Overstock.com 2012 Annual Report Download - page 34

Table of Contents
Public statements we or our chairman of the board of directors, Patrick M. Byrne, have made or may make in the future may antagonize
regulatory officials or others.
We and our chairman of the board of directors, Patrick M. Byrne, have from time to time made public statements regarding our or his beliefs about
matters of public interest, including statements regarding naked short selling. Some of those public statements have been critical of the Securities and
Exchange Commission and other regulatory agencies. These public statements may have consequences for us, whether as a result of increased
regulatory scrutiny or otherwise.
The price of our securities may be volatile and you may lose all or a part of your investment.
The market price of our common stock historically has been subject to significant fluctuations. These fluctuations could continue. It is possible that
in future periods our results of operations may be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors. If this occurs, the market price of our
securities may decline.
Our quarterly operating results are volatile and may adversely affect the market price of our securities.
Our future revenues and operating results have varied in the past and may continue to vary significantly from quarter to quarter due to a number of
factors, many of which are outside our control, and any of which could harm our business. As a result, we believe that quarterly comparisons of our
operating results are not necessarily meaningful and that you should not rely on the results of one quarter as an indication of our future performance. In
addition to the other risk factors described in this report, additional factors that have caused and/or could cause our quarterly operating results to
fluctuate and in turn affect the market price of our securities include:
•increases in the cost of advertising and changes in our sales and marketing expenditures;
•our inability to retain existing customers or encourage repeat purchases;
•the extent to which our existing and future marketing campaigns are successful;
•price competition that results in lower profit margins or losses;
•the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to the expansion of our business operations and infrastructure;
•the amount and timing of our purchases of inventory;
•our inability to manage distribution operations or provide adequate levels of customer service;
•increases in the cost of fuel and transportation;
•our ability to successfully integrate operations and technologies from acquisitions or other business combinations;
•our efforts to offer new lines of products and services; and
•our ability to attract users to our shopping and other sites.
Our operating results may fluctuate depending on the season, and such fluctuations may affect the market price of our securities.
We have experienced and expect to continue to experience fluctuations in our operating results because of seasonal fluctuations in traditional retail
patterns. Sales in the retail and wholesale industry tend to be significantly higher in the fourth calendar quarter of each year than in the preceding three
quarters due primarily to increased shopping activity during the holiday season. However, there can be no assurance that our sales in the fourth quarter
will exceed those of the preceding quarters or, if the
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