Telstra Trading Post in uphill battle against eBay: Ovum

Stan Beer
Thursday, 29 May 2008 18:23

Business IT - Technology

The newly announced Trading Post auction site launched by Telstra's directories arm Sensis will be hard pressed to threaten eBay Australia's dominance, according to telecoms research group Ovum. Analyst Steve Hodgkinson believes eBay's first mover e-commerce advantage in Australia will probably be too much to overcome unlike the case in New Zealand but eBay could still be under threat from its own overconfidence.

Telstra yesterday announced plans to scale up its Trading Post online classified advertising business to tackle eBay head-on for dominance of the Australian online auction market. Part of the Sensis strategy is to focus on the widely unpopular move by eBay Australia to enforce PayPal only payments on its users.

Sensis is also playing to the heart strings of the Australian public by promoting the fact that Trading Post is a much loved 40 year old brand.

Trading Post, bought by Sensis for $636 million in 2004, has a long pedigree in Australia. It started out as a specialised classified ads newspaper, with ten regional editions published every Thursday, and developed over the years into the leading online classifieds site.

Telstra has developed new online auction functionality for Trading Post in a bid to tackle eBay head-on in the Australian market.

According to Ovum, the new Trading Post functionality has some nifty features, being simpler to use than eBay and featuring local telephone support and lower fees for sellers. Security is enhanced by providing buyers and sellers the opportunity to authenticate their identity in a 100 point check at Australia Post offices to obtain a digital certificate. The service is targeting the Australian market - appealing to a 'buy local' sense of community spirit that is a strong part of the appeal of the print version of Trading Post. CONTINUED