eCOST.com Reports First Quarter Results; 44% Year-over-Year Growth in Quarterly Sales; 124,000 New Customers Added

eCOST.com (Nasdaq:ECST) (www.ecost.com), a leading
online discount retailer, today announced financial results for its
first quarter ended March 31, 2005.
   Net sales for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005, increased
44% to $55.1 million from $38.2 million in the first quarter ended
March 31, 2004. The Company recorded a net loss of $1.7 million, or
($0.10) per share, compared to a net loss of $20,000, or ($0.00) per
share, in the first quarter of 2004. The higher net loss in 2005 is
largely due to the transition to becoming a stand-alone company
related to the spin-off from PC Mall and reflects reduced gross
margins, growth in marketing and advertising expenditures to support
the Company's customer acquisition initiatives and increased public
company costs related to eCOST.com's recent spin-off from PC Mall.
   The Company added 124,000 new customers during the quarter,
expanding eCOST's customer base to over 1.2 million at March 31, 2005.
This is an increase in the overall customer base of 53% over the first
quarter last year and 11% sequentially.
   Adam Shaffer, Chairman and CEO of eCOST.com, commented, "Sales
were lower sequentially due in part to first quarter seasonality
following the traditionally strong holiday period and the management
resources and attention required during the quarter to achieve the
separation from PC Mall on April 11, 2005. In addition, the systems
separation intermittently affected our site availability and
efficiency which impacted our consumer sales in the quarter. We are
pleased with the level of new customer additions during the quarter,
which provides a strong foundation for future growth. In particular,
our targeted advertising promotions, along with the growing awareness
and acceptance of the eCOST.com brand, have allowed us to add
meaningfully to our customer base."
   Shaffer added, "With the spin-off from PC Mall completed, we are
now operating as an independent company. Our new distribution facility
in Memphis, Tennessee is operational and we have been shipping
products to customers from this site since the spin-off. With the
transition effects beginning to dissipate, we remain positive about
our business outlook in 2005 and beyond. Moving forward, we plan to
further develop our product and service offerings and will invest in
marketing campaigns to expand our customer base and increase consumer
awareness of the eCOST.com brand. We believe these initiatives will
drive top line growth in the range of 40 to 45% for the year, with a
lower growth rate and a sequential sales decrease in the second
quarter. We are now estimating losses for the year overall and remain
optimistic that we will see profitability in the latter half of 2005."

   Investor Webcast

   Management will host a live webcast of eCOST's First Quarter
Investor Conference Call today at 5:00 p.m. EST. To access the
webcast, go to eCOST's website at www.ecost.com, enter the Investor
Relations section, and click on the webcast icon.
   A conference call replay will be available for one week following
the live call and can be accessed by calling: [phone] and
entering the reservation number, 96496162.

   About eCOST.com, Inc.

   eCOST.com is a leading multi-category online discount retailer of
high quality new, "close-out" and refurbished brand-name merchandise
for consumers and small business buyers. eCOST.com markets over
100,000 different products from leading manufacturers such as Apple,
Canon, Citizen, Denon, HP, Nikon, Onkyo, Seiko, Sony, and Toshiba
primarily over the Internet (http://www.ecost.com) and through direct
marketing. Prior to April 11, 2005, eCOST.com was a subsidiary of PC
Mall, Inc. (NASDAQ:MALL).

   Forward-Looking Statements:

   This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such
statements include the Company's expectations, hopes or intentions
regarding the future, including but not limited to statements
regarding business and financial trends, the Company's expectations
regarding reaching profitability, sales growth, changes in gross
margins, new product and service categories, expansion of existing
categories and growth in the Company's customer base. Forward-looking
statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results
may differ materially from those discussed in any such statement.
Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
are the following: reliance on PC Mall's operational and
administrative structure, including the maintenance of the Company's
systems; expenses and diversion of managerial and other resources
relating to the transition to becoming a stand-alone company; the
Company's ability to maintain existing and build new vendor and
supplier relationships; ability to obtain favorable product pricing
and vendor consideration; product availability; outages of the
Company's systems and website; ability to expand the Company's website
and systems to accommodate growth; ability to attract customers on
cost-effective terms; changes in product mix; risks due to shifts in
market demand and the economic climate and ability to maintain
operating expenses within anticipated levels. Additional factors that
could cause actual results to differ are discussed under the heading
"Risk Factors" and in other sections of the Company's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and in its other periodic reports
filed from time to time with the Commission. All forward-looking
statements in this document are made as of the date hereof, based on
information available to the Company as of the date hereof, and the
Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
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                            eCOST.com, Inc.

