Circuit City drops its eBay drop-off service
After testing its Trading Circuit eBay drop-off and listing service for eBay sellers in eight stores, Circuit City Stores Inc. has terminated the service for its lack of profit potential, Circuit City says.
“We learned a lot and had a lot of happy customers on the buyer’s side and the seller’s side, but we weren’t getting enough return on investment,” a spokesman says. The service, similar to that offered by a growing number of eBay drop-off stores throughout the U.S. like AuctionDrop and NuMarkets, lets consumers drop off items to be auctioned off on eBay.com, then wait for a mailed check for the selling price minus fees and commissions.
Each participating Circuit City store uploaded product listings to eBay and shipped sold products to buyers via courier services. Circuit City, which launched the eBay Trading Circuit service in May, operated it in four stores in Atlanta and four in Pittsburgh.
When it launched the service in May, Circuit City said it was intended as a way to utilize extra space in stores that became available after it discontinued sales of major appliances and changed its store inventory policy to keep most products on the selling floor instead of in back-room warehouses.
Circuit City will continue to use the Trading Circuit brand to sell returned and opened merchandise on eBay. “We’re happy with this as another option for selling merchandise that we can’t sell on the store shelf at full price,” the spokesman says.
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