Posted by : Anonymous on Jun 26, 2004 - 05:40 AM General

Selling on the online auction eBay may be lucrative, but it can also be fiercely complicated. You must know how to shoot and download digital pictures, appraise and list items, set up a payment account and master the ins and outs of the Web site. It's a process that can be so intimidating to the uninitiated, they often throw their hands up and make plans for a garage sale.
But a new company aims to make it far easier to unload your stuff on eBay. You don't even have to own a computer.

AuctionDrop Inc., a year-old, California-based company, is linking up with the 3,400 UPS stores nationwide to help consumers handle the logistics of selling on eBay.

Here's the idea: You take your item to the UPS store and fill out a form that asks you to set a minimum starting price. (AuctionDrop claims a $1 starting price lures more buyers.) UPS sends it to AuctionDrop at no cost to you. AuctionDrop then sets up the eBay account, takes and transmits the digital photos and writes the copy. They ship to the buyer, collect the money and then take a 20-38 percent cut before sending a check on to you. The more valuable the item, the smaller the percentage cut for AuctionDrop. If the item doesn't sell, AuctionDrop returns it at no cost.

There are a couple of restrictions: Items must be worth more than $75, weigh less than 150 pounds and be in fairly good shape.

Several companies, including Snappy Auctions, have opened outlets that offer a similar service, but they are limited to small geographic areas.

AuctionDrop's deal with UPS significantly broadens its scope and makes it the biggest player in this emerging market.

There are several UPS stores in the Akron-Canton area. United Parcel Service Inc. expanded its retail presence in 2001 when it purchased the Mail Boxes Etc. packing and shipping chain.

AuctionDrop co-founder and Chief Executive Randy Adams said the notion of building or franchising new stores would have been too slow and too expensive.

"It became clear to us that we would have to create an alliance if we hoped to expand our service," Adams said. "It quickly takes us to a new level."

Adams is an Internet entrepreneur who has launched six companies, five of which have been successful.

He is well connected in Silicon Valley and received $6.5 million in financing for AuctionDrop from two of the best-known high-tech venture capital firms in the country.

Until the link with UPS, AuctionDrop sites were limited to five in the San Francisco Bay area. The company, which was founded in spring 2003, has not made a profit yet but has had sales of $1.

5 million to date.

Although eBay has no direct financial or operational control of AuctionDrop, it stands to benefit greatly from the expansion.

"We're excited about this," eBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman said last winter at an investor's conference. "Clearly, they are getting an incremental customer that would have never come to eBay on their own."

EBay, which collects fees from sellers who pay to list and conduct business through its online marketplace, received about 7 cents from each dollar of merchandise sold on its site last year. At that rate, $10 billion in consignment sales would yield $700 million in revenue. EBay's 2003 revenue was $2.17 billion.

For more information on AuctionDrop or to find a nearby UPS Store, visit www.auctiondrop.com or call 866-376-7486.

For more news or to subscribe, please visit http://www.ohio.com

Copyright ©2004 Akron Beacon Journal. All Rights Reserved.