uBid Scores a Coup

Chicago-based online auction operation uBid Inc. notched a coup as Hewlett Packard selected the company for the launch of ChooseHP, a co-branded, fixed-price shopping site for members of affinity groups allied with HP.

uBid, a unit of Andover, Mass.-based CMGI Inc. , said that the new e-commerce site offers a full range of HP personal computers, peripherals and digital imaging equipment..

What's interesting, though, is that this site is designed to provide a way for non-traditional retail customers, including those associated with The Federated Group, AMEX, and other direct mail sources, to purchase products at a fixed price.

As part of the deal, uBid will provide services to H-P including credit card processing, fulfillment and call center support. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"For years now, HP has been creating marketing partnerships with customers who are members of associations, including minority colleges/universities (UNCF) and federal associations, such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and needed a partner with end-to-end transaction capabilities ...," said Jim Mizera, U.S. affinity sales manager for HP. "Our relationship with uBid will help us further this strategy..."

uBid, which claims to have more than 3 million registered users, was founded in April 1997 as a division of Creative Computers, a U.S. catalog retailer.

HP rival IBM has a sales and marketing channel partnership with uBid rival eBay .