WEB AUCTION SITE OFFERS KEY TO INSTANT ACCESS.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

CANOGA PARK - Amid the best of times, Internet startups like Surpluzz.com would be expected to throw huge amounts of venture capital at advertising to establish a brand name.

The results were often disappointing.

But in the chance meeting with a computer maker last year, Charles Low, chief executive officer of the 4-month-old auction site, hit on a better idea: put a button on a computer's keyboard for the sole purpose of taking people to your site.

As ambitious as it sounds, Surpluzz will get a chance to test that marketing strategy in May when Tiny Computers begins shipping its PCs in the United States with a button with the Surpluzz logo.

``It's a captured audience,'' Low said. ``Every time they look at their keyboard they will associate our name and logo with auctions. When they go see who we are and what we offer, we feel there isn't really any competition.''

Of course, their biggest competitor, eBay.com, is virtually a household name.

But Surpluzz believes it has a legitimate chance by tailoring its service to heavy-duty users, those looking to sell 100 or more items at a time.

To accommodate all those collectibles, crafts and other items, Surpluzz lets people post up to 2,500 items per month for a flat fee of $19.99, as opposed to paying a fee for every transaction. Also, items are given free front-page exposure on a rotating basis, a practice for which other sites usually charge.

Tiny Computers, a brand that started out in England but runs its U.S. operations from Tacoma, Wash., also hopes the partnership with Surpluzz raises its profile as well.

In addition to direct Internet sales, it has 48 retail stores on the West Coast, including 24 in Southern California locations such as the Glendale Galleria, Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga and Valencia Town Center.

``With the addition of the logo on the hot key, obviously people will be inquisitive and realize there's a great auction site that's got unique products and competes very well with the established names in that area,'' said Phil Morris, vice president of retail development at Tiny Computers' Los Angeles office.

The cooperative agreement signed by the two companies seeks to draw users to their respective Web sites. They are also planning a joint national advertising campaign.

There are no immediate plans to put the Surpluzz button on PCs sold by Tiny Computers in Europe, where it is one of the leading computer retailers, or in Asia.

Surpluzz could get direct exposure to some 500,000 new PC buyers each year, Low said.

About 85 percent of Surpluzz's 6,000 customers are ``power users,'' some of whom make their primary income by selling items on the Web.

Low said he does not expect the tech market meltdown to affect his 20- person operation.

``We have already weathered the worst of the storm - starting up a company from scratch in the worst year in Internet history has made us very tough,'' Low said. ``The market has shown there is only a few ways to make a successful company on the Internet and one of those ways is through Internet auctions.''