User:Lohnshark/sandbox

Liquidation Channel Liquidation Channel, also known as the LC, is a cable, satellite and broadcast home shopping channel and online retailer specializing in gemstone jewelry and lifestyle products. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, The television channel broadcasts live 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to 120 million homes in the United States, Puerto Rico, and some regions of Canada.

Liquidation Channel is notable for its high volume of tanzanite jewelry offerings. The company is the number one sightholder in TanzaniteOne Mining Ltd of Tanzania, Africa. Tanzania is the only source in the world for tanzanite, the popular blue/purple variety of the mineral zoisite.

History
Liquidation Channel, a subsidiary of Vaibhav Global Limited (VGL), was originally established as The Jewelry Channel, Inc. – still its legal name. It is an Omni-Channel business comprised of a home shopping television network, an e-commerce business, and an outside sales/wholesale segment.

The Jewelry Channel was an American home shopping television network whose product offerings focused on high end jewelry in a reverse auction format. After experiencing financial difficulty, the company changed its selling focus to low-cost “value” items and began to transition to the Liquidation Channel brand. The Jewelry Channel initially began broadcasting on DirecTV, followed by Dish Network and small- to medium-sized cable markets. The channel also offers a live streaming format on the company's official website.

On June 16, 2008, the Austin American-Statesman reported that The Jewelry Channel would close its doors and cease broadcasting in early August 2008. Although the network went off-air in early December 2008, a new network began broadcasting the same day in its place.

Liquidation Channel was officially launched on December 1, 2008 at 1 a.m. ET. Gerald Tempton was appointed to the position of President on December 23, 2009. Since that time, the company has grown from 58 employees to over 500 and experienced profitability and growth for five consecutive years.

In 2013, the company began to expand their product offerings in the lifestyle/accessories category, such as handbags, hair accessories, and home décor products.

Format
Items for sale via the broadcast channel operate in a reverse auction format. Items are first shown with a starting price and quantity available. The price is then reduced to the “Liquidation Channel price.” Occasionally the price will continue to drop, depending on the item. While the host describes the item, a countdown clock appears on the screen and the quantity decreases as items are sold. In some instances, additional quantities may be added. If the item sells out before the clock expires, the host will go on to the next item. All purchases are charged the last, lowest price, no matter when they placed their order.

On the company website, items are sold two ways. Some are sold outright for a predetermined price like typical ecommerce transactions. But a large portion of their offerings are sold using a rising auction format. Each individual auction item begins at $1 and customers bid in whole dollar increments, increasing the cost of the item.

Pricing does not include shipping and handling charges. These charges vary and typically range from $1.99 to $2.99. Texas residents must also pay state sales tax for any items purchased, because the company is based in Austin.