Quintin Thompson is the Executive Partner with BXE International. He recently took some time out of his busy day to discuss BillionaireXchange.com and his company’s ambitious goal of becoming the world’s first online auction and trade site for luxury items.

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Q: First of all Quintin, congratulations on the wonderful success of BillionaireXchange.com  What was the driving force behind the company’s concept?

A: I saw that there was a market for a quality online venue which could hold high-end luxury auctions online thus expanding the traditional approach beyond 4 walls. Traditional auction houses are limited in the number of potential bidders. BillionaireXchange is boundless. We’re able to use the power of the Internet to make these auctions accessible from all over the world.

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Q: Are you surprised at the success and growth rate of the company?

A: We’re not really surprised, because we saw the need for such a niche. By creating this venue we created a single place on the web to buy, sell, auction, and or exchange luxury items. We’re getting calls from people looking for a place to sell high-end listings due to the downturn in the economy; as well as international cash buyers looking to find great deals.
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Q: Do you get a lot of people questioning if the listing are real?

A: The funny thing is for the first 2 months; the majority of the calls to our offices were to ask if we were real. We’re like yes… we’re real; and so are the listings. Most of our listings have the sellers contact information in the details, others are private. So yes, all the auctions and listings are live, and if you buy it, you bought it.
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Q: BXE appears to have received a lot of media attention. What are some of the most notable write-ups?

A: They have all been really great. From the US, to UK, Russia, Hong Kong, all over. I really appreciate all the positive exposure that BillionaireXchange.com has received.
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Q: Why do you feel you can be successful in this luxury niche, versus say eBay … for example?

A: Simply put eBay is not built for the luxury market. Allot more finesse goes into selling items or assets valued sometimes into the tens of millions of dollars. That’s the DNA of Billionairexchange.com. Up until now, eBay was the only option. Now….
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Q: You have some amazing items listed on your site. How do you reach out to locate these unique sellers?

A: We are very selective with our marketing and advertising. We also take our memberships very seriously. All members are manually verified, and all items need to pass verification. We advertise in several online affluent social networking sites. For us, the quality of our visitors out ways the quantity. Some of our items come from private sellers whom ask us to list on their behalf. Due to the nature of our business we have to be very mind full of our clients privacy.
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Q: How would you answer a potential seller’s question, “Why should I list my luxury items on BillionaireXchange.com?”

A: So it will sell, and maintain its value throughout the course of the transaction. Not to mention we draw visitors from all over the world looking for everything from traditional exotic cars, to aircraft, to rare one of a kind luxuries. All under one roof. We use what we call the luxury mall approach; where you may come looking for a pair of pants, but leave with a jacket. The same applies to us. Someone coming to BillionaireXchange looking for a Yacht, could very well leave with your Bugatti.
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Q: Probably the biggest concern, people have buying/selling online is related to security and fraud. How does BXE address these important concerns?

A: This was the very first area we tackled in the beginning. Security on the internet is a HUGE concern, let alone buying or selling something for $5,000 – $75,000 or more. We attack this in several ways. 1. All members of BillionaireXchange are verified; next all items for sale are verified and approved by our Auction Verification department. 2. All items must have verifiable supporting documents to prove value and authenticity. 3. All deposits and online transactions are escrowed via Safefunds.com. 4. The buyer or seller is not alone. We coordinate the entire process including transportation and insurance. I think these 4 things truly set us apart from everybody else. I know people that have been selling online for years and never once spoke to the company supplying the auction services; it’s scary.
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Q: I see you offer an escrow service. Can you explain the purpose and why someone would want to use it?

A: In this market, Escrow Services are extremely important. They protect the buyer and seller. I see so many high priced items for sale online and in the description the seller says NO Escrow. I’m thinking, are you insane? I’m not sending you $5,000 over the internet based on your Power Seller stars. It’s ludicrous. To make these transactions more attractive, we partnered with Safefunds.com a nationally bonded escrow company to secure the transaction. Money is deposited into a federally insured bank account at Safefunds.com; until the buyer receives their purchase. Transportation and tracking is handled by our member services department. Again we’re involved every step of the way. I had a call today from someone looking to list some very rare stones and they asked how do I know you won’t take my money and run after the sale in escrow. My answer was, within 2-3 years Billionairexchange will be worth 1000 times what your one transaction will be. We’re not going anywhere.
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Q: Are you able to process buyer/seller transactions from outside the United States?

A: Yes, we’re able to accept payment via various merchant services accounts from any country and currency in the world. We also have the ability to offer currency exchange though a new partnership we’ve formed with World First in the UK. They’re a major player in the foreign exchange market.
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Q: Many so called “luxury” sites charge a membership fee to access their content. How does BillionaireXchange.com handle this issue?

