EinsteinsGarage Launches Customer Exchange; Online Marketplace Enables Users to Market...

Business Editors

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2001

Buying and selling surplus, obsolete and used scientific supplies and equipment is now easier than ever thanks to an innovative new feature called Customer Exchange, introduced today by EinsteinsGarage.

Customer

Exchange is a virtual marketplace where users can sell, auction and advertise their surplus and discounted scientific and laboratory equipment to interested buyers. Launched in June, EinsteinsGarage is an online marketplace (www.einsteinsgarage.com) for discounted scientific equipment and supplies, serving the $67 billion worldwide research, U.S. healthcare, safety and science education markets. EinsteinsGarage is also a member of the online community of Alchematrix, Inc., a wholly owned e-commerce subsidiary of Fisher Scientific International Inc. (NYSE:FSH), the world leader in serving science.

Through Customer Exchange, individuals can sell discounted scientific equipment and supplies directly to buyers in a forum where they can negotiate their own deals. Customer Exchange provides a venue where the value of idle assets and excess inventory can be extracted and shared by the seller and buyer. The concept represents a win-win solution that addresses both the needs of sellers looking to dispose of quality overstock or surplus goods and the needs of buyers on a tight budget searching for essential supplies and equipment.

Customer Exchange also provides scientists, researchers, educators and hobbyists with an ideal online auction site that offers a vast array of products, including everything from test tubes to spectrophotometers. Customer Exchange offers sellers a way to access these markets and to efficiently manage their surplus inventory by auctioning excess or used lab equipment.

An added feature of Customer Exchange provides sellers of discounted scientific and laboratory equipment the opportunity to advertise on the site. By becoming a member of the Dealer Network, sellers will be given select advertising and marketing space within Customer Exchange. Making this option particularly attractive to sellers or dealers will be Customer Exchange's prominent display and access link on the home page of Fisher Scientific (www.fishersci.com), where more than 100,000 registrants purchase scientific equipment and supplies.

The Customer Exchange launch represents the first in a series of planned functionality roll-outs that will enable EinsteinsGarage to continue to meet customer needs and interests. To date, more than 7,000 items have been sold through EinsteinsGarage as buyers and sellers continue to embrace the site.

Available for Interview: Rob Carskadden, General Manager of EinsteinsGarage.

To schedule an interview, contact Darcey Garda at (412) 473-3422 or einsteinsgarage@jackhorner.com.

About Fisher Scientific International Inc.

As the world leader in serving science, Fisher Scientific (http://www.fishersci.com), is the global source of laboratory supplies and equipment, e-commerce procurement technology and related services for scientific research, healthcare, science education and occupational safety.

About Alchematrix Inc.

Alchematrix Inc. is a subsidiary of Fisher Scientific International, Inc. Through fishersci.com, Alchematrix is the world's largest comprehensive virtual marketplace for the procurement of scientific products and equipment and is a leading business-to-business electronic supply chain manager. Alchematrix.com incorporates all the capability and functionality of fishersci.com, which currently has more than 100,000 registered users. Alchematrix provides vendor-neutral one-stop access to hundreds of thousands of products from thousands of vendors, including both direct suppliers and distributors. Alchematrix serves the supply chain needs of the research, healthcare, education, safety training and refurbished scientific equipment markets. Alchematrix's online community includes SayAhh.com, PureSafety.com, EinsteinsGarage.com, TheScientificWorld.com, and a relationship with ProcureNet.com. For more information, visit http://www.alchematrix.com.