Consumers love a bargain, and e-commerce companies offering consumers a wide variety of items at discounted prices have become hugely popular.
Hoping to reap some of those benefits by attracting customers looking for low-cost direct-to-consumer products, eBay announced last week the launch of its new “under $10″ storefront, similar to one introduced by Amazon in January.
The San Jose, California-based e-commerce company’s new discount-driven section is expected to draw in cost-conscious millennials with millions of products in a variety of categories, including fashion, tech, home decor, beauty and fitness gear, all priced below $10. Products like T-shirts, rings, socks, sunglasses, necklaces and headsets will be $5 or less, while phone and tablet cases, chargers, cables, earrings, skin masks and nail art are offered for $3 and below. Inventory will rotate on a regular basis, TechCrunch reported, and all shipping is free.
eBay’s “under $10″ products for sale are all supplied by sellers, and are only available as “Buy It Now” purchases. No biddings or additional charges are involved.
The success of a similar service by San Francisco-based discount shopping site Wish, may be among the reasons eBay turned its attention so sharply to bargain retailing. Wish currently has more than 300 products in its inventory catering to deal hunters who use its app. Last year, the Wish app was the No. 1 shopping app in the U.S., based on downloads from the App Store and Google Play combined, and the company was valued at more than $8 billion.
In 2015, both Amazon and Chinese online shopping site Alibaba thought Wish so attractive they attempted to purchase the company. Wish, however, refused both offers. Now Amazon remains a Wish competitor, and with more than one million products available under $10, eBay looks more than ready to follow suit.