
eBay is extending its promotion to attract new businesses registering on eBay UK. At the end of March, eBay launched a promotion inviting new sellers to join, telling them they would not have to pay fees to list or sell until May 31, 2020. On Tuesday, it extended the promotion to the end of July.
A spokesperson told EcommerceBytes that since eBay launched the promotion, it has welcomed “thousands” of new businesses to the site, “with daily SME registrations doubling” (small and medium sized enterprises). “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,” she said.
The offer applies to 250 product listings each month. Note that according to the terms, “eBay will continue to waive fees to list or sell for new business joining eBay UK until 31 July 2020 or for 90 days after registration, whichever is earlier.”
eBay cited the experience of one retailer who participated in the program, reporting that he took his physical toy store online in March to keep the business moving during the pandemic and shipped over 150 parcels within the first weekend, a period in which he had expected to only receive 10-20 orders.
As for existing sellers on the UK platform who don’t qualify for the special promotion, eBay offered them a 30-day payment holiday at the end of March. “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,” according to the company.
You can find the announcement on this page of the eBay UK website.