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eBay has extended its offer of a ‘free online shop window’ for new businesses joining the platform for a further two months.
It means that eBay will continue to waive fees to list or sell for new business joining eBay UK until 31st July 2020 or for 90 days after registration, whichever is earlier.
The offer, which was originally launched on 26th March, will apply to 250 product listings each month – and is expected to help 99% of every new business-to-consumer seller listing on the site.
Since the offer was launched, eBay UK has welcomed thousands of new businesses and the number of daily seller registrations on the site has doubled. New daily registrations have also increased by 175% since the beginning of the year. Of the thousands of sellers that have joined eBay during lockdown, 23.6% were London-based, 13.3% in the South East and 13.2% in the North West.
The additional support from eBay will offer a boost to key parts of the SME economy, providing self-employed retailers and entrepreneurs who have previously relied on bricks and mortar stores a virtual shop window to reach eBay UK’s 27 million customers, without paying any fees until August.
For existing sellers, eBay UK in March offered a 30-day payment holiday. Alongside the cashflow boost for sellers, eBay has also committed to ‘maintaining seller standards’ for the next three months – ensuring the reputation, standing and profile of individual sellers cannot be damaged by events out of their control.
“We recognise that the challenges are vast and wide-ranging for SMEs on Britain’s high streets,” said Murray Lambell, VP Trading, eBay UK. “But, now more than ever, having an online revenue stream alongside a brick and mortar store represents a vital lifeline, and offers the best chance of ensuring businesses survive.
“These things do not have to work in competition, and eBay offers that online shop window that so many small high street shop owners need right now. Even when businesses reopen, social distancing may still impact their offline revenues. So having a free online channel could really help, especially if they have excess stock to shift.
“This crisis is likely to have a significant lasting impact on businesses up and down the country, but we’re focused on doing what we can to help ease the pressure that SMEs currently, and may continue to, face.”
