Ebay partners with Stan for new streaming bundle

Dean Blake

16th Oct 2018

Online marketplace Ebay has formed a strategic partnership with Stan that will see Ebay customers get three months of unlimited access to the streaming service when they sign up to the company’s free shipping membership scheme, Ebay Plus.

The offer is available to current Plus members as well as new sign-ups between October 15 to 31. Plus members who already subscribe to Stan will be upgraded to the streaming service’s premium membership for the three months instead.

The partnership goes some way to putting Ebay Plus on par with e-commerce rival Amazon’s popular Prime membership program, which launched in Australia on June 19, ahead of the first local Prime Day sale in July. Ebay launched Plus the day before on June 18.

While Prime offered Australian consumers access to new and exclusive movies, television shows and other streaming content, as well as special deals and free shipping, from day one, Ebay has needed to built up its offering through partnerships, such as Stan and Coles’ Flybuys points.

Australia managing director Tim MacKinnon said the partnerships provide added value for customers.

“We know Australians love the benefits that come with an Ebay Plus membership, such as free delivery, free returns, doubly Flybuys points and access to exclusive deals,” he said.

The key difference between Ebay Plus and Amazon Prime now is price. Plus costs $49 a year, while Prime costs $69 a year.

“E-commerce is under penetrated in Australia: only about eight per cent of retail dollars is spent online in Australia, which is about half what is spent in more advanced markets like Korea and the UK,” Ebay senior director of product and shipping David Ramadge told AAP.

Ebay would like to increase the local online retail spend to 15 to 20 per cent over time, he said.