Millionaires down on their luck now have a place to sell their mega-yachts, super-cars and family jewels without having to resort to the pawn shop.
BillionaireXchange said it had launched an internet auction site devoted to millionaires on Monday and was likely to profit from the worst recession in decades, which had extended its reach to the rich and famous in the US.
The company said it had already played a role in the sale or exchange of more than $' million (R1.34 billion) in assets during a 10-month test phase.
Quintin Thompson, a co-founder and executive partner of BillionaireXchange, said: "Because of the current economic conditions in the US we're seeing a lot of people who need to... trade out or trade down from some of their luxury items and facilitate that transaction... discreetly and privately so that they don't have to deal with the shame and or embarrassment of (a) downgrade."
The company said its website aimed to exploit a market niche between internet sales sites such as eBay and auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's for fine art and collectibles.
BillionaireXchange will charge sellers a fee of 5 percent of the sales and said it would have generated about $8.75m in revenue had those fees been charged during the test phase. - Reuters
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