In what’s probably good news for many eBay traders, Overstock CEO, Patrick Byrne, has made public his intentions to cross the Atlantic and gain a foothold in Europe. Overstock aim to be up and running in the UK by summer 2008, and are currently investigating logistics partners to work with.
In the US Overstock is a serious contender to eBay aimed at businesses looking to liquidate surplus or returned inventory. Byrne runs the company by being open to the community and at times berating them, often viewed as controversial he’s passionate about what he does. He’s also a keen advocate of distinguishing auctions from fixed price listings, having once said “Starting price $29.95, Make it Mine @ $30.00. Folks, that is not an auction, that is a classified ad. Our real auctions have disappeared under an ocean of such classified ads, which destroys closing rates for everyone.”
According to reports it’s intended that new offices will be opened in Europe with expansion to Canada controlled from existing US locations. Byrne cites “language, currency differences and tariffs attached to trade across borders” as the main challenges, along with the logistics of shipping products overseas and handling returns back to the US. For this reason they’re looking for a company to partner with in the UK. Byrne will need a local partner who knows the market; he’s probably already upset half the country in referring in his expansion plans to “England” rather than the UK.
Although Overstock are significantly smaller than eBay one thing is certain, they will be watching the Overstock entry into the European market with interest. The serious competition is about to hit the UK.
3 Responses
Great, competition is coolio 😀 it will allow those disgruntled with ebay an alternative market, which will be good for those left on ebay, who will also have the chance to use overstock themselves, very exciting 🙂
too late is the cry
qxl et al has tried
I want to be able to buy US bedlinen over here, and at their prices it would be a steal.
I hope that the new site doesn’t only sell merchandise from the UK, that would make it much less of a unique proposition.