eBay becomes gateway for industrial exporters

Winners of the 2015 eBay Star Seller Competition, hosted by eBay Korea, pose together in this Dec. 9 file photo. eBay Korea has been supporting SMEs and merchants wishing to export their items overseas. / Courtesy of eBay Korea

By Yoon Ja-young

In the world of sales, there are no borders. The launch of e-commerce and global delivery service networks enabled merchants to sell their items to anyone around the world.

Online merchants started off selling light items such as cosmetics and fashion clothing in the beginning, but the scope of e-commerce is continuing its expansion. Kang Dae-ho, for instance, sells electronic measuring and testing instruments to customers around the world through eBay. He recorded $130,000 sales in seven months.

eBay Korea, which operates the country’s two leading online shopping malls ― Gmarket and Auction ― has been supporting cross-border trade (CBT) through its global e-commerce platform, ebay.com.

It notes that export items have been diversifying recently, from fashion items and garments to business and industrial goods. The exports of industrial goods through eBay Korea’s CBT program have been marking on average 84.7 percent annual growth. Exported items range from healthcare and electronic equipment to science lab equipment and car accessories. A considerable portion of them are of Korean brands. The exports of Korean industrial goods through eBay surged 25 percent in the first half of 2015 from the previous year.

“As you know, car tuning has become a global trend. Transactions for car accessories and equipment for car tuning are soaring on eBay as well,” said Song Seung-hwan, head of CBT at eBay Korea. “As Korean sellers share tips as well as get sales training, the items they have come to handle are more diverse and professional.”

The Internet services company has also been holding the eBay Star Seller Competition to promote online exports by the country’s SMEs and small merchants. For this year’s competition, exports of industrial goods increased notably. The number of sellers who chose industrial goods as their item for the sales competition doubled compared with 2013, and the total sales of these items increased more than eightfold.

As industrial goods have become one of the main growth engines for online exports, eBay Korea is actively supporting sellers so that they can export more. As part of such effort, eBay Korea launched an export support program in May called eBay For Business. It aims at offering more systematic support for local SMEs that want to advance into the global market.

In this corporate consulting program, the sellers receive training covering the whole process of online exports, from sourcing and registration of goods to delivery and customer satisfaction. An expert from eBay Korea visits the seller for face-to-face training.

“We expect online export items to expand further,” Song said. “We plan to strengthen support for small sellers so that they can export more specialized goods abroad.”