Giving Stocks As Gifts

SAN FRANCISCO, December 14, 2000 - OneShare.com announces the launch of its new proprietary web platform that enables everyone to give stock ownership as a gift.

"Giving stocks as gifts is an easy concept to grasp," says Lance Lee, the founder and CEO of OneShare.com, "But making it happen was everything but easy." As Lee explains it, "We had to marry all the complexities needed to transact a stock purchase with all the features needed to give the stock as a gift." Lee says with a grimace on his face, "We then had try to simplify the whole order process to meet consumer's expectations of one click purchasing!"

The result is a patent pending process that allows consumers to buy stocks as they would on an online brokerage site. The big difference between oneshare.com and a typical brokerage is that it allows consumers to buy stocks as they would in any e-store like Amazon.com. The user clicks on the stock they want to purchase, the stock is placed into a shopping cart, and then they can checkout with their credit card. "We basically had to invent a new category for ourselves" states Lee,"for which we coined the term, merchandising equity." Lee further quips, "Our mission is to make giving stocks on the web as easy as giving socks!"

Inventing a new online consumer experience was not the only challenge the company had to overcome. There is a reason why many traditional brokers will not conduct a single share transaction, and that reason is the bottom line." The mechanics of a single share transaction make it financially unfeasible for the brokerage, and the end consumer," Lee states. Lee illustrates the point by breaking down the costs of a single share transaction. "Even if the commission to buy a share is in the single digits, the additional fees for transferring ownership, and/or physical delivery of the certificate adds up to about twenty-five to fifty dollars", says Lee. "Brokerages will not send the certificate unfolded, and custom framing the stock certificate at your local frame shop can cost you as much as one hundred dollars", Lee continues.

Oneshare.com charges a combined commission and fee of thirty-nine dollars, and will custom frame the stock certificate for an additional thirty-four to seventy four dollar. OneShare.com claims that no brokerage can match their rate and offers a guarantee to frame the certificate for free if a consumer can find a cheaper price for the same quality framing.