Soon after Queensland Premier Anna Bligh launched a relief appeal for victims of the state’s recent flood disaster, event organiser Lara Karamian began planning an auction of designer goods.
The fund-raising initiative had a simple premise: designers would donate garments, these would be auctioned off to the public and all proceeds would be donated to the appeal. In a matter of weeks, Karamian’s black book of contacts converted this to a fully-fledged partnership with Ebay Australia, with hundreds of donated apparel and accessory items listed for sale. The Fashion.To.Aid campaign raised $53,000, attracted 5546 bids and saw the highest winning item, a Willow sequinned tail bustle jacket, go for $936.68.
What began as a gesture of goodwill also revealed something broader in the operations of Ebay Australia: growing demand for branded merchandise and a move away from the bargain second-hand model. This will be a focus for Ebay head of fashion Jo-Ann Hicks over the next few months, as she and her team prepare to launch a fashion sub-site by the end of this year. Despite industry reports it will go live in July, corporate communications manager Jenny Thomas says discussions with key designers and brands are still underway.
“It’s too early to comment on what the [site] will look like or confirm what brands have come onboard,” Thomas says.
What is known is that it could take a number of forms, with ebay.co.uk and ebay.com both emphasising different areas of the market. The UK ‘Fashion Outlet’ microsite offers a broad range of discounted products from the likes of Adidas, Nike, Ben Sherman, G-Star, Kookai, Lacoste, Vans, Ted Baker, Ugg and Miss Sixty. Meanwhile, America’s lauded ‘Fashion Vault’ saw the release of an exclusive Narciso Rodriguez for Ebay collection, as well as an interactive collaboration with designer Derek Lam, where shoppers could vote on which looks would be available for sale. Thomas says the local arm has been speaking with various suppliers, but has declined to comment on the overall direction.
“It’s obviously an attractive offer for brands who haven’t yet launched their own online stores or as a supplement,” she says. “For instance, we have companies like Dell who sell on Ebay, even though they have their own bricks-and-mortar stores and their own [e-commerce] site. Ebay can be a different sales avenue; brands can also offer a certain line that people are interested in.”
One designer brand approached to take part in the initiative told Ragtrader it was initially concerned about the perception of Ebay as “all about a bargain”.
“They came to visit us and their proposition was quite impressive,” the brand’s marketing executive says. “They’re creating a business solution [backed by a] huge communications program which will educate their current audience, as well as recruiting new shoppers to the site, to the point that Ebay is not just about discount shopping. It’s actually about finding the best brands and having the very best retail experience. Because their traffic is so huge, they have phenomenal access so it makes sense they start to explore other areas outside the typical discount offer. We also see it as a great opportunity to access the international market.”
It is understood products in the microsite will be offered at a ‘buy it now’ price rather than being auctioned off to the highest bidder. It is not known, however, whether brands will pay standard listing and sales fees, or a set price for a presence on the website. Retailers which currently have a ‘shop’ within the existing Ebay model include Ezibuy, Dell, ABC Shop and Cellarmasters.
“In terms of the fashion brands, the UK and US [Ebay] websites are obviously further along than we are at this stage, but this is something we want to build on. We know that our customers are searching for branded goods and that a lot of this is for fashion.”
The initiative could also give brands more control of how they are represented on the portal. As exclusively reported by Ragtrader in early 2007, womenswear retailer Cue was poised to launch a joint industry campaign to curb the sale of stolen goods through online avenues. The idea came after it successfully laid charges against a Victorian woman for selling more than $16,000 worth of stolen Cue products on Ebay.
It is too early to tell whether the website can lure the likes of Cue and other major retailers to its ranks, but a potential windfall is there: research shows 79 per cent of all fashion sales on Ebay are for brand new clothing, footwear and accessories.