240 Location: Texas

My runner-up for worst stock of 2011, Overstock.com (OSTK), staggered into 2012 over the weekend with some horrid news: it was forced to stave off imminent default on its bank obligations by forking over more of its scarce cash.

As white collar crime maven Sam Antar pointed out in his blog, the bad tidings, noted in a Form 8-K -- but, predictably, ignored by the Utah media -- were the subject of a spin campaign by the company to make it seem like positive news and not the disaster that it was. This lump of coal in the Overstock stocking leads me to wonder: Will 2012 be the year that Overstock finally slides into bankruptcy?

After all, had it not "renegotiated" its bank lending arrangements, Overstock - run by right-wing conspiracy theorist Patrick Byrne - had faced possible insolvency.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/317052-does-patrick-byrne-s-overstock-com-face-bankruptcy-in-2012

MIKEHATESEBAY · Joined: 18 Nov 2010 Posts: 160

They don 't really offer anything special on their site, consumer goods at average prices. Not much else.

They named the stadium in Oakland "O" arena, but so what ?

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17240 Location: Texas

Related:

"Overstock lays off 50 workers"

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah-based online retailer Overstock.com announced Tuesday it would cut 3 percent of its total workforce.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, the company also known as O.co, laid off about 50 employers from its nearly 1,500-person Utah workforce. O.co president Jonathan Johnson said the across-the-board cuts were the result of cost-saving measures.

"Every year when we do our budget for the next year, we figure out what our staffing needs are, and … it felt like it was the right time to take a little bit out," Johnson said.

He noted that the company will still likely add some new staff in the coming year, but the reductions were needed to lower operating costs. He also commented that these kinds of cuts are not unprecedented in the company's history.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705396817/Overstock-lays-off-50-workers.html

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17240 Location: Texas

Update on the layoffs:

"Overstock.com Gives Conflicting Statements On Layoffs"

Overstock.com (OSTK) announced a layoff of fifty workers last week. Now that's just three percent of the workforce, really no big deal. After all, for a company suffering financial difficulties, what else do you expect?

What's interesting, though, is how the reports of the layoffs conflict with management's previous statements on the subject.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported:

“Every year around this time we look at our operations and our head count and figure out what our staffing needs are forward,” said President Jonathan Johnson. “We’ve been in business 12 years, and most of those years we’ve let some people go around this time.”
Johnson said much the same thing to the Deseret News:

"We've been in business 12 years and we've probably done this six or seven times," he said. "This is just really to try to make sure the business is 'lean and mean' and feels like it’s the right size."
What neither newspaper pointed out was that Johnson said the exact opposite a year ago:

"We've continued to grow and so we haven't had layoffs like other companies may have," said Overstock president Jonathan Johnson. "And I think that probably contributes to good morale."
So which is it? Have there been layoffs in the past or none? Neither newspaper noticed, naturally.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/318223-overstock-com-gives-conflicting-statements-on-layoffs

Patty00 · Joined: 13 Dec 2005 Posts: 1018

Byrne himself, is the biggest thorn in Overstock's side. It seems to have been mismanaged almost from the start. Auctions, for instance, were pretty much set to be a viable alternative for sellers - instead, O decided to eliminate auction forums and to eliminate any advertisements for auctions....although they ran quite a few ads and TV commercials for their retail side - there was hardly ever a word that they had auctions too. Through the years I did fairly well auctioning on that site...the last year, however, it seems every sale was an NPB and O did nothing but refund your fee. Then abruptly they shut down auctions. So....at that point they became another needle in the haystack full of online retailers with nothing to set them apart from the rest. Its no wonder they may file bankruptsy!