Today eBay announces a new pilot ‘Drop-Off’ service in five Argos stores across Portsmouth and Southampton. Local eBay consumer sellers will be able to drop off a sold item at an Argos store and it will be shipped direct to their buyer.
With a fixed delivery price and convenient high street locations, the new ‘Drop-Off’ service will help make selling online easier. The service is priced to compete with traditional shipping methods and takes away the hassle of working out postage costs and queuing to drop off an item.
Portsmouth and Southampton are two of just four UK towns selected to take part in this pilot. To celebrate its launch, eBay is partnering with local charity The Rowans Hospice on a unique charity auction, which will see these specially donated items delivered through the new ‘Drop-Off’ service:
· Signed football from the current Portsmouth FC team
· Signed football from the current Southampton FC team
Fans can bid for one of the charity items in aid of Forever Stars from Thursday 2ndJuly by simply going to www.ebay.co.uk/Hampshire
Tanya Lawler, UK Vice President, eBay said: “We’re leading the way in giving people convenience when they shop online, so it makes perfect sense to extend this for when they sell online too.
When we launched ‘Click & Collect at Argos’ we shook up the industry by allowing smaller sellers and their customers to take advantage of extra convenience and efficiency. Now, by expanding our partnership, we’re using our expertise to make life easier – and selling smoother – for individuals too.”
Anne Yendell, Director of Income Generation & Communications at The Rowans Hospice comments, “We’re hugely excited to be taking part in this campaign. The Rowans Hospice plays a critical role in the community providing care to patients and their families with life limiting illnesses. Every year we need £5million to fund our services and hope that football fans out there will support the charity and bid on what are really unique items and in doing so contribute to our work.”
The eBay ‘Drop-Off’ service is available now at the following Argos stores in Portsmouth and Southampton:
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- 20 Harbour Parade, West Quay Retail Park, Southampton SO15 1BA
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- 176-178 High Street, Southampton, SO14 2BY
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- Unit C, Totton Retail Park, Commercial Road, Totton, Southampton SO40 3AG
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- 207-211 Commercial Road, Portsmouth, PO1 4BJ
Sellers will be able to post a parcel, which will be fully tracked and signed for, from £3.80. Full details are available at www.ebay.co.uk/drop-off.
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Contacts:
Laura Cullinane and Hannah Talbot at Launch PR – 020 7758 3900 or ebay@launchpr.co.uk.
Notes to Editors
About Argos
Argos is a leading UK digital retailer, offering around 50,000 products through www.argos.co.uk, its growing mobile channels, stores and over the telephone.
Argos continues to be the UK’s largest high street retailer online with around 121m customer transactions a year through its stores and over 900 million website and app visits in the 12 months to February 2015. Customers can take advantage of Argos’ convenient Check & Reserve service available through its network of 755 stores across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
In the financial year to February 2015, Argos sales were £4.1 billion and it employed some 29,000 people across the business.
About eBay
eBay delivers one of the world's largest online marketplaces to customers via any connected device, connecting people with the things they need and love. With 152 million active buyers globally, eBay is one of the world's largest online marketplaces, where practically anyone can buy and sell practically anything. Founded in 1995, eBay connects a diverse and passionate community of individual buyers and sellers, as well as small businesses. Their collective impact on ecommerce is staggering, and more than 800 million items are listed on eBay.