Wednesday 1 April 2020: As businesses across Australia are forced to shut down or alter operations, ebay.com.au is launching a new initiative, Always Open on eBay Australia, to support retailers at this time.
The move by Australia’s number one shopping site is designed to assist businesses with setting up online and support its existing sellers with cash flow, as public health restrictions force the closure of many bricks and mortar stores.
eBay is offering new businesses setting up on eBay no selling fees¹ for three months to help them establish their online presence or add a new channel alongside their website. The initiative aims to help thousands of SMBs and will give a much needed boost to the 57 per cent of retail that is still offline² in Australia.
Existing eligible eBay sellers³ will have the option to have their fees deferred for 30 days, allowing additional flexibility with payments. eBay is also offering sellers the removal of listing fees⁴ until 30 June, ensuring they can list more items at no extra cost.
eBay Australia is investing millions of dollars to help small businesses through this initiative. Over the coming weeks eBay will be looking to support its 40,000 Australian retailers including increased marketing and partnerships.
eBay Australia’s Managing Director, Tim MacKinnon comments, “eBay is devastated to see so many Australian retailers closing their physical stores. We believe that just because they’ve had to close their doors, it doesn’t mean they need to close their businesses.
“In recent weeks we have seen more Australians come to eBay for the things they need from everyday essentials to office furniture and activities they can do indoors. eBay is the shopping centre of online retail, enabling small businesses to quickly and easily establish an online presence and ultimately ensure their goods are reaching the people that need them.”
eBay is Australia’s number one online shopping destination with over 11-million unique monthly visitors. In its 20 years in Australia, eBay has supported over 350,000 Australian businesses on its platform.
National Retail Association (NRA) CEO, Dominique Lamb, comments, “Retail is the second largest employer of any industry in Australia with annual sales of $286-billion. Every effort needs to be made to save jobs and initiatives such as Always Open on eBay Australia will help keep the economy ticking over during this period of upheaval.
“During tough times industry needs to be agile and eBay offering new sellers free stores and waiving fees will be a big help to SMBs across the country. Now we urge shoppers around the country to hop online and support retailers across the country.”
MacKinnon adds, “eBay’s priority and responsibility is to be there for local businesses, whenever they need us. We’re only at the start of our support program and will be releasing new measures in the coming weeks and months as the situation evolves. The current environment has dealt a huge blow to businesses globally, but even more so in Australia where many have also been impacted by bushfires and drought in recent months. We want to do all we can to relieve some of the pressures they are facing.”
Existing eBay sellers can visit here for more information on how to request support. New sellers can visit ebay.com.au/alwaysopen to get started.
-ENDS-
- 3 months of Featured or Basic Store subscription fees waived and no Final Value Fees with associated eBay Store for 3 months. New sellers only, eligibility criteria applies. For sellers who sign up in April. T&Cs here
- Retailers that don’t have an online presence. Calculated using Ibis World Online Shopping In Australia Industry Report and 2019 ABS data
- 30 day deferral available to eligible sellers after opt in T&Cs here
- $0 fixed price or auction insertion fees on up to 250,000 listings after opt in T&Cs here
For more information, please contact:
Catherine Tomlinson, Pulse
T: 0423 799 729 | E: Catherine.tomlinson@wearepulse.com.au
Natasha Moate, Pulse
T: 0435 524 039 | E: Natasha.moate@wearepulse.com.au
About eBay Marketplaces:
eBay is one of the world’s largest online marketplaces, connecting people with the things they need and love virtually anytime, anywhere. eBay has more than 1.4-billion live individual and merchant listings at any given time. With mobile apps available in 190 countries, eBay delivers a personalised shopping experience and seamless access to inventory from down the street and around the world. Tailored shopping experiences customise buying and selling; and eBay provides variety and choice for sellers by enabling them to offer goods through online, mobile and local channels to consumers around the world. For more information, visit ebayinc.com.