A: I think an upfront fee only validates that you have the ability to access the content, and the riff raff will be scared away. For some sites this is a valid option, but for us it’s not. Although we currently validate each new member we will be moving to a private “By Invitation Only” format. I’ll make sure I get you on the list ahead of time.
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Q: What are the companies expansion plans, either domestically on internationally?

A: Currently we’re expanding our footprint into the UK, Italy, Germany, and Asia markets. Although we’re based in the US, it’s important for us to have representation in these Luxe markets.
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Q: Where would you like to see the company, in 3-5 years?

A: I would like to see BillionaireXchange reach the level of Sotheby’s or Christy’s. I believe with the speed of technology and the change in times it’s totally viable.
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Click here for more information on BillionaireXchange.com

Photo Courtesy of BillionaireXchange

Help may be on the way for online auction sites such as BillionaireXchange and EBay.

Site traders are hoping for less restrictions on selling luxury goods under EU (European Union) regulators’ plans to knock down barriers to Internet sales.

The European Commission, who is the 27-nation EU’s antitrust regulator, is currently drafting up new guidelines on the extent to which companies can restrict trade through their own authorized dealers.

In a story from Bloomberg News, who obtained the draft plans, it details how how the Brussels-based regulator will apply competition rules to agreements between online producers and sellers.

The draft states that luxury-goods makers would be prevented from imposing any quantity limits on Web-based sales by distributors who are already authorized to sell goods through their “brick and mortar” stores.

This EU move is wonderful news, especially for luxury auction sites such as BillionaireXchange.

It’s official – the new First Dog, a Portuguese water dog, has arrived and his name is Bo.

After becoming President, Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama promised their lovely daughters Sasha and Malia that they could get a puppy after they had settled into the White House.

The media has gone crazy with anticipation. What type of dog will the Obama’s choose? It seemed that everybody was offering advice and suggestions on the breed of first dog Barack Obama and his family should get.

President Obama initially expressed interest in selecting a “mutt” to serve as the nation’s first dog. The President also promised to adopt the First Dog.

It’s been documented that Obama initially made a promise to Dr. Jana Kohl, who is the author of “A Rare Breed of Love”. It’s a book focusing on a three-legged rescue dog and puppy mill survivor named Baby. Obama was so touched that he agreed to appear in Kohl’s book holding the dog. This capivating photo next became the cover for “American Dog” magazine in January.

Bo, the Portuguese Water Dog, is six months old and was returned to the original Texas kennel, where he was purchased by his previous owner.

Senator Ted Kennedy, who owns several Portuguese Water Dog, made the offer of the dog to the Obamas after he was returned.

The Obama daughters Malia and Sasha, love the dog and welcomed him with all their love.  The Washington Post stated, “Bo charmed the first family, a source who was there said. He sat when the girls sat, stood when the girls stood. He made no toileting errors and did not gnaw on the furniture. Bo has, after all, been receiving lessons in good behavior from the Kennedys’ dog trainers. These lessons have been taking place at a secret, undisclosed location outside Washington.”

The origination of the name “Bo” appears to come from Malia and Sasha. The first girls have a cousin who owns a cat named Bo. Another influence was the girls’ grandfather (First Lady Michelle’s father) was nicknamed Diddley after the great blues guitarist Bo Diddley.

Look out Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Snoopy and the others …. there’s a new famous dog in town – and his name is Bo, the First Dog of the United States.

President Barack Obama First Lady Michelle Obama Bo dog Bo first dog Bo Michelle Obama Portuguese water dog

As the economy continues to struggle, more and more people are saving money and spending more time at home.

Although being at home more than in the past, it doesn’t mean they should have to cut out the finer things in life.

People are looking for affordable luxuries. Portraiture, especially portraits of their cherished children is “The New Status Symbol,” according to Boston Home Magazine.

MSN’s Encarta defines Portraiture as a visual representation of individual people, distinguished by references to the subject’s character, social position, wealth, or profession.

In the broadest sense, portraiture can include representations of animals (favored pets or prize-winning livestock, for example) or even representations of dwellings.

Portraiture of people have steadily increased and it looks to stay that way for many years to come.

Life is hectic and we could all use a little help now and then. Try Bon Vivant, offering a new and more accessible VIP concierge service.

Bon Vivant is a personal lifestyle management company based in London and offers custom VIP concierge service.

The VIP concierge service from Bon Vivant is like having your own PA to make life a little easier. They are able to arrange anything from an interior designer for your home or personal trainer to get you started in the morning, through to a personal shopper or organizing a special event or holiday.

Bon Vivant assigns each of their members a personal life executive to assist with their social and leisure needs. The numerous associations that the executives have built up mean that they can offer discounts and VIP treatment for their travel, leisure and home needs.

