Type of business Limited Company Website www.cqout.com Founded 1999 | Type of site Online auction Headquarters Reading | |
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Industry Auctions, Electronic commerce Products Online auction hosting, Online payment systems, Electronic funds transfer Slogan(s) The UK's 2nd largest online marketplace Motto The UK's 2nd largest online marketplace | ||
CQout (pronounced 'Seek You Out') is a UK based online auction company. CQout was launched in 1999 by three London Business School Graduates; Tony Newton, Siamak Bashi, and Mike Rees. By number of items listed, CQout is the UK's 2nd largest online auction website. A proportion of the final selling price for each item sold via the CQout website is taken as an alternative to charging listing fees.
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Preventing fraud
When using CQout's Secure Pay service, payment is not released to the seller until the goods have reached the buyer and been deemed satisfactory. This helps avoid illegitimate transactions, as both the seller and buyer must be content with the transaction.
Similar to eBay's feedback system for combating auction fraud, CQout gives trusted sellers 'CQ trusted' medals.
Criticism
All users, regardless of whether selling or simply buying, must pay a £2 registration fee to use the website, unlike competitors which are free to buy from.