Internet retailer Buy.com has reported that they have had their best Black Friday performance in the entire history of the company. They reported 45% sales growth year-over-year. Part of Buy.com’s appeal is there 45-day return policy and no minimum purchase on about 2.7 million products. Buy.com also recently introduced the “Rakuten Super Points” customer loyalty points.

Aliso Viejo, California based online retail company Buy.com has been sold to Japanese company Ratuken for $250 million. The deal will be handled by Boston-based Ratuken subsidiary Ratuken USA. Ratuken Japan has about 64 million users and Buy.com has about 14 million customers. [TechCrunch]

SlashGear has found out that Buy.com is currently selling “never-locked” iPhone 3G mobile devices with a full Apple warranty for $799 and free shipping. The phone is also safe from new firmware updates, meaning it shouldn’t be “bricked” when upgrading.

[via SlashGear]

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) has been making questionable moves once again.  This time it is in the form of making a deal with Buy.com.  eBay users have been moving to alternatives due to high listing fees and high PayPal fees.  Consumers also seem to prefer fixed prices rather than a constant fluctuation of goods.  This is why eBay made a deal with Buy.com which was a bad idea.

Now Buy.com can sell their millions of books, electronics, and other goods on eBay without having to pay normal listing fees.  The goods that Buy.com lists on eBay will be a fixed price. 

When eBay first started, the company was known for levelling the playing field for mom-and-pop shops versus bigger companies that sell similar goods.  The deal with Buy.com indicates that eBay has more interest in big businesses.

“Frankly, we are challenging some of the core assumptions that we have made about our business,” stated Stephanie Tilenius, GM of eBay North America. “Instead of focusing on being an auction business, we are looking at what it takes to create the best marketplace out there.”

Buy.com started in 1997, had an IPO within 2 years, almost died out with the dot-com bust, and then took themselves private.

If eBay continues to make deals that stirs away from their core strength in online auctioning, they may find themselves in a similar position as Yahoo!  A major shareholder may protest a shift in the company’s board and try to get the company to sell themselves off.

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