Oztion offers free listings to resellers

Online auction house, Oztion, has launched a 'zero cost listings' service in order to attract more dealers to its site.

General manager, Philip Druce, said it opened up another avenue for resellers to sell its products. Resellers will now be allowed to list products for auction without being charged until the product is sold.

He claimed the website was currently the second largest auction site in Australia and has about 7000 registered members.

"We cover all categories," Druce said. "But some of the most popular categories are computer components and electronic gadgets like MP3, DVD and CD players as well as software."

But the service has met with a lukewarm response from the channel. Some resellers expressed doubts about the viability of Oztion in the face of competition from its already established multinational competitor, eBay. Others said they would consider auctioning products if the website proved capable of competing against eBay.

Plus Corporation managing director, Nigel Fernandes, predicted Oztion would not get much business from the channel because most resellers don't hold much stock.

"It would be mainly attracting tier one distributors and manufacturers with enterprise, repackaged and refurbished products that they will sell through auctions rather than the normal channel," Fernandes said.

However, it would be a good outlet for clearance items and to reach markets dealers were not familiar with, according to Discount Computer Supplies manager, Alex Bertram.

It would also depend on how the site is set up and marketed and if it could generate a large audience like eBay.

"The more people that look at products, the higher the price you are going to get," Bertram said.

Current reseller members of Oztion are Comsoft, Versatile Trading and Ozzi USB.