eBay Expands Auction Services

Signs global deal with Andale.
January 19, 2001
David Lawlor

Online auction giant eBay has reached an exclusive agreement with a California company that offers automated sales management tools.

Andale, based in Mountain View, Calif., said Friday the deal would run three years and enable "easier, more efficient transactions" for eBay sellers. Already in use in the United States, the services will be made available in the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, and Italy.

This marks the first time eBay will integrate a partner's technology onto its international sites, according to Andale. The company also will host a co-branded Website, accessible through eBay, where sellers can view statistics on visitors and their activities.

"We're excited about the deal with eBay and where we're going as a company," said Munjal Shah, CEO and president of Andale.

Terms of the contract were not released.

Accessing the service through eBay, a seller can determine how many items will be sold, at what time they will go on sale, and how much they will sell for. The system also handles all payment, shipping, and feedback information for the seller.

"We're everything but the marketplace," Shah said. "We capture all the information and handle every [transaction] from the listing to the final [sale]."

Andale charges sellers a 3 percent commission per transaction. Not having an ad-based business model, Shah said, has enabled his company to avoid the recent flurry of dot-com failures.

"We want to be what E*Trade is to the Nasdaq," Shah said. "While the Nasdaq would run on its own, E*Trade makes it more successful and acts as the infrastructure. We want to do that for online auctions – make them even more successful and efficient."

eBay, which Thursday posted fourth quarter 2000 profits of $23.9 million, expects its international customers will quickly adopt the service.

"The success we had with [American] sellers using Andale was the reason we decided to expand it internationally," said Kevin Pursglove, senior director of communications for eBay. "We've had great synergy with Andale in the past and they provide a service our users tell us they can use."

The deal comes as Andale has enjoyed recent success as well. The company's auction management services account for approximately 3 million listings on eBay each week and Andale sellers were responsible for $3 billion in merchandise sales in 2000.

"We will continue to grow, but at a conservative pace," Shah said. "We don't plan on opening 10 international offices or anything, but we will surely increase in size."