Two Fraters Dissatisfied with Status Quo Create PriceBeats.com
PHOENIX, Ariz. - It all started after trying to strike it rich selling items on eBay, but the reality of barely breaking even created a thought, "There has to be a better way." Working a 9 to 5 job, Fraters Fred Nijm and Anthony Saia (Beta-Xi, Arizona State Univ.) saw selling TKE T-shirts and trinkets around the house on the auction site didn't net them profits, so they decided to start PriceBeats.com.
It started back in 2004. Frater Fred had graduated a year earlier, and was working hard. It wasn't long before he started thinking about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. EBay was booming with popularity and there were tons of success stories of people making great money, buying and selling online. He thought to himself, "If they can do it, why can't I?" Little did he know, it was going to be such an uphill battle; one that he had very little chance of overcoming. After he sold everything, he looked at how much money he had made and realized he didn't make anything at all. How could this be? He actually ended up spending more money on EBay fees, handing over all the profits to them.
Around the same time, his partner Anthony was embarking on a similar endeavor. He had just graduated and had moved back home to NY. While he had graduated with an engineering degree, it wasn't until a year later that he finally found a full time job. In the mean time, he was trying to run an EBay store similar to Fred's, but came to the same realizations his fellow Frater had. He started tinkering with various web scripts, and gradually learned HTML, PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript programming. By 2005, he had launched a couple of websites which were making advertising revenue. Eventually he was hired onto a full time position, leaving him with little time to manage the sites. He was forced to close them down.
Later, Fred started thinking about creating a website of his own; one that would be a one-stop shop for anything and everything. He came up with the name "AtoZbuys." Everything you want from A-Z. Three years later and still only a name with no direction, Frater Anthony moved back to Arizona. Like Fred, Anthony had a great deal of enthusiasm and was driven to start an online business. "Let's build something that will be easy to use, professional, and something no one has seen." In 2007, the two sat down and started writing down their thoughts. Through Anthony's innovation, creativity and knowledge of programming we were making our dream a reality. Eventually, the website evolved into something different, and AtoZbuys became more and more unlikely of a name. One day, Fred came home from work and Anthony said, "PriceBeats.com, what do you think?"
As you can see Fred also loved the name, and together the journey continued. In 2009, through multiple redesigns, constant self motivation and even periods of hesitation; PriceBeats.com became a reality. Our initial launch was March 12, 2009, and we are ecstatic about what we've created. PriceBeats makes buying and selling online seamless, fun, and affordable. Why not keep the profits for yourself? PriceBeats.com makes it possible.
In an unprecedented move, Fraters Fred and Anthony are so confident in their site they are offering Tekes access to their site to buy and sell FREE FOR LIFE. Type in Promo Code TKE4LIFE09. You will never have to pay a dime to sell your items online. All they ask is that you tell people about it and tell other Fraters you know about the existence of PriceBeats.com.
If you would like to learn more, contact Frater Fred Nijm .
If you would like to see your chapter or alumni news here, contact Director of Communication Tom McAninch.