EBay extends fee-free selling for new sign ups

Dean Blake

6th Aug 2020

EBay has announced it will be allowing retailers to sell on the marketplace without fees for another three months, following the success of its ‘Always Open on eBay’ initiative.

The program aims to help get retailers online quickly in a period when bricks-and-mortar trading is becoming increasingly uncertain, and has helped more than 1000 brands get set up.

The deal is only available to retailers that are not currently set up on eBay.

“It’s an understatement to say businesses have had a challenging year. As we started to see the shoots of recovery sprout, retailers have been hit with more setbacks, particularly in Victoria,” eBay Australia managing director Tim McKinnon said.

“We’re seeing a huge acceleration in e-commerce so being online has never been more important for businesses – yet it’s concerning that 57 per cent of retail is still offline in Australia.”

As part of the initial package, existing eBay sellers could defer fees for 30 days, while new sellers could enjoy three months of no selling fees.

“[eBay] was created 25 years ago to enable strangers to do commerce without having contact with each other, MacKinnon told Internet Retailing when the program launched.

“We see ourselves as a fundamental piece of infrastructure… for businesses to be able to get through this process and still maintain cash flow.”