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Four
State News
Online eCommerce Started with a
Stamp
Company
Date: Saturday, December 01
When
you think of big names in eCommerce, companies like Amazone.com and eBay
automatically come to mind. But if you rewind the clock several years-1986
to be precise-you’ll discover what has been recognized as the first
eCommerce company. It was a stamp exchange started by a gentleman named
Mr. Rousso. In 1986, no one had yet predicted the full power that the
Internet would become, yet most media knew that something big was on the
horizon. So when the International Stamp Exchange opened its doors, for
people who had telex terminals…
Or the right kind of personal computer, the media was all over the story
as it rippled through hundreds of newspapers and magazines. Mr. Rousso
tells Webmaster Techniques Magazine that when he opened the online eCommerce
company, many people told him that the medium wouldn’t work. Now
he wishes he had patented the processes used by the International Stamp
Exchange. The publicity Rousso received from the New York Times, Wall
Street Journal, and other top newspapers and magazines drew attention
to the new medium and revived interest in stamp collecting. Here’s
how the Wall Street Journal, in a 1986 article, described the process:
“The new office houses a computer containing information on stamps
for sale-about one million at the moment. Traders can gain access to the
exchange, and make trades, through their own personal computers. Or they
can trade through brokers at the exchange or through any of the 150 dealers
who are exchange members.” On January 14, 1986, The Miami News covered
the new process, stating, “the big difference with the stamp exchange,
Rousso explains, is that anyone will be able to do his own buying or selling,
using a personal computer.” The process, of course, is now a part
of everyday life for tens of millions of people who log onto computers
and buy stuff from Amazon.com or trade items on eBay. Mr. Rousso knew
that the process of buying and selling via computers connected to others
worldwide would be huge and while he doesn’t hold a patent on the
process he’s happy to know that The International Stamp Exchange
was the pioneer in bringing in a new era.
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