Positively No Risk Involved

0

Seven years ago a rare medical condition left entrepreneur Barry Shore a quadriplegic. But today he’s able to walk, albeit with a cane.

Shore, 62, credits his recovery to years of physical therapy, but also to his positive outlook. He’s now drawing on that enthusiasm for his newest business venture, gift card auction website YouNeverLose.com.

“It’s because I had been deeply involved in living positively prior to what happened to me that I was able to get through this,” he said.

In 2004, Shore was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which attacks the nervous system and causes sudden paralysis. Although some people recover completely, others must live with severe disabilities. Shore spent years participating in total-immersion water therapy to help regain movement.

But it didn’t stop him from pursuing business ventures. In December, he helped launch YouNeverLose, a downtown L.A. business with 12 employees.

The idea for YouNeverLose started with brothers-in-law David Winner and Zak Klein. They used to bid on penny auction sites, where the winner gets something valuable such as an iPad for relatively few dollars. But the many losers forfeit the amount of money they bid. The two decided to come up with a model that wouldn’t cost bidders anything.

They partnered with Shore, who had worked in the gift card industry. He introduced them to the idea of selling the bidders prepaid gift cards. For each dollar the customer spends to bid in an auction, the customer gets a gift card of the same value.

For example: A person buys a 100 points for $100 to be used in an auction. He then gets an Amazon gift card for $100. That customer decides to bid on, say, a $50 gift card for a Gap store. If he wins the auction, he gets the right to buy that card for $12 or $15 – whatever the winning bid was. If he doesn’t win the auction, he loses the points he bid, but at least he got his original $100 gift card.

The website buys discounted gift cards from companies such as Target and Apple, so YouNeverLose makes a profit even though some cards are auctioned off below face value. Retailers see working with YouNeverLose as a way to market their brand and bring more customers into their stores.

Klein said Shore has been a valuable resource because of his business background, and he’s infused the company with his enthusiastic outlook on life.

“There’s no one in the world that I’ve met like Barry,” Klein said. “He taught us so much on a business level and a personal level. He doesn’t let anything bother him. It’s unbelievable.”

No posts to display