I attended the eBay.PH launch yesterday and realized that I have not even gone on the site for the longest time– because I can’t even find quiet time of late to turn on my laptop and surf the traditional way (not on a mobile phone).
I was an eBay accountholder quite some time ago. If you don’t yet know much about how I began, I started out with a secondhand luxury bag business and one of the few ways of getting exposure and clickthroughs on my website was to list things on ebay– and this I did on ebay.PH
I only listed them on the local site because eBay.PH did not charge any listing fees and final value fees (unlike the global site of ebay). And I have to say that eBay.PH worked very well for me during those years that I had that business.
One of the key issues I had with online marketplaces selling preowned luxury goods is the seller’s credibility and the ability of the host site to “police” the credibility and reputation of each seller. After having the discussion with Gene Cleckley, eBay Asia Pacific lead manager for communications who told me that eBay.PH has an online “police” monitoring all activities and are keeping close watch on such (because they too, risk their own reputation and in the process can get exposed to lawsuits), it was a great relief. Gene also mentioned that there are measures that are firmly in place to ensure that buyers are also protected. Quite a big difference from a few years ago when consumers have little protection when it came to online shopping! That’s not to say that we as consumers should put our guards down. When buying something of high value online, you still always have to make sure to triple check credibility, and do your own research before spending your money. After all, it will always remain the consumer’s responsibility 🙂 But it’s really good to know that eBay.PH has that “online police” — no other online marketplace in the Philippines has that kind of manpower to do it for an auction site that big 🙂
eBay.PH also happens to be the host auction site for UNICEF’s Auction for Action, spearheaded by UNICEF and with the help of my good friend Daphne!
There are some beautiful works of art and some really nice pieces of furniture that are up for auction for a good cause, so go visit ebay.ph/unicefph to shop and bid!
Going back, the even better news for the budding entrepreneur who wants to put up a business online is this, with eBay.PH, you will still not get charged listing fees and final value fees. You get maximum exposure for your merchandise without having to shell out a single cent for it 🙂 The launch of eBay.PH could not have come at a better time too– my friend and I have been contemplating on doing a garage sale of our things and we had both decided it was going to be a bloodbath to do it all in one go, and eBay.PH has just solved that “problem” for us! 🙂
So watch out for my ebay.PH auction soon– watch this space!! 🙂
x
TheBagHag