eBay Launches ProStores To Help Merchants Build and Operate Web Stores

Release date: June 23, 2005  /  Print This     RSS    

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 23, 2005 - eBay, the World’s Online Marketplace®, today launched ProStores, a new service that allows eBay sellers and other small and medium-sized businesses to create and customize e-commerce stores. ProStores makes it simple and affordable to create a Web store -- customized with its own branding, and unique Internet address. ProStores is also fully integrated with eBay and PayPal, allowing ProStores subscribers to manage eBay listings and inventory from their ProStores Web store and accept PayPal for payments.

Increasingly, high-volume sellers on eBay are establishing multiple channels to grow their business and reach more customers. ProStores allows them to achieve this through their own fully featured e-commerce Web store.

ProStores offers four tiers of e-commerce packages, from the basic ProStores Express to ProStores Business, ProStores Advanced and ProStores Enterprise. Each package enables merchants to set up a complete e-commerce store with the same features and sophistication found on the sites of larger retailers, including a full shopping-cart capability with online checkout and integration with major payment gateways and shippers. In addition, larger enterprises will find advantages in ProStores online stores, including integrated supply-chain inventory management and advanced merchandising options.

Each ProStores package level brings an array of e-commerce features to online merchants:

• ProStores Express provides the display of up to ten products, a full shopping cart with PayPal payment, SSL security data encryption to ensure order protection, eBay integration and priority email customer support.

• ProStores Business provides what is available in ProStores Express but with an unlimited number of product listings. It adds features including sophisticated tax calculations, real-time credit card payment processing, real-time shipping integration with major shippers, inventory management reports, 24/7 toll-free technical support, and five gigabytes (GB) of storage.

• ProStores Advanced provides the small-to-medium-sized retail or service business with what is available in ProStores Business plus additional capabilities such as advanced merchandising and inventory management, additional payment options, up to 100 email boxes and 10 GB of storage.

• The top-of-the-line ProStores Enterprise provides larger businesses with what is available in ProStores Advanced plus integration with back-end supply and inventory systems and the ability to manage wholesale and retail buying groups. It also provides up to 200 unique email boxes and 20 GB of storage.

Subscription fees for ProStores sites are highly affordable, starting at $6.95 a month for the Express format, with a 1.5% successful-transaction fee, and ranging to $29.95 a month for Business, $74.95 for Advanced and $249.95 for Enterprise, each with a 0.5% transaction fee. eBay Store Sellers will receive a 30-percent discount on the monthly subscription fees. New ProStores subscribers receive a one-month free trial; and, if they sign up for ProStores services by October 3, 2005successful transaction fees will not be incurred until January 1, 2006.

“ProStores is the perfect complement to selling on eBay,” said Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America. “ProStores sellers can extend their reach to buyers and have more flexibility in customizing their Web presence. And for eBay Store Sellers, ProStores makes taking the next step in e-commerce simple and affordable.”

To create their own ProStores site, sellers can visit www.prostores.com and click on the “Open Your ProStore Now!” button.

About ProStores

ProStores, an eBay company, allows small and medium sized businesses to create a professional online store, customized with their own branding and domain name. ProStores became an eBay company in May 2005, following eBay’s acquisition of Kurant’s StoreSense technology. For more information about ProStores visit www.prostores.com.

About eBay

eBay is The World's Online Marketplace®. Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets around the world. Through an array of services, such as its payment solution provider PayPal, eBay is enabling global e-commerce for an ever growing online community.