eBay is luring bargain hunters with 'Fashion Vault' and a brand new online outlet mall.
The world's largest online market place is known for great bargain deals, but it took some hits in the past years with the discovery of thousands of fake golfclubs, counterfeit purses and false cosmetics sales.
Ebay wants to change that image with the creation of several microsites. Its first move is launching fashion.ebay.com, an online outlet mall for clothing, shoes and accessories. Users can look for new arrivals, trendy styles, and popular brands such as Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein.
I put it to the test. After browsing for a bit, I found $200 dresses slashed to $75 and $198 shoes reduced to $69.
Might sound like a fashionista heaven, but eBay's fashion selling format is nothing new.
Sign up for The 33 Newsletter | The 33 on Facebook | The 33 on Twitter
The site's 'Fashion Vault' basically copies the concept of Gilt and Ruelala, which are both succesful private sales sites. Ruelala reportedly is worth about $350 million. eBay Fashion Vault, Ruelala and Gilt all feature designer sales exclusively for members.
Whether this make-over will convince ruelala fashionistas to move to eBay is the question. Online reports say so far, early signs from its big push into fashion have been positive.
So what's next? Representatives of eBay say the company aims to create more microsites for other categories including home and garden, technology and media to help perk up sales.
Not that it's doing that bad. Online reports say eBay's revenue grew 16% last year.
The world's largest online market place is known for great bargain deals, but it took some hits in the past years with the discovery of thousands of fake golfclubs, counterfeit purses and false cosmetics sales.
Ebay wants to change that image with the creation of several microsites. Its first move is launching fashion.ebay.com, an online outlet mall for clothing, shoes and accessories. Users can look for new arrivals, trendy styles, and popular brands such as Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein.
I put it to the test. After browsing for a bit, I found $200 dresses slashed to $75 and $198 shoes reduced to $69.
Might sound like a fashionista heaven, but eBay's fashion selling format is nothing new.
The site's 'Fashion Vault' basically copies the concept of Gilt and Ruelala, which are both succesful private sales sites. Ruelala reportedly is worth about $350 million. eBay Fashion Vault, Ruelala and Gilt all feature designer sales exclusively for members.
Whether this make-over will convince ruelala fashionistas to move to eBay is the question. Online reports say so far, early signs from its big push into fashion have been positive.
So what's next? Representatives of eBay say the company aims to create more microsites for other categories including home and garden, technology and media to help perk up sales.
Not that it's doing that bad. Online reports say eBay's revenue grew 16% last year.