Bon Vivant has established relationships with the world’s finest luxury and boutique hotels, offering our members preferential rates, complimentary upgrades and additional exclusive benefits including complimentary champagne, complimentary breakfast and late check-out.

Bon Vivant was set up by Emyr Thomas, who worked as an accountant and investment banker in the City before deciding that his love of London, and extensive knowledge of its many haunts, could be used to build a business.

Emyr saw a gap in the market for providing a highly personalized, all-encompassing lifestyle service that is more accessible than the existing services: “Bon Vivant is not a luxury for the select few; but a necessity for those who intend to start enjoying life’s luxuries, regain control of their time, access a wealth of expertise and knowledge, and indulge in exclusive treatment and complimentary benefits”

If you need a little help finding the perfect present for your partner, Bon Vivant can even step in and source one, with an added dinner date to top it off!

Bon Vivant focuses predominantly on travel, dining and hotels. Prices vary according to requirement.

For more information and promotional offers, please go to: www.bonvivant.co.uk

As the news is saturated with greedy people who will go to no end to achieve their fortune, average taxpayers have had enough.

The Internal Revenue Service has reported that they have reduced income tax return audits on millionaires. The IRS claims to increasing their crack down on wealthy tax cheats, but an IRS watchdog group sees things differently.

The IRS does agree there was a “slight” decline in audits of millionaires but states a valid reason for the drop. Last year the agency says it was absorbed with focusing on sending out economic stimulus checks to taxpayers.

The numbers do speak for themselves. People with incomes of $1 million and higher had only a 5.6 percent chance of getting audited by the IRS in fiscal year 2008, which ended last September. According to IRS figures, this rate was down from 6.8 percent experienced the previous year.

The number of millionaires actually audited declined from 23,200 to 21,874. The number of millionaires who filed income tax returns increased from 339,138 to 392,776.

Read the Full Story on Yahoo

The world economic crisis has taken its toll on everybody, from the poor to the ultra-rich.

It’s time once again for Forbes to announce its list of the World’s Billionaires for 2009.

Amid the global recession, this year’s Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires is smaller and definitely poorer.  As a result, the very small club of billionaires from age 40 and younger, also got a whole lot smaller.

In Forbes’ 2008 list, the world’s 20 youngest plutocrats were all under the age of 36. Now in 2009, the billionaires age ranges from 25 to 40. The average age of the world’s 20 youngest billionaires is 35 this year, up from last year’s average of 32.

25-year-old German Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis takes the award for the youngest billionaire in the world. Von Thurn und Taxis is worth $2.1 billion.

The list also includes former Yahoo! Chief Executive Jerry Yang.

See the complete list at Forbes

eBay is one of the biggest success stories on the Internet. What if you don’t want a porcelain cat or used pair of jeans, but are in the market for hard to find luxury items? The answer is the BillionaireXchange.

The BillionaireXchange is the world’s first online auction and trade site for luxury items. They are the first international auction and exchange site for the affluent. BillionaireXchange draws wealthy buyers from all over the world searching for high-end luxuries, either for sale or auction.

Browsing the classy site, you will find an amazing variety of luxury items, covering the following categories: Arts & Antiques, Luxury Vehicles, Boats & Yachts, Luxury Real Estate, Jewelry & Watches, and Places & Helicopters.

At the time of this writing, some of the premier luxury items available include mansion estates owned by basketball star Shaquille O Neal and Hall of Fame football quarterback Dan Marino, a St. Regis Penthouse in San Francisco, 2008 Riviera Sport Yacht 4700, 2007 Murcielago LP640 Coupe car, and a 2004 Dassault Falcon 900c jet.

Registering on the site is simple and easy process, designed to screen for unqualified and/or undesirable elements. Once registered, members of The Xchange can buy, sell, bid-on, auction, and or exchange luxury items from all around the world.

If you are looking for trading your luxury items, then BillionaireXchange can help you too. Imagine trading your upscale mansion in Beverly Hills, California for an elegant Chateau in France. How about trading your antique custom Rolls Royce for a new model Bentley. For wine connisieres, exchange a bottle of your best 1802 Chateau Lafitte for a bottle of 1947 Cheval Blanc. The possibilities are countless. So, ask yourself, “What is the luxury object of your heart’s desire?

To be successful, the management team of BillionaireXchange strongly believe in protecting the integrity of the luxury brands for auction, as well as offering secure escrow transactions. They partnered with industry leading Safefunds to provide escrow services for both buyer seller transactions.  By offering this service, the company provides its members with piece of mind in either buying or selling these desirable, high ticket items online.

BillionaireXchange is headquartered in Miami Florida, but has an aggressive plan to expand internationally. They are moving forward with opening new offices in Beverly Hills, China, Germany, Dubai and the U.K. The company believes it’s critical to have representation in these key, global areas.

