A brick-and-mortar side to eBay emerges in growing chains
EBay is no longer just an online phenomenon. Five companies in California and Tennessee are offering physical stores where sellers can drop off merchandise for auction sale on eBay. Four of them, NuMarkets, iSold It LLC, AuctionDrop Inc. and auctionValet say they expect to expand nationwide.
The five companies – the other one is Nashville-based Snappy Auctions – all offer a complete range of services for selling on eBay, including item listing, customer service, packing and shipping. Anyone who wants to sell through eBay can simply drop off items at one of the stores, then wait for payment if a sale is transacted. "Basically customers just drop off an item, go home and wait for a check," says Christine Dressendorfer, manager of the auctionValet store in Lake Forest, CA.
Most of the companies offer basic listings for 7-day auctions on eBay with bids starting at $1 at no up-front cost to the seller. But for sellers willing to pay an up-front fee, they’ll list items with higher minimum bids.
EBay sees the growth of eBay services stores as a positive development that can only add to the number of people buying and selling on eBay – already at more than 35 million active buyers and sellers worldwide. "This is yet another way for people to become a part of the eBay community," an eBay spokesman says. "Anything that brings more members to the community and more items for sale just strengthens the overall eBay experience."
Dan Cowles, one of the principals of auctionValet, which started operating in October, says his store lists from 50 to 150 items on eBay on any given day and gets an average of two customers per day with products to sell on eBay. AuctionValet advertisers its services in its local southern California area in weekly advertising shoppers, but it ships items sold on eBay to anywhere in the world, Cowles says. Buyers pay all shipping fees.
He adds that auctionValet plans to open a second store in southern California and then expand nationwide. "Our goal is to have a chain across the country," he says.
Others have similar plans and have already expanded to several locations. AuctionDrop, San Carlos, CA, with financial backing from Mobius Venture Capital and Draper Associates, operates four stores in the San Francisco Area and plans to open more locations this year in the Los Angeles and New York metropolitan areas. It also offers franchising opportunities.
NuMarkets has two locations in Tennessee, Knoxville and Etowah, and plans to open 50 stores in cities throughout the U.S. this year. iSold It operates a single 3,000-square-foot store in Pasadena, CA, and plans to open eight more this year. It’s also offering franchising opportunities nationwide.
The five companies all differ somewhat in their fees and services, though most charge a percentage of the final sale on a sliding scale plus eBay’s listing fees. Snappy Auctions, for example, charges 35% commission on the first $200, 25% o the next $200, and 15% for the remainder of the final sale value. It also passes on eBay fees that range from $2 for a $50 sale to $28 for $1,000.
NuMarkets, however, charges only a flat fee of 30% of the final sale and does not pass on eBay listing fees.
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