                       STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
                 (in thousands except per share data)

                                                      For the three
                                                       months ended
                                                         March 31,
                                                       2005     2004

Net sales                                            $55,056  $38,190

Cost of goods sold                                    51,327   34,732

Gross profit                                           3,729    3,458

Selling, general and administrative expenses           6,601    3,491

Loss from operations                                  (2,872)     (33)

Interest income, net                                     (48)      --
Interest expense-PC Mall Commercial line of credit        --      401
Interest income-PC Mall Commercial line of credit         --     (401)
Loss before income taxes                              (2,824)     (33)

Income tax benefit                                    (1,125)     (13)
Net loss                                             $(1,699) $   (20)

Loss per share:
     Basic                                           $ (0.10) $ (0.00)
     Diluted                                         $ (0.10) $ (0.00)

Shares used in computing per share:
(in thousands)
     Basic                                            17,465   14,000
     Diluted                                          17,465   14,000


                            eCOST.com, Inc.

                            BALANCE SHEETS
                   (in thousands, except share data)

                                               March 31,  December 31,
                                                 2005        2004
Assets
Current assets:
  Cash and cash equivalents                    $  5,908   $    8,790
  Short-term investments                          4,875        7,000
  Accounts receivable, net of allowance for
   doubtful accounts                              1,711        2,039
  Inventories                                     1,922        1,794
  Prepaid expenses and other current assets         283          263
  Due from Affiliate, net                         3,497          813
  Deferred income taxes                             883          883

         Total current assets                    19,079       21,582

  Property and equipment, net                     1,675          342
  Deferred income taxes                           5,592        4,467
  Other assets                                      243          123

Total assets                                   $ 26,589   $   26,514

Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Current liabilities:
  Accounts payable                             $    590   $      585
  Accrued expenses and other current
   liabilities                                    3,841        2,635
  Deferred revenue                                2,452        2,014

            Total current liabilities             6,883        5,234


Total liabilities                                 6,883        5,234

Stockholders' equity:
   Common stock, $.001 par value; 20,000,000
    shares authorized, 17,465,000 and 
    14,000,000 shares issued and
    outstanding, respectively                        17           17
   Additional paid-in capital                    33,834       33,834
   Deferred stock-based compensation             (1,208)      (1,333)
   Accumulated deficit                          (12,937)     (11,238)

Total stockholders' equity                       19,706       21,280

Total stockholders' equity and liabilities     $ 26,589   $   26,514


                            eCOST.com, Inc.

                        SELECTED OPERATING DATA

                                            For the three months ended
                                                     March 31,
                                                2005           2004

Total customers (1)                          1,212,119        793,407

Active customers  (2)                          521,999        300,670

New customers (3)                              123,783         72,985

Number of orders (4)                           190,642        119,192

Average order value (5)                     $      302    $       333

Advertising expense (6)                     $2,010,000    $ 1,306,000


(1) Total customers have been calculated as the cumulative number of
    customers for which orders have been taken from our inception to
    the end of the reported period.

(2) Active customers consist of the number of customers who placed
    orders during the 12 months prior to the end of the reported
    period. 

(3) New customers represent the number of persons that established a
    new account and placed an order during the reported period.

(4) Number of orders represents the total number of orders shipped
    during the reported period (not reflecting returns).

(5) Average order value has been calculated as gross sales divided by
    the total number of orders during the period presented. The impact
    of returns is not reflected in average order value.

(6) Advertising expense includes the total dollars spent on
    advertising during the reported period, including Internet, direct
    mail, print and e-mail advertising, as well as customer list
    enhancement services.
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