Australian online auction upstart takes on eBay

by 2Bid.com.au founder, Adam Mulcahy

An exciting new online auction website, 2Bid.com.au is taking on the global might of eBay in a bid to keep a slice of the auction action in Australia. The site offers all the powerful features of a major online auction website with two significant differences - it is 100% free to buy, sell or trade items, and, it is 100% Australian owned. 2Bid.com.au was started by local businessman Adam Mulcahy who became frustrated with seeing foreign companies collecting huge amounts of money in fees for Australians to trade with other Australians. "I find it absurd that Aussies are trading direct with each other yet paying fees to overseas companies for the privilege! I started this online auction website 2Bid.com.au so that Aussies could trade with Aussies completely FREE and not lose money overseas with every transaction." With 2Bid.com.au it costs nothing to buy, sell, auction, swap or create an online store - there are no commissions, no listing fees and no sales fees. This means 2Bid.com.au has no need to collect members' credit card details making it a safe option for people wary of submitting their credit card details online. Even with a majority 72% of Australian households having internet connections and 59% of internet users performing buying/selling activities (ACNielsen, 2005), there are still concerns about security and fraud. 2Bid.com.au addresses this issue directly and has opened up online selling to a whole new group of Australians. Also, because the auction website is only open to Australians it lowers the chance of fraud from overseas users and removes the complexity of international currency and delivery. "We're taking the global guys on at their own game using the internet to let Aussies trade with Aussies without a slice of revenue going overseas" said Mulcahy. 2Bid.com.au first opened on 10 November 2005 and has since had 6,797 visitors and 2,435 auctions created by its 185 active members. Having established it as a proven concept with secure and efficient services, 2Bid.com.au is now launching to the mainstream Australian market. About the author: Australian businessman Adam Mulcahy started 2Bid.com.au after becoming frustrated with seeing foreign companies collecting huge amounts of money in fees for Australians to trade with other Australians.