Small Irish Businesses Offered Lifeline during COVID-19 Crisis

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eBay has launched an initiative that could help thousands of Irish businesses to stay open, even if their doors are closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Business owners across Ireland have been thrown into survival mode and non-essential businesses have been forced to close.  But now they are being offered a lifeline through eBay Ireland’s new Up & Running programme, which is open to all businesses with a product to sell.

Small to medium sized companies (SMEs) now have an opportunity to open their bricks and mortar stores online by using eBay as their ecommerce platform, at no cost.

The programme will help any local Irish business that wants to quick start or increase its online selling capabilities, but doesn’t have the resources, budget or knowhow to do so.

From April 17th, for a minimum of three2 months, Irish businesses, with or without an existing ecommerce presence, are being invited to use the ebay.ie marketplace with the following benefits:

  • Free listings on ebay.ie
  • No Final Value Fees (the commission paid to eBay based on the final value of sales)
  • Free training that will cover eBay selling basics, how to get the most out of the platform, digital skills, search and listing optimisation and marketing.  The training will be delivered through a series of webinars and mentoring programmes from eBay’s dedicated team in Ireland, helping ensure a smooth transition online for those with no or limited experience

With 180+ million buyers across the 190 markets in which eBay operates, the Up & Running   programme will give Irish retailers the opportunity to reach new customers, both at home and overseas, at a time when consumers are looking to online channels to fulfil many of their shopping needs.

Companies interested in the Up & Running initiative are invited to:

  1. Create a business account on the sign-up page HERE
  2. Complete the eBay Ireland business questionnaire HERE  to activate the programme
  3. Email the eBay Ireland team if you have any questions ebayireland@ebay.com 

Practical solution to a critical problem 

“This is a difficult time for businesses of all sizes, but I hope that the launch of Up & Running initiative will help alleviate some of the challenges that Irish SMEs are facing, and help them to stay open for business. We want to help businesses quickly and remove any barriers that might otherwise prevent them from transitioning to online, so we invite business owners to contact us today to see how we can help them.  This is a practical solution to a critical and immediate problem.” said Hazel Mitchell, site lead for eBay Ireland.

For more information, visit ebay.ie

 

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