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July 8, 2006

Small Businesses and eBay Express

Small businesses can now sell their products direct customers without placing them on ebay trading platform.
by using eBay's new "eBay Express" service, small businesses without an online presence can set up an eBay express store and sell to customers, just like any other "virtual high street" at set or fixed prices.

eBay Express is aimed at helping small businesses compete with larger online and offline stores.

Unlike the current main eBay UK site, the Express version is intended to be a "virtual store" with goods sold at
a fixed price, rather than via traditional auctions. In return, companies using the service will have to meet a
variety of service levels, such as guaranteed delivery times and standard refund and return policies.

Although many small business retailers may already have an online presence, eBay points out that the new service will help smaller stores access millions of potential customers, where many small companies find it hard to drive customers to their own websites.

eBay Express has already been rolled out in the US. Unlike the main eBay auction sites, customers can buy multipile items from multiple sellers and pay once for everything, including shipping.

There is no doubt that the new system offers a simple alternative to eBay, cutting out the need to bid and wait for items. For small business owners, this could also be an opportunity to access a large customer base without the need to pay expensive online marketing costs.

Time will tell if eBay express will become as popular as eBay's main auction sites. It's difficult to say whether
it will because the fun of eBay is being able to bid on products and get them at bargain prices, and people just
love getting bargains. Nevertheless, eBay Express does offer small businesses another marketing channel to sell their products with the eBay brand as their online vehicle.

Posted by David at July 8, 2006 6:50 AM