Later this month, shortly before school starts, the business will move again, this time to a permanent home on Craig Road.

Between cramming for tests and doing homework, Moskow has raised more than $250,000 from private investors for his startup.

Moskow’s father, Dr. Eric Moskow of Las Vegas, has been a principal investor in the Internet company. He is CEO and chairman of OBDS, a primary –care provider in Las Vegas. One of OBDS’ subsidiary companies is Canyon Gate Medical Group. The doctor and Elliot’s mother, Ricki, who lives in Florida, provided the initial $100,000 to start Pricefalls.com. Moskow said his company plans to raise $500,000 overall.

Moskow said he chose Las Vegas as his online company’s brick–and–mortar base partly because of his father’s presence and business connections here. The young entrepreneur, who is studying for an economics degree, plans to move here after graduation next year.

“Las Vegas would be at the top of our list for a location,” he said, “because it is business–friendly and low–tax. ”

Pricefalls.com’s online auctions help companies liquidate inventory and overstocked merchandise. With the economy struggling and many businesses closing, Moskow said an affordable liquidation service like his is in demand.

“We are generating revenue now and have more than $2 billion in product inventory up on the site,” he said.

Although his year–old company isn’t yet profitable, Pricefalls.com seems well on its way to becoming so. Moskow said his company deals with drop shippers who already have agreements with wholesale suppliers to liquidate their merchandise.

Pricefalls.com charges no placement fees, just commissions once items are sold. If your product doesn’t sell, there is no charge, Moskow said.

Pricefalls.com is a Dutch online auction – sellers set a top price and a minimum price for items. The goods stay at the ceiling price for at least seven days, then the price begins to fall.

“There is a ‘If it hits a price of’ order,” Moskow said. “You can put a bid in at that price and if it hits that price, it is yours.”

Moskow said he learned from experience. As a Bates College student looking to make a little extra money a year ago, he bought some police-confiscated jewelry and tried to sell it on eBay.com. The sale failed.

Moskow said the potential buyer seemed like a scam artist; he claims the purchasing money was never transferred to his PayPal account.

“I tried to sell my stuff and got a scam from Nigeria,” he said.

Feeling dismayed, Moskow pulled his items off the site, determined to find a better way to sell. When a friend explained the Dutch auction model to him, Pricefalls.com was born.

A year later, Elliot Moskow’s five-person staff moved into the 2,500–square–foot Panorama Towers unit, to live and work. Pricefalls.com’s temporary headquarters also serves for now as the residence for one of the company’s three executives – creative director and marketing director Chad Casey – and two of the Pricefalls.com summer interns.

“We don’t pay them, but we provide them with housing and food,” Elliot Moskow said of the interns. “We might hire one or two of them on full time in the fall.”

Casey, and Pricefalls.com Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President Peter Schaefer, are also investors in the company and Bates College graduates. Schaefer also lives in Las Vegas now.

Moskow brought the two Bates alumni aboard after starting his company. Moskow said Casey and Schaefer’s help let him spend more time studying for his degree.

Casey is leading Pricefalls.com’s marketing campaign, which will include ads in newspapers, viral and Flash ads online, and “street teams” of people handing out promotional material.

“We are thinking of 2010 for our big splash,” Casey said of the planned ad campaign. “We want to do it as cheaply as possible and get people on the street.”

Moskow sees his formula for success as simple math.

“Consumers want to see prices fall and companies want to liquidate inventory,” he said. “We knew the economy was on our side, and there was only up to go.”

by Valerie Miller, Reporter
Las Vegas Business Press
August 10, 2009