Charity shops look to eBay to boost sales
Charity shops including the Royal British Legion and Children in Need are jumping onto the online retailing bandwagon by partnering with eBay to pioneer the auction of their stock.
They are amongst 6,000 registered charities to take advantage of the platform as they diversify from their traditional High Street redoubts.
It comes as eBay reports a 56% rise in charity sales over the course of 2011, raking in sales of some £6.25m, boosted by the sale of celebrity garments such as Princess Beatrice’s flamboyant Royal Wedding hat which was flogged for £81k.
This represents more than half of all charity shops with an overwhelming 91% electing to use eBay as their platform of choice.
Lorin May, eBay’s head of charity, said: “Charities are coming to Ebay as they’re more likely to find a buyer who will pay a higher price online than one who randomly walks in off the high street.”