Dropping off items at third-party eBay stores becomes virtual

In new twist to selling on eBay, NuMarkets and the U.S. Postal Service launched a service today that lets customers place a toll-free call to arrange for the Post Office to pick up a product to be delivered to a NuMarkets store for a listing on eBay.com. The seller pays nothing until the listed product sells on eBay, NuMarkets says.

The deal with the Postal service gives NuMarkets an immediate national reach, even though it currently has only seven service center franchises where consumers can drop off products to be processed for a listing on eBay. “Our neighborhood just expanded to every household and business in the country,” says NuMarkets CEO and founder Russ Grove.

NuMarkets is one of more than 25 organizations that have sprung over the past year to offer consumers a physical location where they can drop off items to be listed and sold on eBay. The seller drops off the merchandise and waits for a check to arrive, minus eBay and NuMarkets fees, after a product sells.

Under the NuMarkets arrangement with the Postal Service, a customer calls the NuMarkets central call center, which relays information on the seller and the type of product to be listed on eBay to the Postal Service. The U.S.P.S. sends packaging material with a preprinted shipping label to the seller, who packages the item to be listed and leaves it for the Postal Service to pick up and deliver to NuMarkets.

Once an item sells on eBay, the seller receives a check in the mail minus a 38% fee to cover all services provided by NuMarkets and the Postal Service.