BID.COM Announces Strategic Alliance With Rogers Media Inc. - Private Placement Part Of Agreement To Create Premier Canadian Online Auctions.

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 30, 1998--BID.COM(TSE:BII.) Bid.Com International Inc. ("Bid.Com") has entered into two separate agreements with Rogers Media Inc. ("Rogers"). The first agreement is a strategic alliance for a co-branded national online auction in Canada. The second will see Rogers invest in Bid.Com through a private placement.

The private placement offering is comprised of a Special Warrant purchased for $1,875,000 which is convertible into 1,500,000 common shares of Bid.Com for an effective purchase price of $1.25 per share, plus a warrant to purchase an additional 100,000 common shares at $1.40 per share at the earlier of a U.S. public offering or 12 months from the closing date. Beyond the investment, Rogers has committed in excess of $1,000,000 per year in media advertising to promote the partnership, and has the right to appoint a nominee to the Board of Directors of Bid.Com.

Under the terms of the strategic alliance, Rogers will be responsible for generating web site traffic through its national media properties in print, broadcasting and over the Internet. Bid.Com will be responsible for merchandising and operating a national online auction.

"We are excited about this partnership," says Mike Abramsky, President of Rogers New Media. "Our mission at Rogers New Media is to bring Canadians compelling Internet properties and exciting new web services that leverage Rogers' narrowband, broadband and wireless networks as well as its media properties. This exclusive national partnership with Bid.Com, leverages the growing demand from Canadian consumers for domestic Internet shopping services, as well as business-to-business online auctions."

Mr. Abramsky added, "We believe that a dynamic national Canadian online auction from Bid.Com positions Rogers at the forefront of meeting these needs. With their leading edge technology, scaleable infrastructure and marketing-oriented management team, we are confident that Bid.Com will become the premier online auction service in Canada."

"This is one of the biggest E-commerce deals in the country valued at over $6 million during the initial term of the agreement," says Paul Godin, President and CEO of Bid.Com. "We are honoured to be in partnership with Canada's leading communications and media company. Rogers can generate a mass consumer audience for online auctions and catapult our co-branded site into the pre-eminent online shipping destination in Canada. Our business-to-business initiatives will also be enhanced by the trade magazine subscriber bases of Maclean Hunter Publishing and we are excited about utilizing the potential of high-speed broadband to expand the compelling nature of rising and falling price auctions. Our growth strategy from the start has been to seek distribution alliances in core markets: Rogers is without question, the best possible strategic partner for Bid.Com in Canada."

Earlier this week, Bid.Com entered into an $11.3 million bought deal equity financing agreement with Yorkton Securities.

The Rogers' national media properties include some of Canada's most widely read publications such as Maclean's, Chatelaine, Flare, Canadian Business, Profit and Marketing Magazine; numerous trade and professional magazines covering a broad range of industries; 680 News and other leading major market English language radio stations; CFMT - a multilingual television station in Toronto; The Shopping Channel - Canada's only television shopping network, and several leading Internet properties including Yahoo! Canada, Quicken.ca, Electric Library Canada, Macleans Online and Chatelaine Connects. Rogers parent company, Rogers Communications Inc. (TSE - "RCI") also owns Rogers Cablesystems, the largest cable network in Canada, a partnership with Shaw and Cogeco in @Home Canada, a Canadian leader in offering broadband Internet service through cable networks, as well as Cantel, Canada's largest national digital wireless company.

Rogers New Media is committed to providing Canadians with credible information and resources through online initiatives. It is responsible for the administration and implementation of all Web content, licensing and development activities of Rogers Media Inc., the content division of Rogers Communications Inc. Based in Toronto, the Rogers New Media team includes producers and editors, Web programmers and marketing staff, as well as a dedicated advertising sales group. Rogers New Media also publishes broadband multimedia content to high-speed Internet cable subscribers across Canada through the @Home service. For further information, contact Rogers New Media at [phone].

Bid.Com was founded in 1995 and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in February 1998. With offices in Toronto, Ontario and Tampa, Florida, it is one of the Internet's leading online auction sales organizations. The company offers a compelling, entertaining and cost-effective method of selling a wide array of consumer goods to businesses and retail shoppers using interactive displays on the Internet as the distribution channel. The announcement of a strategic alliance with Rogers builds on the company's existing distribution agreements with America Online, Inc., GTE Media Ventures, The Toronto Star Newspapers, Yahoo!, MetaCrawler and Netscape.

    CONTACT: BID.COM International Inc.
              Chris Bulger, 905/ 672-7467 ext. 310