Thousands of small businesses use eBay as a sales channel

More than 8,500 professional eBay sellers in Australia currently derive their primary or secondary source of income from selling on eBay.com.au, according to ACNielsen research.

According to the research, almost 2,500 Australians use eBay as their primary source of income and more than 6,000 Australians run a business and use eBay as a secondary sales channel.

The research also showed three out of four eBay small businesses believed eBay had helped them reach more buyers than was possible through an offline business and over a third believed eBay had helped them become more profitable.

eBay Australia and New Zealand managing director Simon Smith said he expected the 8,500 eBay sellers to increase mirroring trends in the United States where 724,000 eBay sellers relied on eBay sales as their primary or a secondary source of income.

Small Business and Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said "the internet presents a wealth of opportunities for Australians to start their own home-based business. It also allows existing small to medium businesses to reach millions of potential customers around Australia and the world."

The ACNielsen research showed the top reasons Australians sell on eBay were ease of use, ability to reach a large number of customers and the opportunity to work flexible hours.