eBay launches e-commerce accelerator for small businesses

eBay wants to help companies without an e-commerce presence to gain one quickly.

The e-commerce giant is rolling out Up & Running, an accelerator program specifically designed to help retailers without an e-commerce presence transition to selling online. eBay is pledging up to $100 million in support of the program.

Through the program, eBay will give new businesses a free basic eBay store for three months. With the new online storefront, eBay will waive selling fees and allow them to sell up to 500 items for free. New eBay sellers will also receive guidance and resources including a suite of exclusive marketing and merchandising tools, customization features, and discounted shipping supplies.  

Other services provided through Up & Running will include educational webinars, individual support, and access to experienced sellers willing to act as mentors. In the coming weeks, the company will also highlight small business sellers on eBay.com. eBay also recently launched a number of resources for existing small-to-mid-sized businesses on its platform including deferred fee payments, added seller protections, and 100,000 incremental free listings.

“For the last 25 years, eBay has helped launch and grow hundreds of thousands of small businesses, and now we’ve created Up & Running to accelerate the start-up time frame for retailers opening online stores during these unprecedented times,” said Jordan Sweetnam, senior VP eBay North America. “eBay was built on the simple premise that connecting buyers and sellers around the world creates economic opportunity, and this is exactly what we need to be doing – now more than ever.”