Overstock.com 2004 Annual Report Download - page 6

our belief that the increases we have made in the scope of our Books, Music and Video department offerings will be attractive to customers and
will result in increased sales of higher margin products;
our belief that we can meet our published product shipping standards even during periods of relatively high sales activity;
our belief that we can maintain or improve upon customer service levels that we and our customers consider acceptable;
our belief that our information technology infrastructure can and will support our operations and will not suffer significant downtime;
our belief that the actions we have taken to improve the efficiency of our warehouse and to decrease our costs of providing customer service will
be effective and will not have adverse effects on our business;
our belief that we can maintain inventory levels at appropriate levels despite the seasonal nature of our business; and
our belief that we can successfully offer and sell a constantly changing mix of products and services, including our recently introduced auctions
listing services, our recent addition of limited travel services, and our recent addition of custom-made jewelry products.
Furthermore, in some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as may, will, could, should, expect, plan, intend,
anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, potential or continue, the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions.
Actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating these statements, you should specifically consider the risks outlined in this Form 10-K, including
those described in Item 1 under the caption "Risk Factors." These factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by any
forward-looking statement. Except as otherwise required by law, we expressly disclaim any obligation to release publicly any update or revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect any changes in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any of our forward-
looking statements are based. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee
future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
The following description of our business contains forward-looking statements relating to future events or our future financial or operating performance
that involve risks and uncertainties, as set forth above under "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements." Our actual results could differ
materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including those set forth under the heading "Risk Factors"
and elsewhere in this Form 10-K.
Overview
We are an online "closeout" retailer offering discount, brand-name merchandise for sale primarily over the Internet. Our merchandise offerings include
bed-and-bath goods, home décor, furniture, kitchenware, watches, jewelry, computers and electronics, sporting goods and apparel and designer accessories.
We also sell books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, videocassettes and video games ("BMV"). Our company, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, was founded in 1997,
and we launched our first Website through which customers could purchase products in March 1999. Our Websites offer our customers an opportunity to shop
for bargains conveniently, while offering our suppliers an alternative inventory liquidation distribution channel. We also offer limited travel services. We
continually add new, limited
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