EBay Bids High On VARs

The On Ramp program, unveiled at CMP Media's XChange 2004 event in Chicago, includes a new eBay IT Asset Recovery Center site at www.eBay.com/ assetrecovery. The site, which eBay, San Jose, Calif., plans to launch midweek, is targeted at the tens of thousands of VARs who have considered the business of disposing of older IT products, but haven't yet taken the plunge.

The invitation-only On Ramp program provides VARs with six training sessions and toll-free phone support. The training program will be offered through Oct. 15.

The new IT Asset Recovery Center will include profiles of IT Asset Recovery sellers and link them with buyers. An eBay Resource Directory on the site will provide VARs with links to local, regional and national partners that can help get rid of IT equipment.

EBay will also assist VARs in establishing e-commerce connections and provide software tools to monitor and diagnose network and systems problems.

Richard Andersen, senior category manager at eBay, promised that the program will continue to evolve to meet the needs of VARs. "We are going to make sure it is relevant to you so we can be a great business partner," he said at XChange.

Steve Harper, president of Network Management Group, Hutchinson, Kan., was enthusiastic about the program after hearing Andersen's presentation. "This is a valid alternative channel and it should provide incremental sales opportunities," he said. "We will use it."

Manuel Villa, president of VIA, a San Antonio-based solution provider, applauded the new eBay program, but expressed concerns about the hidden costs of entering the business. "The big question is, how affordable is it going to be for the reseller to partici-pate?" he said. VIA is a services-oriented business and doesn't carry a lot of inventory, he added. "We got away from all of that stuff," Villa said. "We no longer need a warehouse person."

Gregory Engle, business unit manager at Information Engineering, Huntsville, Ala., said eBay is going to have to overcome vendor perceptions. "The biggest concern I have is that my vendors have a view of eBay as a gray market," he said. "I know what they are trying to do with this is get some adoption from those vendors to use eBay as a channel. But it is going to be tough."

Engle said a number of companies are selling products from major vendors, such as Cisco products, for example, on eBay without vendor licenses.

"Someone can technically buy it and use it, but [they] just won't get Cisco's support," he said. "EBay is going to have to figure out how to get sponsorship from those vendors or it is just not going to work."

According to its most recent earnings statement, eBay sold $2.4 billion in computer equipment in second-quarter 2004.