eBay auction house gets fresh funds

Auctioning4U, a company that makes it easier for British people to use the auction website eBay, has just received an investment of £500,000 from the investor Jeremy Metcalfe, the former chief executive of Millicom International Cellular.

The funds will enable Auctioning4U to establish its first warehouse and roll out its concept nationally.

Taking a model that has been successful in the US, Auctioning4U offers physical shops to take the hassle out of using eBay. Consumers drop their goods at one of its outlets, Auctioning4U then photographs the items, writes a description and puts them on eBay. It handles the auction, posts the product to the winning bidder and passes on the proceeds to the goods' original owner - minus a commission.

Christian Braun, the chief executive, said: "If you are too busy to put your stuff on eBay, you can use our service and be sure that you will get a good price for your goods. You will not have to do the haggling.

"For the buyer, they can bid with much more confidence."

In the US, there are about 7,000 outlets offering this kind of service to eBay users, with AuctionDrop the bigger operator there.

Auctioning4U will have experts on different kinds of goods, such as cameras and mobile phones, who will test and categorise the products to be sold.

The company already has four stores in London - in Fulham, Kensington and two in Notting Hill. Mr Braun said he planned to have 40 stores by this time next year, which should lead to the privately owned company breaking even.

Auctioning4U takes a portion of the sale price on all the goods it handles. Mr Braun said that while other businesses had started using this concept in the UK, Auctioning4U was the only player to put significant resources behind the idea and plan for national roll-out.

He said Auctioning4U outlets should be across the country within two years.

The latest investment in Auctioning4U values the company at about £5m. A total of £1.3m has so far been raised for the business and it will need a further £2m-£3m under its business plan.