So what are you waiting for? Your luxury dream is now only a click away.

Michelle Obama has been called “my rock” by her proud husband, President Barack Obama. Amongst the wild presidential ride she’s endured, she’s said this many times: nowhere but in America would her story be possible.

Born Michelle LaVaughn Robinson on January 17, 1964, Michelle grew up in a working class Chicago neighborhood during a time the United States embarked on some of the most tumultuous years of the civil rights movement.

She was the daughter of a local water treatment plant worker who suffered from multiple sclerosis. Michelle Obama rose to attend two of the most prestigious universities in the United States – Princeton as an undergraduate and then followed by Harvard Law School.

Unlike her husband Barack Obama, who was the son of a Kenyan student and white Kansas mother, Michelle Obama can trace her family tree back to the beginnings of slavery in the U. S. and embodies the heritage of the nation’s African Americans.

Given all the media attention, Michelle Obama is now being touted as the first fashion icon to inhabit the White House since Jacqueline Kennedy nearly a half-century ago.

From the shape of her eyebrows to her Jackie O-esque hair, Michelle Obama’s look has become a nationwide obsession.

But it seems that Obama’s approach to fashion is different than that of Jacqueline Kennedy.

Kennedy was all about designers and pale colors. Obama shops off the rack at stores ranging from J.Crew to White House / Black Market. And when Michelle does wear a designer label it tends to be Maria Pinto, a Chicago-based designer relatively unknown until recently.

Obama goes for color. Black and red prints, and dresses in red, coral, violet and purple all spiced the campaign trail. Stripes don’t scare her, even when they’re horizontal. With her lean body and impeccable posture, anything she wears seems to work.

President Barack Obama is immensely proud of his wife, and her accomplishments. For much of their married life for instance, she earned more than him especially in at the University of Chicago medical center.

“Most people who meet my wife quickly conclude that she is remarkable. They are right about this — she is smart, funny, and thoroughly charming. She is also very beautiful,” he said recently.

Regardless of how the future unfolds, Michelle Obama will become the ultimate symbol of the American dream, as the first African American first lady, as Barack Obama takes the presidential oath of office.

Mikhail Prokhorov, worth about $22 Billion, said he was not the mystery buyer of the southern France property. The estate is listed as the world’s most expensive home.

The Villa Leopolda in Villefranche-sur-Mer, on the Côte d’Azur in France, sold for 496m euros ($730m ; £392m).

Although Mikhail Prokhorov’s spokesman has denied the rumor, both French and Russian media have insisted that the Russian billionaire had purchased the property.

In addition, sources close to the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, deny that he was behind the big-ticket purchase.

The home was built in 1902 for King Leopold II of Belgium and has grounds so grand that it takes a reputed 50 gardeners to tend them.

The sumptuous villa has been graced by world leaders and superstars.

The previous owner, the late banking billionaire Edmond Safra, is said to have entertained Ronald Reagan and Frank Sinatra there.

The moment will be etched in time and history was made yesterday. Spontaneous cheering broke out among millions of Democrats in Chicago and the rest of the U.S, when cable news channel CNN announced that Illinois Senator Barack Obama was elected as the first black president of the United States.

Around 11:00 PM EST,  just as California’s voting polls closed, it was their 55 electoral votes that ensured Obama surpassed the magical line of 270 electoral votes required to win the election and become President.

Shortly after that, John McCain acknowledged his defeat and gave a sincere speech thanking his followers and congratulating President elect Obama.

On August 4th, 1961 – Hussein Obama Jr. was born to a white American mother, Ann Dunham, and a black Kenyan father, Barack Obama, Sr., who were both young college students at the University of Hawaii.

After Barack’s father left for Harvard to attend college, she and Barack remained behind, and his father eventually returned alone back to Kenya, where he worked as a government economist.

Barack’s mother later got remarried to an Indonesian oil manager and they all moved to Jakarta when Barack was just six years old. He returned to Hawaii, where he was brought up largely by his grandparents. Sadly, Barack’s grandmother died in Hawaii, just one day before he was elected President.

Barack Obama began teaching at the University of Chicago Law School. He eventually ran as a Democrat for the Illinois state senate seat from his home district. The district included both Hyde Park and some of the poorest ghettos on the South Side of Chicago. Obama did win that election.

In 2004, Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, representing the state of Illinois. He quickly gained national attention by giving an emotionally rousing and well-received keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Barack is married to Michelle Obama and they have two young daughters. Michelle Obama will now become First Lady.

Come January of 2009, once inaugurated, Barack Obama will become the 44th U.S. President and reside over a country with deep economic troubles and a world with many challenges to tackle.